Calgary Minute: Expense Scandals, Mural Outrage, and Masks In Schools

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

This Week In Calgary:

• Council's summer break continues with no full Council meetings scheduled in August. There are also no Committee meetings planned for this week, and a Calgary Planning Commission meeting that was planned for August 20th has been cancelled.
  
  
• The next regular Combined Council Meeting is still planned for September 14th, but a new Special Council Meeting with the Calgary Police Commission and the Calgary Police Service has also been scheduled for September 10th
  
  
• There are also a number of events happening that Calgarians can take advantage of this week. The Flames are scheduled to take on the Stars on Tuesday and Thursday, while The Drive-In at Spark will be happening throughout August.

Last Week In Calgary:

• Mayor Nenshi criticized the provincial Minister of Municipal Affairs, Kaycee Madu, for not taking action following the audit of Councillor Magliocca's expenses in his expense scandal. Minister Madu said that he does not have any legal authority to interfere in a municipal investigation and said that it's up to Calgary Council to fix their rules for Councillors expenses.
  
  
• After significant "mural outrage" over City Administration's choice of location for a Black Lives Matter mural, the City has finally backed down and the existing "Giving Wings to the Dream" mural will not be painted over after all, and a new location will be found. Maybe next time Council approves a rushed plan to spend taxpayer money on new public art they will take the time to ask some basic questions like, "Where will it be located?". They probably won't though.
  
  
• Both the Calgary Board of Education and the Calgary Catholic School District announced plans to require all K-12 students to wear masks when returning to school next month. This goes beyond the provincial rules that mandate masks only for students in Grades 4-12. The rules cover classrooms, hallways, bathrooms, learning commons, and school buses but there "will be opportunities for students to take off their masks in designated break areas".

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