Councillors propose scaled back version of Green Line

“I know a woman who lives in the NE and works at a care home in the south. She has to go bus, train, bus, bus and then back again,” said Rev. Anna Greenwood-Lee with the Calgary Alliance for the Common Good. “That’s a ridiculous commute and we need to think carefully how we get people from one side of our city to the other.”  

During the Covid-19 pandemic, our Alliance took action by connecting with people, supporting our community, and reaching out. LiveWire Calgary published a story about local groups supporting isolated Calgarians at the beginning of the pandemic, and you can review the article here.

Ryan Andersen is the lead organizer of the Calgary Alliance for the Common Good, a coalition that brings together around 30 faith groups, union locals and community organizations representing about 35,000 people to organize, advocate and mobilize for a more just and compassionate vision for their city. Scott Neigh interviews him about the organization, about its slow and steady approach to community organizing, and about the victories it has won so far.

Our lead organizer, Ryan Andersen, was recently interviewed on the podcast. If you would like to listen the episode can be found here.

• Calgary Sprawl

The CBC published an opinion piece by our Lead Organizer Ryan Andersen on coming together during this time.

Greenwood-Lee added it’s time members of the community who aren’t high risk to take over from senior volunteers.

“I think we need to let our senior citizen volunteers have a bit of a pass on volunteering at the food bank for the next few months,” said Greenwood-Lee “Those of us who are younger, need to step up and help out at the food bank in their place.”

The Calgary Foodbank has been temporarily closed to put in place procedures to keep staff, volunteers and clients safe during the pandemic.  In this article by Global our Board Chair Anna Greenwood-Lee calls on others to step up and take the place of many high-risk volunteers as the pandemic continues.

Rev. Anna Greenwood-Lee, spokeswoman for the Calgary Alliance for the Common Good, said free transit during this time would be an ideal measure in the short term.

“I think tons of people who are shift workers and those who work minimum wage jobs, or people that are going to feel the financial crisis crunch during this pandemic, and the more we can do to help them, the better,” she said.

“Making transit free is kind of one less thing that people have to worry about.”

Our Board Chair Anna Greenwood-Lee was interviewed as part of this LiveWire Calgary article around the importance of low-income transit users being offered an opportunity for free transit during the pandemic.

The soft glow of church lighting surrounded a captive audience in Calgary, Alberta on October 17, 2019 — though it wasn’t a Sunday, and the congregation wasn’t listening to a preacher. Instead, Knox United Church played host to the newly formed Calgary Alliance for the Common Good, a strikingly diverse coalition of labour unions, religious groups, universities, and community organizations representing more than 30,000 Calgarians.

Rank and File wrote an article about the Calgary Alliance and the involvement of unions in our alliance. The article can be found here.

During the fall of 2019, as city council considered cuts to community services and the low-income transit pass, we mobilized. The result was that we preserved the low-income transit pass and changed the conversation at City Hall.

Here is some of the press our campaign received. 

In late December, the Calgary Board of Education cut its rebate program due to provincial budget cuts. Our board chair, The Rev. Anna Greenwood-Lee raised the alarm and drew attention to the issue via Twitter and to the greater public. Please read the article here.