Calgary Minute: Funding Gap, New Park, and Event Registration Open

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

This Week In Calgary:

• The Community Development Committee will meet this morning at 9:30 am. On the agenda is a discussion about how to allocate additional funding provided by the Province to the Family and Community Support Services Calgary Program. The Committee will also discuss the City’s Drought Resilience Plan and the Public Transit Safety Strategy.
  
  
• On Tuesday, at 9:30 am, there will be a Public Hearing Meeting of Council to address several land use amendments. The Event Centre Committee will meet on Thursday at 9:30 am. No agenda is available for this meeting yet. Also on Thursday, at 1:00 pm, the Calgary Planning Commission will meet to discuss several zoning amendments.
  
  
• Registration for the Calgary stop on the Alberta Institute’s Can’t Stop Alberta tour is now open. The Common Sense Calgary team will be discussing some important, topical issues in municipal politics, alongside several guest speakers at Brickwell Tap House at 6:00 pm on October 25th. You can RSVP by clicking here, and view the list of other events online. Hope to see you there!

Last Week In Calgary:

• Council heard that the City is facing an average annual funding gap of $311 million. Mayor Jyoti Gondek said that the City has been funding provincial responsibilities like housing, mental health and addictions supports, and public safety as far back as 2007. Council also heard that there are 30 budget items lacking funding, including public transit enhancements, affordable housing initiatives, infrastructure for urban expansion, fire response improvements, the multi-sport fieldhouse project, and administrative enhancements. These items will be discussed in November, and if the entire list of projects were to be approved, it would add $102 million to the operating budget, as well as $70 million in one-off expenditures.
  
  
• The City of Calgary has charged Fueling Minds Inc. under the municipal business licensing bylaw for allegedly operating without a business license. Fueling Minds is the company and school lunch delivery service at the center of the recent E. coli outbreak at multiple Calgary daycares. All told, there are 12 charges against the company and directors that could result in fines totalling up to $120,000. Investigations into the E. coli outbreak have identified the likely source as meatloaf and vegan loaf meals served on August 29th.
  
  
• Calgary celebrated the opening of the Brawn Family Foundation Park - Alberta's first mental health park. The park is a collaborative effort between the City, Province, and donors like the Brawn family, Alberta Children's Hospital Foundation, Calgary Foundation, Calgary Flames Foundation, and local Rotary clubs. It offers a climbing structure, sports court, pavilion, meditation areas, and recreational elements, and is designed to promote mental health and well-being. The park is located adjacent to The Summit - a mental health and substance use facility dedicated to youth and children - at 1205 17A Street N.W.

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