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There remains a stark contrast between Alberta’s two leading political parties at the halfway mark of the 28-day election campaign, as the United Conservative Party and NDP stake their claim on issues and try to increase support before the April 16 vote, political watchers say.

While both parties have sought to set the political agenda for voters, it’s become clear they have little common ground, according to David Stewart, a political scientist at the University of Calgary.

“It seems to have been, in part, a real struggle to define what the issue of the campaign will be,” he said, pointing to the UCP’s attempts to keep the conversation focused on the economy, pipelines, carbon tax and the NDP’s co-operation with the federal government.

Meanwhile, NDP Leader Rachel Notley has focused on social policy, while also criticizing UCP Leader Jason Kenney’s health care and education policies.

“They’re not fighting over the same issue really,” said Stewart.

“The difficulty for the New Democrats is it’s not enough for them to get the same vote that they had last election in Calgary. They need to improve that substantially. Their vote could actually go up a bit in Calgary and they could lose a lot of seats.”

Still, momentum seems to be on the NDP’s side, according to Jared Wesley, a political science professor at the University of Alberta.

Wesley said he’s been tracking political conversations on Twitter to measure how well parties are executing their communication strategies this election campaign. The first turning point came on March 25, when Kenney announced the UCP’s education platform during an event in Calgary.

Kenney said a UCP government would replace Alberta’s School Act, or Bill 24, with the former Progressive Conservative government’s Education Act. The NDP’s Bill 24 attempted to prevent school staff from outing LGBTQ kids in gay-straight alliances to their parents or guardians.

“That really took off on Twitter and saw the NDP actually seize the momentum of the campaign and seize the agenda, really, for the next three or four days,” Wesley said.

“That GSA blip, that spike in GSA discussions has actually translated to broader gains by the NDP. More people are talking about NDP issues on Twitter than conservative-owned issues, so maybe it provided a catalyst or a boost.”

Hundreds of supporters came out for the Calgary March for Gay-Straight Alliances at Marda Loop and marched to Doug Schweitzer’s camapign office in Calgary on Thursday, March 28, 2019. Darren Makowichuk/Postmedia

An Ekos Research poll of 1,015 participants conducted March 15 to 26, commissioned by union group Unifor, also suggests the NDP is closing the gap in Calgary, with 42 per cent support to the UCP’s 46 per cent.

“That poll didn’t even capture week two of the campaign, so a lot of that momentum was actually pre-GSA and they’re within four points,” Wesley said. “They had a lot of ground to make up . . . but so far the momentum seems to be with them.”

University of Lethbridge political scientist Geoffrey Hale said he predicts the race will tighten in the weeks to come as undecided voters continue evaluating their choices.

“The question is how much and with what effect, but I think it’s possible that we will have more of a horse race,” Hale said.

He added it’s unclear how effective either party has been in winning the “personality campaign,” as the UCP seeks to highlight the so-called “Notley-Trudeau alliance,” while the NDP looks to “use Jason Kenney as a bludgeon to persuade undecided voters that the conservatives cannot be trusted.”

“I’m not sure how effective that is for people who haven’t already bought the line,” Hale said of the roughly one-fifth of voters who were undecided at the beginning of the campaign.

He said the outcome of the vote could very well be determined by the performances of Notley and Kenney at this Thursday’s leaders debate.

“You have two experienced people in Jason Kenney and Rachel Notley. There will be a certain tendency to reinforce the base in both cases, but it will come down to how the swing voters view the debates, if it’s seen as a draw,” Hale said.

shudes@postmedia.com
Twitter.com/SammyHudes

Bar owners on 17th Avenue S.W. will be seeing a lot of red on the mile now that the Calgary Flames have clinched the top seed in the NHL’s Western Conference heading into a playoff run.

The Flames secured home-ice advantage through the first three rounds of the playoffs, should they continue to advance, thanks to a 5-3 victory over the San Jose Sharks on Sunday.

And with many restaurants and shops on 17th Avenue struggling, the win has bar owners hopeful the team will give businesses a boost while making a run at Lord Stanley’s cup.

“I think everybody is excited,” said Ernie Tsu, owner of Trolley 5 Restaurant & Brewery. “Obviously they are playing very well right now.”

When the Red Mile got its start during the Flames’ 2004 run to the Stanley Cup final, Trolley 5 was Melrose Cafe and Bar — ground zero for fans flocking to 17th Avenue to celebrate wins and lament losses.

An unidentified Calgary Flames fan high-fives a row of patio-drinkers at the Melrose on 17th Avenue Thursday night following the Flames’ win over Colorado during the team’s 2004 playoff run. Tim Fraser / Calgary Herald

But times have been lean on the mile as of late. Construction along 17th Avenue will enter its third year this spring, part of a $44 million project to rebuild the road, upgrade facilities and improve pedestrian access between Macleod Trail S.E. and 14th Street S.W.

