Our Budget Submission To Council

City Council spent hours this week hearing from members of the public about the budget - and as usual, many of the presenters were there to ask for more spending, more programs, and more tax dollars.

But one voice stood out - yours!

Peter McCaffrey - who has been speaking at these budget hearings for more than a decade - spoke to Council representing all 55,000 supporters of Common Sense Calgary.

Written using all the ideas you've sent us in emails and feedback in recent months, his message was simple:

Calgarians are tired of City Hall spending money on things that aren’t their job, while simultaneously failing to even do a good job at the things that are their job!

He also reminded Council that:

• City Hall's spending has increased every single year, even when taxes were temporarily frozen, and when the City talks about spending "cuts", they're actually just talking about slower increases in spending.

• Council should focus on core responsibilities - roads, snow clearing, water, waste, and public safety - not provincial responsibilities like climate change and corporate welfare.

• Council can’t justify spending based on flashy “economic impact” claims while ignoring the indirect cost of taking money out of the private sector.

• And according to the City’s own survey, just 10% of Calgarians want expanded services and higher taxes - yet that’s exactly what this budget delivers.

You can watch his remarks here:

While many speakers urged Council to spend more, Common Sense Calgary was there to say what most Calgarians are thinking:

Stop doing things that aren’t your job, focus on core responsibilities, and respect taxpayers.

If you value having someone stand up at City Hall and speak for you - not for the spend-more crowd - then please consider making a donation to support our work:

Every contribution strengthens our ability to show up at Council, challenge bad spending decisions, and push for the common-sense priorities Calgarians actually want.

Thank you for being part of this movement.

- The Common Sense Calgary Team