Ward 11 Alderman Brian Pincott | City of Calgary Office of the Aldermen

There has been quite a furor over the "asian malls" referred to in a consultant's report commissioned by The City of Calgary. This report was background material for Plan It Calgary, which is developing our municipal plan for how we grow and build our city for the next 60 years.

The report, entitled Recommendations for City-Wide Commercial/Retail Policy, was a 400 page document with many recommendations pertaining to the retail/commercial equation in the City's overall plan for growth.

One of many recommendations the consultant made in the report was to pursue a dispersed model of ethnic retail development rather than a concentrated model. While this opinion could be argued, it is not racist. There were two lines within the report surrounding this recommendation that were poorly phrased, referring to ethnicity, and while the offensive phrasing has been expunged from the report, it is my feeling that Mr. Leung, the report's author, did not intend disparaging remarks against his own ethnic heritage, nor against the City where he was born and raised.

It is also important to understand why the recommendations were not accepted by the City, and are not, and never were, part of the Plan It Calgary proposals and recommendations. The City has no legislative capacity to determine the nature of the retail that is developed on a site beyond permissible uses according to the land-use bylaw, nor does the City have any desire to manage retail at this level.

Multi-culturalism is a key component and foundation of our City, not to mention our country. Diversity is something that benefits all of us; we are each enhanced by our exposure to other cultures and lifestyles. We should never do anything to limit that nor to cloister it.

We must not lose sight of the incredible importance of Plan It Calgary. We must not let a misplaced furor over recommendations that were never even considered be allowed to sidetrack or hijack what has been a robust and engaged process. Our future, our sustainability, our quality of life, depends far too much on our building a city which will be liveable and viable for our children and their children when they grow up.