The city will be stopping construction while the Flames are in the playoffs, but a total of 29 businesses on 17th Avenue S.W. closed in just two months this past winter. Many of the closed shops have blamed the construction and the city’s property tax crisis as reasons for shutting down.

But Tsu said Flames fever is already having an impact on the bar’s bottom line. About two months ago, Trolley 5 put up their “Heart of the Red Mile” sign outside the bar, and Tsu said the bar has been packed for every Flames game since.

“I think it’s perfect timing for all the business on 17^th that have endured the construction so far and, of course, the crazy property taxes which the city is currently working through,” Tsu said.

Police holding their perimeter to prevent celebrating Flames fans from spilling out in the traffic on 17th Ave SW after the Flames 3-0 win over San Jose Sharks during the 2004 post-season. Mikael Kjellstrom / Calgary Herald

Jamesons Pub on 17th owner Steve Marakis shared Tsu’s hope that a playoff berth will mean the return of large, thirsty crowds.

“Calgary definitely needs a boost. It’s been a tough time the last three or four years, so it’s good to see them make the playoffs,” Marakis said. “The avenue’s kind of lost a little bit of its appeal, I think, so hopefully the Flames can re-ignite that.”

And while the Red Mile of old was known for hard-partying Flames fanatics, Tsu and Marakis say police have learned how to manage the crowds and both owners are optimistic fans will keep things civil during the celebrations.

As far as the team’s chances, Tsu said fans at Trolley 5 think it’s all a matter of who is between the pipes; David Rittich or Mike Smith.

“I think that’s what everybody’s only hesitation is: Which goalie are they going to run with, and are they going to be able to get hot once the playoffs start?” Tsu said.

RRumbolt@postmedia.com

On Twitter: @RCRumbolt

City council is looking at possible tax hikes on homeowners to tackle the downtown tax shift that has left a $250 million hole in municipal finances, but a final decision won’t come until next week.

Time is running out for the city to finalize the 2019 tax rates for businesses and homeowners and a decision had been expected at Monday’s meeting.

But after hours of debate, council ultimately voted to postpone a decision to the April 8 meeting where two potential solutions will be on the table to stem the financial hemorrhage caused by Calgary’s empty downtown office towers.

Both solutions would include shifting some of the tax burden in 2019 onto homeowners to alleviate the pressure on businesses.

“The question is how quickly do you want to move?” Mayor Naheed Nenshi said Monday evening.

“If you move more quickly, it means the residential taxes increase by more, but that means that you need to rebate them or let the residences live with the higher increase. If you move a bit more slowly, then the increases are more moderated (and) stay within the range of what was in our budget.”

Calgary’s struggling economy and persistently low downtown property values have resulted in a drastic shift in the non-residential tax burden; shrinking tax revenues from the downtown have triggered a redistribution of tax burden to non-residential properties outside the core through the city’s revenue-neutral assessment process.

Businesses in inner-city neighbourhoods like the Beltline and Kensington, as well as in suburban and industrial areas, have seen massive tax hikes in recent years.

If nothing is done to deal with the problem, more than half of all non-residential properties will see a 10 per cent or greater hike in property taxes in 2019, according to city estimates.

Monday’s meeting saw council whittle down the potential solutions on the table from eight to two.

The first scenario, brought forward by Nenshi, would see non-residential property taxes cut by more than two per cent in 2019. The cut would be achieved through a combined tax hike on homeowners and by using up “tax room” leftover from the province’s share of property taxes.

Nenshi presenting a proposal that includes moderate tax hikes on homeowners and a new non-residential grant program for businesses that are struggling (NO details on how this would work yet). This plan would also FREEZE non-res tax rate for next 3 years. #yyccc #yyc pic.twitter.com/kKnjWT5OND

— Meghan Potkins (@mpotkins) April 1, 2019

Nenshi’s proposal would also involve the creation of a whole new grant program to support small businesses, a $70-million fund that would be administered through a grant application process over the next two years.

In the second scenario, Coun. Jyoti Gondek proposed a more radical tax hike on homeowners to give businesses an even bigger break.

Currently, businesses shoulder the burden of 55 per cent of the municipal budget, while homeowners carry 45 per cent. Gondek’s proposal would shift the split to a more equitable 51-49 split in 2019 — but not without some pain for homeowners.

Some of that pain would be mitigated through a $61-million tax rebate plan, Gondek says, but actual numbers on what the impact would be for the average home were not available in time for Monday’s meeting.

Both plans would require the city to find budget efficiencies over the next three years.

