Critics pleased with decision that avoids using peace officers, security guards

Christine Laing, a board member with the Calgary Alliance for the Common Good, said her group is pleased to see Calgary Transit staffing the CTrains with helpers who are not peace officers or security guards.

“This is an excellent start,” said Laing. “It gives you good information about what the needs of the people using transit really are. And you can deploy it in a variety of ways to improve services across the board.”

Laing said security guards and peace officers have compliance and enforcement as the central part of their job, and that changes the relationship between the transit user and the officer they’re speaking with. She said it’s better if people can interact with someone who is not in uniform and is there to assist and help.

Laing had previously raised concerns about an added police presence on CTrains last spring as a way of dealing with increased social disorder on the system.

More than 100 Calgarians lined up at city hall on Tuesday to have their say about the city’s upcoming four-year budget.

The public hearing, on the second day of the city’s budget deliberations, featured citizens and community organizations, with transit and climate initiatives a common theme throughout the day.

• "From transit to climate, Calgarians speak on proposed four-year budget (Global Calgary)
  

Rev. Erin Klassen joined CTV Morning News to discuss the budget deliberations at city hall during budget week 2022. Watch the full clip at 1:24:30 at CTV News.

Many speakers, including Steve Bentley of the Calgary Climate Hub, were critical of the budget’s lack of funding for climate initiatives.

“This budget is supposed to be our net-zero launch,” he said. “Between this council and the next, that’s us either missing or meeting our 2030 net zero goals. Does this feel like a net-zero launch budget to you? I’m not feeling it."

• Citizens call for climate action, better transit at Calgary budget public hearings Transit, climate action and public safety were the common themes that kept coming up again and again (Calgary Herald)

"I think the increased cost for transit reduces the accessibility in general. It impacts folks' everyday budgets. It puts the cost onto the users," said Erin Klassen with the Calgary Alliance for the Common Good, a community advocacy group.

Klassen says the budget does not align with some of the goals and priorities council has set out in its first year.

"The desire to reduce mental health challenges, addiction, homelessness and systemic racism experienced by Calgarians every day," are all priorities for council, Klassen said. "But then cuts to the sections of the city that would support those things."

Ryan Andersen, lead organizer of the Calgary Alliance for the Common Good, said continually building outward has climate implications, and the city has already declared a climate emergency.

He also said suburban sprawl comes with financial costs.

“It stretches our police services and stretches our fire services, and there’s no actual tax revenue until those communities are filled up,” Andersen said.

He said with that added financial pressure, the city could be forced to cut services that people depend on, in order to provide more basics at the edges of the city.

“We have more than enough communities that already have enough spaces to build housing for the next 20 years. So why are we creating these budgetary pressures for, you know, on services but also for all Calgarians?” he asked.

• Calgary Herald: "As city prepares to approve more new communities, development industry defends building outward" 

Members of the Calgary Climate Hub and the Calgary Alliance for the Common Good rallied outside the Calgary Municipal Building Tuesday, July 5, 2022 when the climate strategy was being debated at city council. DARREN KRAUSE / LIVEWIRE CALGARY

Members of the Calgary Climate Hub and the Calgary Alliance for the Common Good sang “Give Earth a Chance” in front of the Calgary Municipal Building on Tuesday, July 5, 2022. DARREN KRAUSE / LIVEWIRE CALGARY

• "Calgary City council approves climate strategy."

In 2021, the City of Calgary joined more than 2,000 international and Canadian jurisdictions to express their commitment to address climate change.

Dr. Beth Stovell with the Calgary Alliance for the Common Good was at the rally outside City Hall, and says it will ultimately cost Calgary more not to address the climate problem.

“This would include something like if you decided to get an electric car, that would be part of that number and it also doesn’t fully see the other side which is how much climate change actually costs us,” she said. “So, if we think about the cost to how much we spend ratio, it’s actually good for our economy, rather than bad for our economy to do this.”

A strategy that guides the City of Calgary towards its goal of net-zero emissions by 2050 was approved by city councillors, late Tuesday night.

• "City council greenlights climate strategy to get Calgary to net-zero by 2050"

Members of the Calgary Alliance for the Common Good and the Calgary Climate Hub will be outside city hall Tuesday afternoon to show their support for Calgary Climate Strategy - Pathways to 2050.

"When my kids and I go for walks in our nearby park, they ask, 'Mom, what are we doing to keep this place nice?' My kids are worried about what climate change will do to this city that they love. Our choices today can be beneficial or harmful to the generations that follow us. Climate issues disproportionately impact the most vulnerable in our city," said Dr. Beth Stovell, a spokesperson for Calgary Alliance for the Common Good.