Calgary Minute: Business Closures, Tax Increases, and more Cycle Tracks

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

This Week In Calgary:

• There is no council meeting scheduled for this week and Tuesday's planned Green Line Committee meeting has been cancelled. The next Council meeting is a Combined Council Meeting on April 6th, while the next Green Line Committee is scheduled to be held on April 23rd.
  
  
• On Wednesday there will be a meeting of the Standing Policy Committee on Planning and Urban Development which will review the City's Secondary Suites policy, heritage conservation tools and incentives, and a new Providence Area Structure Plan. Members of the public may fill out a form to make a written submission or email the City Clerk’s Office to register to speak (remotely). Further instructions are included on the page linked above.
  
  
• On Thursday there is an Intergovernmental Affairs Committee meeting at 9:30am and a Calgary Planning Commission meeting at 1:00pm. The Intergovernmental Affairs Committee will discuss the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, the Alberta Urban Municipalities Association, and the Calgary Metropolitan Region Board. The Calgary Planning Commission will review land use amendments in Inglewood and Killarney, as well as a series of development items.

Last Week In Calgary:

• The provincial government introduced further restrictions in an attempt to combat the spread of COVID-19. Public gatherings in Alberta are now being restricted to 15 people or fewer and a wide range of non-essential businesses — from clothing stores to hair salons — have been forced to close. Businesses might be able to survive a few weeks of this, but not months.
  
  
• The City has created a task force to help businesses affected by COVID-19 pandemic called the Business Sector Support Taskforce. The 25-person task force is chaired by City Staffer Sonya Sharp and also consists of Councillors Ward Sutherland, Peter Demong and Jyoti Gondek. Perhaps they could consider cutting taxes instead of increasing them?
  
  
• The City has also been working hard closing road lanes and turning them into more cycle tracks. Should this really be a priority for Council during this crisis?

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