Mayor Naheed Nenshi was photographed during a Calgary council session on Monday April 1, 2019. Council is debating shifting some business taxes to property taxes. Gavin Young/Postmedia

“It goes in the direction that we have been asked to go in,” Nenshi said. “And it moves us to that more equitable ratio over the course of two or three years — and that really is what businesses are asking.”

But some council members disagree with the two strategies, arguing the onus should be on the city to make more budget cuts.

Coun. Evan Woolley said he was disappointed Monday that council rejected his plan to cut $100 million from city budgets in 2019.

Woolley also criticized his colleagues for delaying the decision another week after months have gone by without council implementing a plan.

“We are unwilling to take a deeper look at our own budgets and (find) those efficiencies,” Woolley said. “We’re unwilling to make a decision. We’ve punted this for another week. We’ve got to get the tax bills out the door. Our CFO begged us to make this decision today.

“This is a super complex challenge and I’m disappointed obviously with where we’re at.”

A proposal to draw down municipal reserves that were previously earmarked for the four major capital projects — a new arena and field house, as well as an expansion of the BMO Centre and Arts Commons — was also rejected.

On April 8, council will decide whether to retain the 3.45 per cent hike for homeowners approved in the four-year budget last November or whether to increase taxes further in response to the tax shift crisis.

mpotkins@postmedia.com
Twitter: @mpotkins

TURNER VALLEY — United Conservative Party leader Jason Kenney took aim at NDP rival Rachel Notley’s energy policies Tuesday, saying as premier he’d work to restore investor confidence in Alberta’s oil and gas sector.

Speaking in Turner Valley, about 70 kilometres south of Calgary, the UCP leader said Notley’s government has caused a “crisis in our energy sector that is fuelling a jobs crisis in our economy.”

“Tens of billions of dollars of investment have fled Alberta’s oil and gas sector,” he said. “That money has not left the oil and gas industry, it’s left Alberta.”

Kenney said a UCP government would reform the Alberta Energy Regulator to speed up well approvals; it would guarantee through legislation that the royalty regime — in place when a well is permitted — remains in place for that project in perpetuity; and, it would intervene at all National Energy Board hearings that affect Alberta’s oil and gas interests.

A review of the Alberta Energy Regulator would be conducted within 180 days “to identify efficiencies in both the budget and regulations.”

He added his party would streamline regulations that hinder the energy industry and work with stakeholders “to get a fair price” for Alberta natural gas, including support for LNG infrastructure to the west coast.

A lack of pipeline access is forcing natural gas producers in Alberta to sell their product at discounts of as much as 70 per cent, Kenney said.

Among his promises, Kenney noted that the UCP would encourage diversification by supporting growth of the petrochemical industry and would accelerate the reclamation of abandoned well sites, while streamlining the process for environmental reclamation.

Kenney added he’d facilitate Indigenous financial participation in resource projects and infrastructure.

He also repeatedly referenced the “Trudeau-Notley Alliance” on Tuesday, a frequent UCP talking point throughout the election campaign that criticizes co-operation between Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Notley while she’s been premier.

Notley called those accusations “irresponsible” earlier in the day.

But the UCP leader said it is Trudeau and Notley policies, not global oil prices, that are primarily responsible for high unemployment in the province’s energy sector and for the partially-empty office towers in downtown Calgary.

“If this was about price, they wouldn’t be going through an unprecedented oil boom in Texas. It’s about policy,” Kenney said.

Under Kenney’s leadership, a UCP government would launch a “fight back strategy” against opponents of Alberta’s oil and gas sector. That would include forming “alliances” with pro-pipeline provincial governments like Saskatchewan, Ontario, Manitoba and New Brunswick, as well as pro-development First Nations.

“We will make it clear to provinces like B.C. if they block our energy that we’ll be prepared to turn off the taps and we’ll make it clear to Ottawa: no pipelines, no equalization,” Kenney said, referencing a part of the UCP platform to hold a referendum on cancelling Alberta’s equalization payments in 2021 if there hasn’t been progress on pipeline construction by then.

On Monday, Notley took aim at Kenney’s pledge to cancel a $3.7 billion NDP plan to daily move 120,000 barrels of Alberta oil by rail until better pipeline access arrives.

“The economic consequences of restricted markets are bad enough, but we don’t need to be doing it to ourselves,” she said.

“That’s not how a premier should act . . . You can count on us to move it to market.”

Meanwhile, Alberta Party Leader Stephen Mandel announced a new strategy Tuesday that would see the construction of an Alberta-to-Alaska railway and pipeline corridor.

The rail line, pegged at $15 billion, would allow Alberta products to bypass B.C. and connect Fort McMurray with the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System at Delta Junction, where it would take oil to the tidewater Port of Valdez. It would provide one million barrels per day of capacity, equivalent to the Energy East pipeline proposal.

