Calgary Minute: Secret Reports, Job Losses, and the Green Elephant Green Line

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

This Week In Calgary:

• This morning there will be a Strategic Meeting of Council. This meeting will include a discussion of multiple COVID-19 relief packages as well as an item described only as an "Investigation Report" (which is, of course, secret, and won't be discussed in the public meeting).
  
  
• On Tuesday morning there will be a Special Meeting of Council where the only item of business is a motion by Councillor Carra to commemorate the 25th Anniversary of the commissioning of the HMCS Calgary and to "consider steps to celebrate and improve our unique Ship-City relationship". The proposal includes creating terms of reference for a new "Friends of HMCS Calgary" committee. Is this really a priority for the City right now and doesn't the City already have enough boards and committees? Surely a private non-profit could do this without the City getting involved?
  
  
• On Wednesday morning there will be a meeting of the Standing Policy Committee on Community and Protective Services. Committee members will review a briefing on the Multicultural Communications and Engagement report, the Calgary Police Service Annual Report 2019, and an administrative item on banning conversion therapy.

Last Week In Calgary:

• Unemployment numbers for April are in and, unsurprisingly Calgary's jobless rate has climbed to 10.8 percent, up from 8.6 percent in March. Don't forget, this only includes the 42,700 jobs officially lost in April, and not anyone who has given up looking for work, or anyone who is technically still employed even if they've been reduced to 0 hours a week. These are immensely difficult times for many Calgarians, with households across our City counting every penny and in desperate need of tax relief.
  
  
• Speaking of tax relief, or rather wasteful projects that are standing in the way of relief, the huge financial risk of the planned Green Line LRT is back in the news. While urban and business elites keep arguing over which *type* of wasteful Green Line we should build, regular Calgarians are facing job losses and skyrocketing taxes. The project never made sense even when it was first proposed, never mind after it was cut in half and the cost doubled. Now, with an economic crisis on our hands, the City must cancel the Green Line.
  
  
• Mayor Nenshi took aim at Premier Kenney over the province's plan to begin re-opening the economy. Nenshi thinks the province is going too fast and re-opening now "would be a mistake". Nevermind that the province is acting on the advice of the exact same experts Mayor Nenshi was praising just a few days ago. I guess the Mayor only thinks we should listen to the experts when they agree with him?

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