Today is national Indigenous Peoples Day. It is a day to celebrate, remember, learn and walk together.

"When religion functions well in a democratic society, it becomes a voice of conscience. As religious Calgarians, we have something to teach. We are committed, like many others, to building a just and compassionate community.

"And that commitment matters."

- Rabbi Mark Glickman pic.twitter.com/EYoqI0vNOP

— Calgary Alliance for the Common Good (@CommonGoodYYC) June 10, 2022

Rabbi Mark Glickman was elected chair of the Calgary Interfaith Council the other week. During his remarks, he shared a commentary on why faith leaders and those who build community must be a part of the public discourse.

Rev. Tony Snow and Christine Laing spoke on our behalf at city council this week on the subject of the proposed Climate Strategy. Below is a recording of the presentation by the Calgary Alliance for the Common Good at city council, with Rev. Tony Snow (Hillhurst United Church) and Christine Laing (co-chair of our Environment Research Action Team) being our primary presenters.

Welcome ActionDignity, Engineers Without Borders (Calgary), and the Cerebral Palsy Alberta!

The Calgary Alliance is proud to showcase the joining of three new members of the Calgary Alliance!

Here are our three newest members:

• ActionDignity,
• Cerebral Palsy Alberta, and
• Engineers Without Borders.

At the heart of our work as the Calgary Alliance is listening. By listening, we build relationships, find leaders and transform our personal and community's struggles into winnable public issues.

All of this happens through our listening campaign. Listening campaigns how we ensure that that issues that we take on together are rooted in the experiences and struggles of our members. When we listen we don’t just listen for issues. We look for where there is energy in our communities.

There are over 500 places in Calgary devoted to cultures and spirituality and not one is specifically intended for Indigenous peoples. The Indigenous peoples have been asking for an Indigenous Gathering Place for over 5 years. Such a place matters not only to Indigenous peoples, but to all Calgarians as a space to learn and as a commitment to truth and reconciliation in action.

Victory!

Late last night, Calgary’s City Council voted 13-2 to declare a climate emergency and call to action. This motion included a clear direction to city administration to make Calgary a Net-Zero city by 2050.

ActionDignity and the Calgary Alliance for the Common Good welcomed over 1,450 attendees (across Zoom and Facebook Livestream) for a mayoral forum, bringing together undecided Calgarians on one of the most important Calgary elections in a decade.

You can view the recording of the event on Youtube here or on the original Facebook live stream, here.

This October our city is electing a new mayor.

And one week from now we're hosting the candidates running for the position.

Join the Calgary Alliance for the Common Good and Action Dignity for a mayoral forum. Hear from the candidates about their vision for the city and help our city pick our next mayor.

The Calgary Alliance is seeking a dynamic community organizer who will be a part of our team working to gather leaders and build an organization that can bring about significant change for the common good in our city.