It’s an idea that could have support in the U.S., as Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy asked President Donald Trump in a Feb. 13 letter for a permit to extend an Alaska rail line into Canada.

Railcars would carry passengers and freight, including bitumen, potash used in fertilizer, and ore from mines, according to the proposal.

Kenney, who has promised to repeal a provincial carbon tax introduced by Notley’s NDP government, said his plan is best positioned to tackle climate change without hurting the economy.

In a report released Monday, Environment Canada scientists sounded an alarm that Canada is warming up twice as fast as the rest of the world, causing irreversible changes to climate.

“We take the challenge of climate change seriously which is why we proposed a common sense alternative to the job-killing carbon tax,” Kenney said in response to a question on the report.

“In fact, our levy on major industrial emitters would reduce carbon emissions by almost as much as the NDP’s plan, with much less economic damage. So it is the right balance between controlling carbon emissions and allowing our economy to grow.”

Notley, however, said the report proves a Kenney government would be ill-equipped to lead the province.

“It indicates, first of all, you need a climate change plan,” she said.

—With files from Bill Kaufmann and the Associated Press

shudes@postmedia.com
Twitter.com/SammyHudes

Family members of a missing hunter said they prayed to God, in hopes their loved one would be found alive and safe.

Those prayers were answered when Timothy Benedict Campbell, 33, of Calgary was discovered around 8 p.m. Monday, about seven kilometres southwest of Sundre, in roughly the same area where he disappeared.

RCMP said Campbell spent about 60 hours in the wilderness without adequate survival gear before searchers found him by tracking his footprints.

He was taken by RCMP helicopter to the Sundre hospital in stable, non-life-threatening condition for treatment of shock and hypothermia.

Police said Campbell was hunting with his son and a friend when he started tracking an animal Saturday morning.

He failed to return and the other two called police after they could not locate him.

Police undertook an air and ground search that included a drone and 18 emergency responders from Sundre, Rocky Mountain House and the Clearwater Fire Rescue.

Sundre Search and Rescue said it appears Campbell got lost and tried to retrace his steps. It’s not known what he survived on, but authorities believe he walked more than seven kilometres before he was discovered.

Officials said the hunter was dressed for the elements but was inadequately equipped to spend days in the backcountry. There was added concern for his safety due to bear activity in the area.

Elise Mahon, Campbell’s partner, told CTV News that she had been “hoping and praying to God” that the hunter would find someone or some place with a cellphone.

Mahon said Campbell left their son and the friend in a vehicle while he went to follow the tracks about 9 a.m.

She said that’s routine on their hunting trips. Campbell would return for the pair after a kill and the three of them would go dress the animal before carrying the carcass out.

“Normally within an hour he’s back,” said Mahon. “They sat out there until about 4 o’clock when they finally drove somewhere to get cell (phone) reception to call for help.”

She also said Campbell, who is Indigenous, is experienced in the wilderness and has been hunting in the area for two to three years.

“He is an amazing man. Very agile. He does know his outdoors.”

Airdrie Mounties seized a haul of drugs and weapons, including nine stun guns, in a recent raid on a rural property.

The RCMP crime reduction unit, with help from Alberta sheriffs, targeted a home in Rocky View County with a search warrant last Wednesday.

Investigators found 1.5 kilograms of cocaine, an ounce of crack cocaine and fentanyl, along with a hydraulic press used to press cocaine into bricks.

Along with the drugs, police seized two handguns, a rifle, $5,300 in cash and nine stun guns. A motorcycle, jet ski and an ATV were also seized as proceeds of crime.

A cache of weapons, including nine stun guns, were seized by Airdrie RCMP.

Jamie Allen Moreault, 38, of Rocky View County has been charged with 12 criminal code offences including drug and weapons charges.

Moreault has been released from custody and will appear in Airdrie Provincial Court on April 25.

Continuing her push to win over Calgary, NDP Leader Rachel Notley defended her work with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Tuesday and attacked her UCP rival’s fiscal platform.

The UCP’s economic blueprint will mean a 14-per-cent cut to services overall by 2023 and only a partially functioning Calgary cancer centre, which is now under construction, Notley said.

“It means a new Calgary cancer centre may well be built, but it won’t be anywhere close to being fully staffed,” the NDP leader told reporters in Calgary.

She questioned the UCP’s claim that cutting corporate taxes from 12 per cent to eight per cent over four years would ultimately create 55,000 jobs while paying for itself by boosting the province’s GDP by $13 billion. And, she queried why the UCP’s own calculations concede the first two years of the plan will generate no revenue.

