Calgary Minute: Protest Prohibition, Green Line, and a Commonwealth Games Petition

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

This Week In Calgary:

• On Tuesday, at 9:30 am, there will be a Regular Meeting of City Council. On the agenda is a proposed Safe and Inclusive Access Bylaw which would prohibit “specified protests” within 100 metres of the entrances to public libraries, city-owned recreation facilities, and city-affiliated recreation centres. The bylaw would also prohibit these “specified protests” inside the aforementioned facilities. Maximum penalties would be fines of up to $10,000 or one year in prison, or both. Council will also discuss an amendment to the Public Behaviour Bylaw to include “intimidation” as a form of street harassment. Both of these proposals seem clearly unconstitutional.
  
  
• The Intergovernmental Affairs Committee will meet on Wednesday at 9:30 am. No agenda is available for this meeting yet.
  
  
• The Community Development Committee will meet on Thursday at 9:30 am. No agenda is available for this meeting yet either.

Last Week In Calgary:

• The Cities of Calgary and Edmonton, along with the Province, the Tsuut’ina Nation, and the federal government, officially launched the exploration phase of bidding for the 2030 Commonwealth Games. After Calgarians resoundingly rejected an Olympic bid in 2018, it appears the City just couldn’t take no for an answer. No budget was announced for the Alberta games, but the 2022 budget for the Birmingham Commonwealth Games exceeded $1.2 billion. Common Sense Calgary has partnered with Common Sense Edmonton and the Alberta Institute to oppose the use of any public funding on the Commonwealth Games. If you agree, click here to sign our petition.
  
  
• The City released a request for proposals for tunnel work around the future site of the Ogden station on the Green Line LRT project. The work includes extending 78th Avenue SE under the CP rail tracks, building a new road network on the east side of the tracks, and constructing a pedestrian tunnel under the tracks near 72nd Avenue SE. A bridge for the CP Rail line at 78th Avenue will also be built to allow vehicles to go under it. Work is scheduled to begin this summer, and the City is expecting to award the contract soon.
  
  
• The opening of Calgary’s first pediatric mental health hospital was announced. The Summit: Marian & Jim Sinneave Centre for Youth Resilience will provide no-cost walk-in therapy sessions, services to address escalating symptoms to keep youth out of acute care, and a day hospital to transition patients out of round-the-clock treatment. It will serve approximately 8,000 children and families annually on its three floors. The Province is providing $10 million in annual operating funds for the $39-million treatment centre.

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