Calgary Minute: Trivia Bus, Wealth Hub, and a Bike Lane Pilot

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

This Week In Calgary:

• Council is in recess for the month of August and there are no Committee meetings this week either.
  
  
• GlobalFest is back and in its 20th year. The fireworks and multicultural festival takes place at Elliston Park and features numerous food booths as well as cultural and musical performances. Each evening of the festival showcases a fireworks display from a particular country - team France lights up the sky on Tuesday followed by Germany on Thursday and a finale on Saturday.
  
  
• The Canadian Elite Basketball League is bringing professional basketball to Calgary. The current Guelph franchise will move and begin playing at WinSport in the 2023 season. There will be a public unveiling of the nickname, logo, and colours in the near future, as well as an announcement about ticketing.

Last Week In Calgary:

• The City launched a pilot project aimed at reducing traffic in the community of Riverbend. Bike lanes have been set up to run north and south on 18 Street S.E. between Quarry Park Blvd and Rivervalley Drive S.E., reducing 18 Street S.E. to a single lane of traffic. Ward 11 Councillor Kourtney Penner said the pilot is in response to some concerns she has heard about traffic and safety. The bike lane will reduce the road width, thereby enforcing the speed limit. According to Penner, the intention of the pilot project is to “have a conversation” about the future of community streets. We’re pretty sure the conversation is supposed to take place BEFORE the City goes ahead with something though, isn't it?
  
  
• In case you missed commuters belting out show tunes on their way home from work during last month’s karaoke bus, the City has another option for you. A trivia bus was launched that lets riders test their pop culture and general knowledge. It seems like the City are doing everything possible to avoid actually dealing with the actual thing deterring people from using transit - crime. Let’s end the gimmicks and get to work on the real problem - people don’t want to feel unsafe while commuting.
  
  
• TD Bank has chosen Calgary as the location of its new western Canadian wealth hub. The purpose of the hub is to expand the financial planning business and allow entry-level associates to learn and become full-fledged financial planners and advisers. The Calgary location will be the company's third in Canada. TD noted that Calgary’s high population of post-secondary educated people was a factor in the decision. Twenty-four people have already been hired.

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