“It’s as if it (the plan) has magical powers, but according to Mr. (Jason) Kenney’s own numbers it looks more like magical thinking,” she said.

“For a tax cut that he claims will create 55,000 jobs you might think it would register at least the slightest bit on the revenue Richter scale, but it doesn’t,” said Notley.

Meanwhile, the NDP leader was accused by UCP Leader Kenney of betraying Alberta’s interests by entering into a “Notley-Trudeau alliance.”

Those accusations are cheap political pandering that do nothing to advance the Trans Mountain Pipeline and other economic development, Notley responded.

“He can say whatever he wants. My job as the premier is to work with people in all levels of government, regardless of how much I do or do not disagree with them,” she said.

“Random grandstanding for short-term political gains at the expense of actual, real goals is politically irresponsible and not real leadership.”

Notley said her pressure on Trudeau led to Ottawa purchasing the expansion of the Trans Mountain pipeline. (Its progress has been halted for now, after a ruling by the Federal Court of Appeal last year.)

Her work, she added, has helped convince most Canadians of the need for the pipeline.

On Tuesday, Kenney doubled down on his accusations of “catastrophic” collusion between Notley and the prime minister by insisting it generated the downfall of the Energy East and Northern Gateway pipelines.

“Billions of (energy investment) dollars have fled Alberta for other jurisdictions. . . The Trudeau-Notley axis has stranded our energy,” Kenney told reporters in Turner Valley.

Notley, he said, would either personally vote for the federal NDP or Liberals in the upcoming national election, adding that “Trudeau’s been the worst prime minister for Alberta’s interests since the early 1980s.”

And, even if the Trans Mountain expansion goes ahead, Kenney said many other obstacles such as lack of investor confidence and pipeline blockages have only worsened.

He added that Notley has “put all her eggs in the Trans Mountain basket” and that the “Trudeau-Notley alliance is alive and well.”

Kenney, who has spent less time in Calgary than Notley during the campaign, also said the most fiercely fought battleground in this election campaign is Edmonton.

In echoing several polls over recent weeks and months, the UCP leader said Calgary remains infertile ground for the NDP due to the government’s incompetence and the resulting high unemployment levels in the city.

“We think the key battleground is Edmonton; that’s where we see the strongest competition. . . If people want change to get Alberta back to work, they won’t vote NDP,” said Kenney.

“I think the NDP is pushing uphill in trying to persuade Calgarians we need to continue the Notley-Trudeau alliance. Calgarians are not buying it.”

In responding to attacks on his party’s fiscal plan, Kenney said the NDP’s corporate tax hike has harmed the province’s coffers.

“They raised the rate by 20 per cent back in 2015 and guess what? We’re generating $8 billion less from business and personal taxes since the NDP raised the rates,” he said. “So, our whole plan is to get jobs back in Alberta.”

BKaufmann@postmedia.com

on Twitter: @BillKaufmannjrn

Rita Bercan works extremely hard to take care of her live-in elderly father — wheel-chair bound and fighting severe arthritis in his late-80s.

So, she welcomes the daily arrival of his home care worker to help with cooking, bathing and other more difficult tasks.

But recently the home care worker was hit with two parking tickets in front of Bercan’s Bridgeland home because Bercan was out of town and forgot to phone the Calgary Parking Authority to update the worker’s visitor parking pass.

Bercan, 60, loathes the new system, put in about a year ago, and wishes she still had her old plastic permit to give to workers to display in their vehicle.

“It’s ridiculous really, this new digital system they’ve put in. People have to call once every two weeks just so they can have a visitor park in front of their house.”

Bercan had hoped to have the parking tickets, a cost of $40 each, cancelled on compassionate grounds but was told by the parking authority the tickets have to be fought in court.

“No one has time to go to court! I can’t believe they wouldn’t cancel something like this on compassionate grounds.”

Bercan said the new digital system, which has inner-city residents either register online or call the city once every two weeks to update permits for regular visitors, is especially unfair to seniors who may not have a computer, or may not remember to call every two weeks.

“This isn’t just a problem for me. This is an ongoing problem for many inner-city residents.”

Rita Bercan stands with her father Aldo at his northeast Calgary home on Tuesday April 2, 2019. Bercan says the city’s new automated visitor parking system is causing problems for her father and his caregiver who visits daily. She says the system is complex, and requires everyone to remember to call at least once every two weeks, something many seniors will struggle with. Gavin Young/Postmedia

Coun. Druh Farrell, who represents Bercan’s area, agreed the new digital system has been frustrating for many residents.

“We get a lot of complaints on this new system. It goes down a lot, too,” Farrell said.

“It’s very buggy. It’s even happened to me several times.”

