Calgary Minute: Water Restrictions, Park Redevelopment, and Suspended Animal Surrenders

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

This Week In Calgary:

• Council is still on summer vacation, so there are no meetings at City Hall. But, despite the vacation, the City made a new tool available to help residents beat the heat. An interactive map can help you locate water fountains, splash parks, libraries, and other places to keep cool. You can enter your address here to find the cooling space nearest you.
  
  
• Calgary is ready to help evacuees fleeing the wildfires in the Northwest Territories. Residents of Yellowknife were forced to evacuate their homes, and Calgary is offering assistance to 5,000 people, connecting them with accommodation, transportation, and meal vouchers.
  
  
• The Calgary Humane Society is suspending animal intake. They have been operating over capacity for much of the year, and still have a waitlist. About 250 dogs, 35 exotic animals, and more than 60 cats are waiting to be surrendered and are being triaged according to medical need. The Humane Society says it receives 30 to 40 new inquiries per day. Rising costs of pet goods, as well as the challenge of finding rental homes that allow pets, are contributing to the increase in surrendering animals.

Last Week In Calgary:

• The City implemented Stage 1 water restrictions on account of drought conditions. Stage 1 restrictions prohibit residents from washing cars, sidewalks, driveways, or walkways, filling fountains or decorative water features, washing outdoor windows, or cleaning exterior building surfaces. However, residents are still able to water lawns on specific days and times based on their address, as well as fill outdoor pools. There are additional stages of restrictions if necessary, and violations can come with fines of $400.
  
  
• In a rather bizarre move, the Alberta NDP publicly called out the mayors of Calgary and Edmonton, demanding that they step up and fight the Alberta government’s pause on renewable energy permits. Joe Ceci, NDP MLA for Calgary-Buffalo, tweeted that “It’s time for YYC City Council to step up”. He then went on to remind Council that they had declared a climate emergency, and declared that the pause on renewables “works against City Council’s best interests”. Mayor Jyoti Gondek let Ceci know, also via tweet, that he could feel free to speak with Council directly in the future.
  
  
• The George Moss Park redevelopment got underway. Located in Ogden, the park is being redeveloped by the Parks Foundation Calgary, and is due to be complete in the fall. The project got started when locals realized that neighbourhood kids were playing basketball on a small concrete pad, without a proper space to use. The redevelopment will include a basketball court and a community plaza, and will be located 200 meters away from a future Green Line station. George Moss Park is the first of six projects that the Parks Foundation will be working on along the Green Line.

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