Calgary Minute: Building Bridges, Employee Testing, and a Neighbourhood Pilot Project

Calgary Minute - Your weekly one-minute summary of Calgary politics

This Week In Calgary:

• This morning at 9:30 am there will be a Combined Meeting of Council. Council will receive various Planning Commission reports regarding land use amendments. They'll also be discussing the Clean Energy Improvement Tax Bylaw, which they seem to be trying to rename to the Clean Energy Improvement Program Bylaw (I wonder why...?). The bylaw would authorize the City to borrow up to $15 million to lend to homeowners to finance clean energy improvements, who would repay the money through their property tax bill. Should the City really be getting into the business of lending money, though? This seems like a really bad idea.

• The Community Development Committee meets on Wednesday at 9:30 am. There will be an update on cold-weather response for Calgarians experiencing homelessness. The Winter City Strategy will also be discussed. The strategy intends to promote Calgary as a destination with unique winter experiences. Also on the agenda is a proposal to defer the Single-Use Items Reduction Strategy into Q3 of 2022.

• The Intergovernmental Affairs Committee is scheduled to meet at 9:30 am on Friday after being rescheduled from Thursday. The agenda has yet to be posted.

Last Week In Calgary:

• The City of Calgary will be providing free COVID test kits to unvaccinated City employees. Previously, these employees were forced to pay for their own tests. Mayor Jyoti Gondek blamed the Calgary Police Service, whose union recently accessed the province’s funding for test kits. Gondek called it "unacceptable" that people who don’t "want to do anything" will be rewarded with free testing.
  
  
• The City of Calgary has renamed its Traffic Calming Policy. The new Neighbourhood Streets Pilot Policy seeks to examine not only traffic patterns, but green space, safety enhancements, and resident concerns. The City is seeking public input until December 17th.

• Fundraising efforts are underway for the construction of a pedestrian bridge crossing the Bow River into Cochrane, as part of the Calgary to Cochrane portion of the Trans Canada Trail. 16 kilometers of the 36 kilometer route - including the bridge - remain unbuilt, and the cost of the remaining portion is estimated at somewhere between $7 and $9 million.

-----

Donate:

Common Sense Calgary doesn't accept any government funding and never will. We think you should be free to choose, for yourself, which organizations to support. If you're in a position to contribute financially, you can make a donation here.

-----

Share:

If you're not in a position to donate, we understand, but if you appreciate our work, you can help by spreading our message. Please email this post to your friends, share it on Facebook or Twitter, and help make sure every Calgarian knows what's really going on at City Hall.