Calgary Minute: Council Cronies, Raw Sewage, and New Arena Plans Revealed

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

This Week In Calgary:

• This afternoon, there will be a meeting of the Green Line Board. The Board will review a Planning Committee Report, a Budget and Risk Committee Report, a Governance and HR Committee Report, and several updates on procurement, amongst other agenda items.
  
  
• On Wednesday, there will be a meeting of the Standing Policy Committee on Community and Protective Services, which will consider a Livery Transport Bylaw Review, and the Proposed 2021 Special Tax Bylaw to Support the Enhanced Landscape Maintenance.
  
  
• There will also be a Business Advisory Committee meeting on Wednesday, but an agenda for the meeting isn't yet available.

Last Week In Calgary:

• In COVID-related news, the Calgary Stampede Board announced that the Calgary Stampede will be going ahead this summer, of course with some adjustments. Meanwhile, libraries and recreation centres finally re-opened with restrictions, following the small easing of provincial public health restrictions - just be sure to not huff and puff too hard on the treadmill!
  
  
• Council voted to throw out Councillor Farkas' plan to freeze businesses' taxes (i.e. a 0% increase cap) for this year, voting instead for a proposal by Councillor Davison to cap the increases at 10% and instead offer rebates to specific companies who will have to apply to the City for the privilege.
  
  
• On the same theme, politicians made a big deal out of an announcement by a company called Infosys that they will be adding up to 500 jobs in Calgary in the next few years. Mayor Nenshi and other City officials went so far as to brag about how it took four years of hard work to get this deal across the line. Realistically, 500 jobs is a tiny drop in the bucket compared to the 100,000+ jobs Calgary lost even *before* the pandemic. Perhaps instead of wining and dining CEOs looking for the next corporate handout, our municipal politicians should have spent those four years cutting taxes, streamlining regulations, and generally making Calgary the best place in the world to do business. That way, businesses would be banging down our door to move here, rather than us having to chase them.

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