I believe Justin Trudeau has made quite a decent prime minister, certainly at least a major improvement over his predecessor. The only important disappointment for me was the betrayal of his promise to end the current electoral system. In any case, his star has faded. He is unpopular with the
Continue readingTag: Calgary
Views from the Beltline: Calgary gets serious about housing
Somewhat surprisingly, we have an issue which all three major parties have agreed on. A housing crisis. There is even agreement on how to deal with it. Both the governing Liberals and the opposition Conservatives agree that cities must loosen zoning regulations and open up more opportunities for row housing,
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Wednesday Afternoon Links
Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading. – The Associated Press reports on how the climate breakdown is producing every form of extreme weather everywhere all at once, while E.M. Fischer et al. study how even more intense heat waves are an imminent possibility. And Brishti Basu points out how younger
Continue readingViews from the Beltline: Disaster city
“Canada is increasingly a riskier place to live, work and insure,” said Craig Stewart, Vice-President, Climate Change and Federal Issues, Insurance Bureau of Canada. The bureau’s stats back up Mr. Stewart’s words. Canada’s top 10 highest insurance loss years all occurred since 2011 with the exception of 1998, the year
Continue readingViews from the Beltline: Conservatives clash over housing
What do I know about Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre? He hates our prime minister. He loves cryptocurrency. If he’s elected PM, he will fire the governor of the Bank of Canada. He thinks everything in the country is broken and he will fix it by cutting taxes. Hmmm. Flaky. Is
Continue readingViews from the Beltline: Alberta—rural government in an urban province
The last century saw the greatest revolution in this country’s history. I refer to the mass migration from country to town. At Confederation, about 80 percent of Canadians lived in rural areas, today that’s less than 20 percent, and the trend continues. We have become an urban and suburban nation.
Continue readingSaskboy's Abandoned Stuff: Fires? What Fires?
It’s funny. Also sad, because it’s so believable. thebeaverton.com/2023/05/ucp-promises-to-build-giant-gas-powered-fans-to-clear-alberta-skies/ Smoke over Calgary and Regina. pic.twitter.com/a0lFKFh3Vs — John Klein (@JohnKleinRegina) May 22, 2023
Continue readingViews from the Beltline: For Alberta, sovereignty; for Calgary and Edmonton, supplication
One might think that Alberta’s provincial government would have the greatest respect for its subordinate level of governing—the municipalities. One might expect that to be especially true for the two major cities, Calgary and Edmonton. These are the closest level of government to the people for over half the province’s
Continue readingViews from the Beltline: Election manna: Calgary gets a new arena
The on-again, off-again project for a new arena in Calgary is on again. At twice the cost. Earlier this week The City of Calgary, the Calgary Sports and Entertainment Corporation (CSEC) and the province announced a $1.22 billion replacement for the Saddledome, a community rink, a public plaza and associated
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Embarrassed by premier’s telephone tête-à-tête with extremist facing criminal charges, UCP retreats to its safe space: Law ’n’ Order rhetoric
Sounding a mite panicked by the negative public response to Alberta Premier Danielle Smith’s willingness to bend rules to help political allies in trouble with the law, the United Conservative Party has retreated to its ideological safe space: Law ’n’ Order, with a side of dog-whistles and urban crime stereotypes.
Continue readingDJ Kelly | Ward 4: The Recall Petition Process and What Comes Next
By way of the agenda for the March 14 City Council meeting, we have our first glimpse at what The City of Calgary’s Recall Process will look like. If you are holding out for #RecallChu the picture is grim. The most noticeable obstacle is the comically large threshold the Province
Continue reading52 Ideas: Has the Alberta Legislature noticed what the 5th largest economy is doing?
If Albertans want to understand how economically viable our Natural Gas and Oil sector is, all we need to do is look towards California. California has the largest economy in the US. Its economic size is about twice the size of the next largest rival – Texas – and its
Continue readingDJ Kelly | Ward 4: My responses to the Province’s local elections and councillor accountability engagement
Today is the deadline for Albertans to submit their input as the provincial government develops updates to the Municipal Government Act and the Local Authorities Election Act on the topics of candidate eligibility, code of conduct rules, privacy of voter information, and the scope of third-party advertising rules. Below is the text of
Continue readingViews from the Beltline: Calgary—Canada’s most liveable city?
Is it? Is Calgary Canada’s most liveable city? I wouldn’t dare answer the question. My fellow Calgarians might bridle at my response. But the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) dares. And they say yes, it is. In fact they rate it with Zurich, Switzerland as the third most liveable city in the
Continue readingViews from the Beltline: I voted for the magpie
It’s official. The people have voted and The City of Calgary has declared its official bird. The winner is that little favourite, the black-capped chickadee. The decision will be confirmed at the June 7 council meeting. I was a supporter of the black-billed magpie myself. I see these cheeky rascals
Continue readingViews from the Beltline: Calgary’s three angry amigos
I have lived in Alberta a long time, all but four years under conservative governments—Social Credit, then Progressive Conservative, now UCP. Only for four years did I enjoy the governance of a social democratic party. I have never enjoyed that pleasure federally although I have found a number of Liberal
Continue readingDJ Kelly | Ward 4: Opinion: The machine is always right in Alberta’s municipal elections — and that’s wrong
Originally published in the Calgary Herald Opinion section on November 30, 2021. The day after Calgary’s municipal elections, the results said I lost Ward 4 by 52 votes. With it that close, I felt compelled to request a recount, just to be sure. What I thought would be a simple
Continue readingDJ Kelly | Ward 4: Release: DJ Kelly forced to withdraw application for Ward 4 Calgary City Council election judicial recount
For Immediate Release: November 25, 2021 – Calgary, Alberta DJ Kelly, candidate for Calgary City Council in Ward 4, is announcing the formal withdrawal of the judicial recount application for the Ward 4 results in the 2021 Calgary Municipal Election. A November 19 legal conference with Justice Davidson made clear
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Sunday Afternoon Links
This and that for your Sunday reading. – Stephanie Nolen examines (PDF) some of the inequality revealed and exacerbated by the COVID pandemic. Bonnie Allen reports on the tragic story of a Yorkton woman who died as a result of neglect and misinformation. Nancy Lapid points out the health risks
Continue readingDJ Kelly | Ward 4: Ward 4 judicial recount request filed
Last week I filed an application for a judicial recount of the recent election for councillor in Ward 4 and today we’ve heard the application has been received. The way that the Local Authorities Election Act is currently written this process appears to be the only mechanism to allow scrutineers
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