Calgary Minute: Maine Campaign, Commonwealth Games, and Water Fluoridation Delayed

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

This Week In Calgary:

• The Intergovernmental Affairs Committee will meet this morning at 9:30 am. The meeting was originally scheduled for Wednesday but was re-scheduled for this morning. The Committee will discuss the City’s 2024 Federal and Provincial Budget Recommendations - basically a wish list of things Council wants other levels of government to help pay for. This year’s wish list includes a Blue Line transit extension to the airport, the Foothills Multisport Fieldhouse, Olympic Plaza revitalization, and affordable housing, among others. Also on the agenda is a confidential update regarding the Rocky View County annexation negotiations.
  
  
• On Tuesday, at 9:30 am, there will be a Public Hearing Meeting of Council. The proposed name of “Huxley” for a new community is up for discussion, with associated roads to be called Huxbury, Huxland, Huxview, and Huxglen. Several land use amendments are also up for consideration.
  
  
• The Community Development Committee will meet on Thursday at 9:30 am, followed by a meeting of the Green Line Board at 1:00 pm. No agenda is available for either meeting yet.

Last Week In Calgary:

• ENMAX has donated $7.5 million to a political campaign in Maine. The state is facing an upcoming referendum to decide whether to dismantle its two largest privately-owned electric utilities and create a consumer-owned utility. ENMAX currently owns Versant Power, one of the electricity companies that faces dismantling. Versant sends a yearly dividend to ENMAX, and ENMAX provides a yearly dividend to the City of Calgary ($82 million this year). ENMAX has donated the $7.5 million to a non-profit organization, Maine Energy Progress, to oppose the move to a publicly-owned electricity entity. The Maine Ethics Commission lists ENMAX as a founding organization of that non-profit.
  
  
• Victoria, a state in Australia, has backed out of hosting the 2026 Commonwealth Games due to rising costs - which should be a sign to immediately halt the joint 2030 bid by Calgary, Edmonton, and the Tsuut'ina Nation. The cancellation is yet more proof that local economies rarely benefit from hosting international games, and that the events almost always run over budget. Around $3 million in provincial and municipal funding has already been spent exploring the feasibility of hosting the games - that’s more than enough money out the door already. Let’s not set ourselves up for a massive financial boondoggle. We'll have more to say in the coming days, but if you agree that there should be No Taxpayer Funding For The Commonwealth Games, sign our petition here.
  
  
• An updated timeline for adding fluoride back into Calgary’s drinking water was provided. A non-binding plebiscite during the 2021 municipal election resulted in a 62% vote in favour of fluoridation, after which Council voted to proceed with the task. The project was originally supposed to be completed sometime this year, and was then extended until June 2024. Now, the City says September 2024 is more realistic. Inflation and additional project scope have increased the costs for infrastructure at the two water treatment plants from $10.1 million to $28.1 million.

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