Calgary Minute: Issue 366

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

📅 This Week In Calgary: 📅

• City Council will meet on Tuesday morning at 9:00 am. One of the most consequential items on the agenda is a vote to end the CTrain Free Fare Zone - the downtown stretch of the CTrain that has been free to ride since 1981. The Infrastructure and Planning Committee voted 7-4 to recommend elimination, with the primary justification being transit safety: fares give officers clearer authority to remove disruptive riders from the system. Ending the zone would also generate up to $5 million per year in new fare revenue. A public survey drew over 10,800 responses, and 85% of downtown businesses surveyed expect the change to have negative impacts on foot traffic and commerce.
  
  
• Also on Tuesday's agenda are two competing motions to rescind Calgary's 2021 Climate Emergency declaration. Councillor Andre Chabot and Councillors Landon Johnston and Chabot jointly are bringing separate motions to Council. Chabot's version goes a step further by calling for a value-for-money audit of all climate-related spending since the declaration was adopted. The City's own figures show that in 2025 alone, climate-related expenditures totalled $26 million in operating costs, $22 million in one-time spending, and $214.6 million in capital spending. A previous attempt to rescind the declaration under the previous Council failed 10-4, but with 10 of 14 current Councillors being rookies elected in 2025, the vote is expected to be closer this time.
  
  
• Calgary's CFO is bringing a Long-Range Financial Plan to Council on Tuesday that paints a stark picture of the City's fiscal trajectory. The CFO's report identifies a $27 billion capital funding gap over the next decade, driven by population growth, aging infrastructure, and structural gaps between revenue and expenditure. The report also explicitly states that incremental property tax increases alone will not close the gap, and notes that past "efficiency" gains largely reflected service cuts rather than genuine productivity improvements. The plan covers the period from 2024 to 2040 and is intended to directly inform the upcoming 2027-2030 budget cycle. Council will be asked to receive the report and provide direction on how to proceed.
  
  
• Council will also receive a briefing on the City's Zero Base Review program, which is now underway. KPMG, the firm hired to lead the review, has selected its three pilot areas: Calgary Transit, Mobility, and Marketing & Communications. The $4 million program runs from June 2026 through February 2028, after which Council will decide whether to expand the zero-base approach citywide. The Zero Base Review asks departments to justify their spending from the ground up rather than treating prior-year budgets as a baseline - a method that can surface inefficiencies that incremental reviews miss. The choice of Calgary Transit and Marketing & Communications as two of the three pilot areas is notable given ongoing public scrutiny of both.
  
  
• Calgary United Soccer Association (CUSA) Executive Director Stacey Hatcher says City-owned natural grass soccer fields are in poor condition at the start of the 2026 outdoor season. Complaints from CUSA include uncut grass, potholes on playing surfaces, missing line markings, and broken floodlights. At least one player has already been injured after catching a foot in a pothole. The Forest Lawn field has been closed until the end of June, and four fields at New Brighton Athletic Park are also down for maintenance. The City acknowledges it has not added a single outdoor natural-grass field since New Brighton opened in 2016, even as bookings have risen significantly over that decade. CUSA is documenting the deficiencies and has requested a meeting with the City to discuss solutions.

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