Farrell said when the parking authority proposed switching the new residential parking pass system to digital only about a year ago, she was the only councillor to vote against it, asking for a pilot instead to work out bugs first.

“I’m really concerned that so many problems just keep happening. We should be able to accommodate people, especially seniors or the disabled.

“The Calgary Parking Authority needs to come up with some solutions.”

Adrian Mrdeza, communications advisor for the Calgary Parking Authority, admitted that many users have found the new online system difficult to use.

But once a ticket has been issued, she added, the CPA does not have the authority to cancel based on “compassionate or mitigating circumstances.” Only a judge can make that decision, meaning people have to make time to attend court.

“We empathize towards those users who have found the transition to the new system challenging. We have spoken with many of our customers who have similar concerns and have worked with them individually to find a solution that fits their unique needs,” Mrdeza said.

Home care workers, like the one attending Bercan’s house every day, may find it easier to start a parking session online directly from the home they’re attending instead of having to run a physical permit out to their vehicle as they had to in the past, Mrdeza added.

“We understand that seniors in particular may have experienced challenges using the system and we are currently looking at ways to share all the options that exist and help residents understand the system better.”

Farrell said she is disappointed the CPA has not yet found a solution for frustrated residents, many of whom are also challenged by having to issue temporary permits for up to four days before they have an event at their home, like a party.

Farrell added that if the parking authority doesn’t solve the issues soon, and she continues to get complaints, she would consider bringing a notice of motion before city council.

“It’s up to the parking authority to find the solution. It should not have to be up to us.”

eferguson@postmedia.com

Calgarians can now head online to complete the 2019 civic census that for the first time will provide a more inclusive category for gender identity.

A new option in the census this year allows Calgarians to select “other,” in addition to the female and male categories.

City clerk Laura Kennedy said the addition was made in response to feedback from Calgarians.

“It’s their right,” Kennedy said Tuesday. “Society has changed from the traditional male/female identifiers. It is important that Calgary stay current with those changes and also reflect those changes.

“In a census like this, it is our opportunity to help properly identify our mosaic of citizens in the city and this is just one of the ways we can achieve that.”

Residents can access the survey at calgary.ca/census and sign in using an access code; the city began mailing out access codes on April 1, but residents can also request the code online at the same URL.

This year’s census will feature a basic array of questions, including what the structure type is of the home, whether it is rented or owned, and whether there are school-aged children residing at the address.

The information collected is used by the city to improve municipal services such as transit, recreation and water services; it is also used by school boards to assist in predicting enrolment numbers and in determining the location of future schools.

Calgary’s move to expand the categories available under gender follows a similar move in Edmonton in 2016.

This year, Edmonton’s municipal census expanded the category further to include: trans woman, trans man, non-binary or two-spirit; residents can also select “not listed above” or “prefer not to answer.”

Since Alberta is the only province in Canada where cities collect their own census data, municipal officials in Edmonton believe their census may be the first in the country to provide several options for gender identity.

Calgary had been hoping to include more diverse options under the gender category this year, but work on the Olympic plebiscite set the team back. Kennedy said work is underway to improve the options for the 2020 census.

“We ran out of time. We kept ‘other’ at this point, but we do want to further clarify that for next year’s census,” she said.

The city clerk said Tuesday that Calgarians can expect to only be contacted about the census by mail for the time being.

Census takers will begin going door-to-door on April 22, once the provincial election is over.

Information provided through the census is confidential and secure, Kennedy said.

“We will never identify individuals or single dwellings in any of the final reports that will be released later this year in July,” Kennedy says.

Around 23,000 households had completed the civic census as of noon Tuesday, up slightly from the same time last year, according to the city.

— With files from the Edmonton Journal

TransAlta Corp. blasted activist investors targeting the company, saying they appear to want to push the Canadian electricity generator into a “dead-end” strategy of doubling down on coal-fired power and are making unreasonable demands to receive discounted shares.

Mangrove Partners and an entity controlled by C. John Wilder’s Bluescape Energy Partners LLC asked TransAlta to issue Wilder $150 million of discounted shares as part of a proposed settlement agreement last month. The company said Monday that was “a demand that no board could reasonably accept.”

TransAlta, which instead agreed to a $750-million investment from Brookfield Asset Management Inc., said the activists should have accepted its offer to put Wilder and a mutually agreed-upon director on its board. It argued the firms are trying to take control of the board.

“Had the dissidents accepted our offer, Mr. Wilder would have a seat at the Board table,” TransAlta Chairman Gordon Giffin said in a statement. “Instead, they notified the company of their intention to nominate five new directors, which suggests they are seeking the ability to terminate the Brookfield investment and implement the playbook they have used at other companies of selling renewable energy assets and doubling down on coal-fired generation, which is a dead-end strategy and something we will not do.”

