It took 10 months and 5 inquiries, but ... newly released open-answer responses to the province's Alberta Next survey show widespread frustration with the process, with many calling it biased, one-sided, and lacking options to say “no”
Read the story (and the responses) ⬇
#ableg #abpoli
Saturday morning coffee reader for you today.
When can we expect a 'replace', and what might it look like? #yyc #calgary #yyccc
buff.ly/yhc0d2A
Governments that have to pick their voters to remain in power are not legitimate governments worthy of being called democratic. Politicians choosing their voters is about as undemocratic as it gets.
Elections are about people choosing their representatives, not politicians choosing their voters. Yet that is what the UCP is planning. It is planning to deliberately disenfranchise urban voters. Red Deer and Lethbridge would not exist as autonomous political entities. Calgary/Edmonton hurt too.
There is a reason that we do not have MLAs decide on electoral boundaries. Tossing out the Electoral Boundaries Commission and replacing it with a UCP-dominated committee is not just a bad idea. It is really bad for democracy. Ask the US, ask Hungary. This is not normal!
Technical investigations underway on extending Calgary’s Blue Line LRT in northeast
globalnews.ca/news/1177345...
I think Serene should be thanked by every Calgarian for spending her own time and money to make this data accessible and free. Regardless if where they sit on the repeal/keep argument.
I think Calgarians have been given a great gift by Serene, to have data of this quality and accessibility for free.
Who wasn’t heard at the public hearing on citywide rezoning? Turns out there’s data for that.
livewirecalgary.com/2026/04/09/p...
Smith - if we have new expanded ski resorts, integrated rail, "amazing" new stadiums and arenas, quick flights to Van (for bobsled and ski jump), maybe all Alberta would need to do is spiff up the Oval and - bam! - we could host the Olympics.
The headliners are always a big draw at the Calgary Folk Music Festival, but the festival's board chair said he likes to seek out the hidden gems. #yyc #calgary
Amery voted in favour of Bill 14; historically voting for a bill in which you have a conflict of interest would trigger a Ethics Commissioner investigation (there are plenty of examples of this)
Update for the Calgary regular fuel prices pre-and-post Iran conflict/war.
SCOOP: Alberta Justice Minister Mickey Amery curtailed Elections Alberta's power to penalize when Sam Mraiche was under investigation.
www.theglobeandmail.com/appview/cana... w @tomcardoso.bsky.social
More charts to come. The province only publishes a lot of the data in inaccessible PDFs, so I’m slowly working through all of those docs.
Education property taxes are in the news, so here are some charts. Calgary now provides ~35% of the provincial share of property taxes collected for education.
Across the board, Albertans have seen 3 years of big increases to their taxes after a period of flat and even declining tax collection.
"I'm sorry this is for journalists today- is that a serious question from the media?"
Reporter Sean Amato asks Minister Dan Williams if the UCP campaigned on library policy and muni code of conduct, with the minister pushing back claiming the question is a political motivated attack.
NEW: Calgary city council will recess the citywide rezoning public hearing tonight at 6pm and return on Tuesday morning at 9:30am. Even if the public hearing closes prior to 6pm, council is committing to holding off on Q's of admin/debate until next week.
Teaching the law requires consent of the public to be effective is also going to be tough
What a government bans is so frequently indicative of what they fear the most.
The City of Calgary says tests show water quality in the feeder main is good, and pumps are being turned on at the Bearspaw Water Treatment Plant. Water restrictions could be lifted as early as Thursday.
We really need to have a group meeting about what the words politics and ideology mean.
Making generational changes to things like planning and development can be politically costly, no matter how much sense it might make, writes Courtney Walcott, in his latest column for LWC. #yyc #calgary #yyccc
Hey, neighbour!
The Bearspaw Feeder Main repairs continue this week, but thanks to hard work of City of Calgary employees water is beginning to refill the pipe. As soon as the system is stable and if it is safe to do so, water restrictions will be lifted. This may occur as soon as Thurs, April 2.
NEW: City of Calgary officials say water restrictions could be lifted by as early as Thursday. The Bearspaw feeder main has been filled and the water is undergoing testing following weeks of reinforcement repairs.
Today a fixture of Calgary's Chinatown closed with the owners retiring. Something More closed with a final delicious $5 meal special for customers.
A chart of regular gasoline prices from 2024 through to March 26, 2026.
A chart of the trend in regular gasoline prices in Calgary. With the 2026 Iran conflict/war, we are now 11 cents higher per litre than the peak price in 2024.
I'll let the economists weigh in, but this is likely bad for affordability beyond just raw transportation costs.
Hey, neighbour!
Council heard from 46 people throughout day one of public hearings. By my count, 19 people said they were in favour of repealing citywide rezoning, 19 wanted to keep it, six expressed a desire to modify the current bylaw, and two presenters took a neutral stance.
I added in a drop out rate based on what I saw during the last public hearing. But I think it could go either way unless council speeds up.
Well council chambers hasn’t turned into wetlands filled with nature documentary videographers, so I’ll leave that up to interpretation.
