Blog

After spending 2 years as a member of the Audit Committee I now Chair the committee. This committee plays an important role in continually seeking ways to self-improve our governance, policy and performance targets at the City of Calgary. In the last week the Audit Committee has received quite a lot of attention due to …

This past weekend there was a shameful crime committed in Ward 11. The Calgary Jewish Center, among other locations, was vandalized with anti-Semitic graffiti. This was a horrific and thoughtless act of vandalism meant to cause harm far beyond the mere physical damage inflicted. The intent of this type of hate crime is to inflict …

On June 4th, I and my staff had a chance to visit the new Materials Recycling Facility, or MRF (pronounced ‘merf’). It’s located in SE Calgary and has been accepting the recyclables being collected by the Blue Cart program since it rolled out in April. The grand opening of the facility, complete with a “throwing …

On May 3rd I had the pleasure of leading a Jane’s Walk through Windsor Park, Britannia and Elboya. It was a beautiful sunny afternoon and about 30 people from across the city came out to discover some of the gems of Ward 11. I am incredibly proud of my communities and take any opportunity I …

On April 6th, Calgary City Council will debate whether to adopt a living wage policy. When this item came to committee last month, we heard over 30 submissions from the public. Social leaders, those who would directly benefit from the policy, local business and some of our city’s finest spiritual leaders made presentations to committee …

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 …

On March 11th, I had the opportunity to tour through The Cecil Hotel. The City of Calgary assumed possession of the hotel on February 27th and has been undergoing cleanup of the building since then. In the near future, the building will be razed and the site redeveloped to fit in with the East Village redevelopment …

Well, almost two weeks of a Chinook, and we are still dealing with snow issues on our streets. My office is still getting calls and emails from people looking for answers to getting their streets cleared. And winter isn’t anywhere near finished with us yet! In response to the volume of calls that we have …

There has been a lot of attention paid to the Council wage increase, and concern has been raised with me from some of my constituents about Council receiving a wage increase in these economic times. As this issue will be brought back to Council again this coming Monday, a little clarification is in order. Council …

I had the pleasure of attending a performance of The Invisible Project last week. This is a unique and moving piece of theatre I believe all should see and experience. It creatively gives voice to those in our community who are invisible, either by choice or by force. Running during the High Performance Rodeo at …