Calgary Minute: Schools Closed, Apartment Evacuations, and Extremely Cold Weather

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

This Week In Calgary:

• Welcome to the first edition of Calgary Minute for 2022! City Council will return from holiday at 1:00 pm on Thursday for a Calgary Planning Commission meeting. Council meetings will resume on January 11th.

• The Calgary Flames are on the ice this week - just not at home. Away games take place on Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. Home games will be rescheduled due to capacity restrictions in Canadian cities.

• Winter break has been extended for grades K-12. While school was originally set to resume this week, new provincial government restrictions have delayed the start of classes to January 10th. The Calgary Board of Education says more information will be shared with parents as it becomes available. The rise in Omicron cases prompted the delay - here we go again…

Last Week In Calgary:

• Despite frigid temperatures and rising Omicron cases, Calgary’s New Years fireworks went ahead, shooting from the Calgary Tower at midnight. The City suggested that people ring in the new year at home due to COVID-19 - perhaps they weren’t aware that fireworks take place outside?
  
  
• Extreme temperatures kept Calgarians more than just a little chilly over Christmas. Cold weather warnings were issued for much of Alberta, including our city. The extended spate of -20 to -30 C degree days kept City crews busy tackling water main breaks.

• The cold caused hundreds of Calgarians to be evacuated from their homes at a downtown apartment building. A burst pipe at Westview Heights led to flooding and loss of water, heat, and electricity. Most tenants stayed at nearby hotels until the landlords stopped footing the bill. The building owners say that they required all tenants to hold Tenants' Insurance, but many tenants say they are faced with the choice to pay out of pocket or head to homeless shelters if they don’t have the money for rooms.

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