TransAlta detailed its interactions with the investors in a regulatory filing Monday, in which it noted that the duo were also seeking the formation of a business review committee chaired by Wilder to explore asset sales and other options as part of its proposal presented to the company. It was also seeking $1.1 million in reimbursement for their investment, it said.

TransAlta’s Brookfield deal includes giving the alternative asset manager two board seats and the ability to convert its investment into an ownership stake in a future subsidiary that would hold its Alberta hydro assets. A third new director, Robert Flexon, would also be appointed to the board, the company said last week.

Mangrove and Bluescape, who collectively hold more than 10 per cent of TransAlta, believe there may be better offers in the market than the Brookfield deal. The activist investors had originally sought four seats on TransAlta’s board and wanted the power producer to allow Mangrove and Bluescape to appoint a new a chief operating officer, according to the filing Monday.

Mangrove and Bluescape declined to comment earlier and couldn’t be immediately reached for comment after the statement from TransAlta.

Dozens of young engineers showed off innovative projects, including an all-in-one home cannabis grow-op, at the University of Calgary’s Engineering Design Fair Tuesday.

Students spent the day browsing the fair, which filled the Canadian Natural Resources Limited Engineering Complex on campus. Booths were spread throughout the building, where the engineering students showcased the ideas they’ve spent months working on.

The engineering design fair, an annual event organized by the Schulich School of Engineering, gave Dan Carruthers and his colleagues at TeamGrower a chance to showcase their automated cannabis greenhouse.

The greenhouse is equipped with heating and cooling systems, along with a humidifier and dehumidifier. All of the components are powered by a solar panel on top of the greenhouse.

Carruthers said the team saw the opportunity to build their project because of Calgary’s sunny climate.

“Calgary gets a ton of sun, so we wanted to deliver a system that basically was optimized for growing in Calgary and in Canada in general,” he added.

The legal limit of four plants, which came into effect with last October’s legalization of recreational cannabis, can be grown in the greenhouse for up to three months before changing the water, said Carruthers.

Other students also turned their skills to natural fields.

Tucked away in the back of the fair, HiveMind’s beehive monitoring technology was on display.

Dane McNiven, software engineer for HiveMind said their technology makes hive data collecting easier for both the bees and the beekeeper.

“Traditionally, the collection of data is really hard. You have to go out to the beehive, you got to actually have your tools and everything,” he said.

“Even to get inside the hive, that’s going to be hard because it’s closed off and you don’t want to disturb the bees.

“Using our system, you don’t have to go to the hive, everything is already there.”

Two cameras are installed on the inside and outside of the hive, which is streamed on YouTube for the owner of the hive to monitor. An infrared sensor is placed at the entrance of the hive, which is important for the hive’s well-being, according to McNiven.

“During the winter, bees sometimes die at the entrance to the hive, and that can cause some big issues because bees can’t get in or out at that point, so that can kill off the entire hive,” McNiven said.

If there is something blocking the entrance, the owner of the hive will receive an email telling them to fix it. HiveMind has designed an app to monitor the hive all from the comfort of your phone.

Schulich students spend months of their final year working on original ideas and turning them into a prototype as part of the Capstone Design course.

bklassen@postmedia.com

Mayor Naheed Nenshi issued an appeal this week to Quebecers feeling disaffected by their provincial government’s proposed ban on religious symbols: “Come to Calgary, you’re welcome here.”

Nenshi unleashed a torrent of criticism Monday in response to the Quebec law tabled last week in the National Assembly seeking a ban on the wearing of religious symbols for some public employees and citizens receiving certain government services.

At the outset of a Calgary city council meeting devoted to tax issues Monday, Nenshi briefly addressed what he called the “idiocy” of a law that could discourage citizens from accessing municipal services — citing the example of elderly wearers of the niqab who could be asked to remove the covering in order to obtain a seniors discount on bus passes.

“Our goal is not to create a secular public square. Our goal is create a public square where everyone is welcome,” Nenshi said.

“And in 2019, that we have a provincial government that says, ‘Hey, there’s certain jobs that you cannot do simply because of your faith’ and we’re going to notwithstand the Charter of Rights — because we know this is clearly against the Canadian Charter of Rights to say or do that — this is unacceptable.”

Quebec’s Bill 21, aimed at enshrining the “religious neutrality” of the state in law, would prevent some public employees, including teachers, police officers or Crown prosecutors, from wearing any religious symbol in the workplace.

Nenshi said Monday that he had discussed “messaging” in the province of Quebec with Calgary Economic Development CEO Mary Moran. Messaging, Nenshi said, to remind Quebecers that in Calgary, “We don’t care what’s on your head, we care what’s in your head.”

