Calgary Minute: Heritage Day, New Taxes, and Expense Policy Reform

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

This Week In Calgary:

• Today is Heritage Day in Alberta, which means a day off work for many Calgarians. If you're planning to spend the day visiting one of our province's beautiful parks, note that Parks Canada is warning Albertans about long waits, and even no parking at many of the province's more popular attractions, despite the lack of international visitors.
  
  
• Calgary Council is now on its summer break. There are no full Council meetings scheduled in August, with the next full Council meeting currently planned for September 14th.
  
  
• Despite the break, however, there will be a Calgary Planning Commission meeting on Thursday at 1:00pm. The Committee will debate a number of land use amendments and development permits.

Last Week In Calgary:

• Council's recently passed mandatory mask bylaw came into force across the City on Saturday. Debate on whether or how the rules should apply to schools continues.
  
  
• In one breath Council promised a property tax freeze for 2021, then with the next breath they voted to have City Staff pursue implementing dozens of new taxes. If you're tired of this gross hypocrisy, help us fight Council's plan to make your life more expensive by signing our petition against these new taxes, then share it with your family, friends, and co-workers. Enough is enough, no new taxes!
  
  
• A new report found that City Council's expense policies need reform, noting "systemic issues" that need to be fixed. This is something that we at Common Sense Calgary have been pushing for, for years. One of the main problems with the current system is that Councillor's expenses are approved by a Committee of Council, chaired by Ray Jones - a Councillor!

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