Calgary Minute: Election Day, Tax Hikes, and the Green Line

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

This Week In Calgary:

• It's election day! Today is your last chance to vote in the federal election. Polls open at 7:30 am and close at 7:30 pm. You can find your polling station here, and a list of the documents accepted for proving identity and address here.
  
  
• At Council this week, there is a Combined Meeting of Council on Monday, and a Standing Policy Committee on Transportation and Transit meeting on Wednesday.
  
  
• Monday's council meeting will again be discussing the creation of a Beltline Business Improvement Area - basically a union for businesses that can force other businesses to join them and pay them an extra tax/fee. You can read our Policy Brief on Business Improvement Areas here.

Last Week In Calgary:

• Eco-activist Greta Thunberg skipped school on Wednesday to pass through Calgary on her way to Edmonton. While Mayor Nenshi warned Calgarians against using this as a teachable moment for Ms. Thunberg, our Premier took a more realistic approach. Kenney noted that, "at the end of the day if you believe the entire modern industrial economy should be shut down tomorrow, that the airplanes should stop flying, that the cars should all stop driving, that millions of people should be put into unemployment because we need to turn off all the consumption of hydrocarbon energy... you're not going to be a supporter of what we're doing in Alberta."
  
  
• A few weeks back we updated you on Calgary Economic Development's grossly underperforming job numbers so, naturally, it was time for some more fake news about how successful they could be if only we keep throwing money their way. Last Wednesday, Nenshi spoke at CED's annual Economic Outlook event and proclaimed "things are getting better" despite the lousy job numbers and economic indicators. Nenshi and CED have been proclaiming Calgary's "comeback" since 2015. The truth is their policy of spending our way out of a recession has failed, to the surprise of no-one who understands economics. It's time for tax cuts.
  
  
• The least necessary part of the Green Line is apparently ready for bulldozers - don't worry though, the start of construction on this train-to-nowhere is now delayed by another year. For now, we're awaiting the provincial budget where we'll find out whether the City will get even more money for the cost overruns - let's hope not.
  
  

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