“If you’re a Hollywood producer filming in Quebec and you’re worried about your staff and the talent you’re bringing in, if you’re a tech startup who wants to bring in people from all over the world and the very best talent — come to Calgary, you’re welcome here,” said Nenshi.

The mayor said that in Alberta’s provincial election, and in other instances across the country, more work has to be done to “speak out” against the “wave of intolerance and hatred that we’re seeing.”

Nenshi has raised the issue of racism or politicians pandering to racists repeatedly in recent weeks.

In the wake of the deadly terrorist attack in New Zealand last month, just days before the writ was dropped in the provincial election, Nenshi said political leaders must “make their choice” to strongly oppose racism and white supremacy. In the same speech, the mayor obliquely referred to welcoming social media comments made by UCP leader Jason Kenney directed towards white supremacist media personality Faith Goldy.

“Here in this country, in this province and this city, we have to fight back against racism,” Nenshi said Monday. “We have to fight back against religious discrimination of all kinds, in every way that we possibly can.”

mpotkins@postmedia.com
Twitter: @mpotkins

After two years of wringing its hands about a massive erosion in the value of Calgary’s downtown office towers, it seemed city council would finally make a decision Monday to tackle the tremendous tax shift foisted on to other businesses.

Alas, it was too much to expect.

More alternatives for councillors were on the table than at a brunch buffet.

They included shifting some of the burden to homeowners, finding efficiencies in the civic budget, and using “tax room” left behind when the province collects less property taxes for education than what Calgary has budgeted for.

After more than eight hours of navel gazing, agonizing and examining eight — yes, eight — different scenarios, they winnowed the field down to two solutions and promptly punted the decision until next week.

The clock is ticking, as 2019 tax bills must be mailed out next month.

“Next week there will be no more dawdling. We have to make the 2019 decision,” Mayor Naheed Nenshi told reporters late Monday. “I would have preferred we had made it today.”

Most frustrating after the day-long deliberation was the depressing reality that whatever council decides, it will only be a short-term plan for dealing with this year’s tax troubles.

Councillors rejected proposals that would have laid out a multi-year strategy to address the problem of rising tax bills pounding businesses due to the annual property reassessment process.

“Businesses want certainty … not addressing that is a big miss,” Calgary Chamber of Commerce CEO Sandip Lalli said Tuesday.

“The current round has really dragged on into the eleventh hour and then some. Council needs to bite the bullet,” added Richard Truscott of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business.

These’s a sense of exasperation in these comments.

For months, council members have called this matter a crisis, searching for ways to soften the blow on businesses from the tax redistribution caused by a drop in assessed values for downtown office buildings.

Since oil prices cratered in 2015, slightly more than 140 properties have lost $14.1 billion of their value amid falling rents and vacant space.

These factors have created a $258 million drop in civic tax revenue, which has been shifted onto commercial property owners outside the core.

In the first quarter of 2019, the downtown office vacancy rate still sat at 26.5 per cent, according to commercial real estate firm CBRE Ltd.

It’s estimated more than half of all non-residential property owners in Calgary are facing double-digit tax hikes this year due to reassessment.

“It comes off your bottom line because you can’t pass it along,” said Kay Gupta, co-owner of Cetus Automotive Repair Centres, noting her property taxes will jump almost 20 per cent this year.

Entrepreneurs point out the large tax increases have been unexpected, making it more difficult to build their own budgets. They are hoping council provides greater certainty about future tax direction.

“It has drastically affected us. Our property taxes went up, in some cases, double,” said P.J. L’Heureux, president of Craft Beer Market, which has six restaurants in the city.

“You are taxing people out of business and what we really need is for people to be in business.”

Groups like the CFIB and chamber have called for significant cost-cutting to the city’s annual $4-billion budget, and shifting some of the tax burden on to Calgary homeowners.

Council understands the magnitude of the matter and is examining difficult solutions.

The two proposals still on the table for next Monday’s meeting — one from Nenshi, the other from Ward 3 Coun. Jyoti Gondek — would start to address the issue by putting more taxes on to homeowners, which is sure to be unpopular with residents.

But it’s necessary to save more companies and jobs from being threatened. Residential property owners currently pay about 45 per cent of municipal taxes, while commercial property owners face 55 per cent.

Nenshi’s plan would see the tax rate for non-residential property owners fall by about two per cent this year, while homeowners would face a 3.45 per cent hike.

Gondek’s pitch is more aggressive — transferring an estimated $92 million in taxes on to residential property owners — but it would include rebates for homeowners.

The mayor’s proposal would also see the creation of a small business sustainment grant to help distressed companies. Administration would come up with criteria on how to use $70 million over two years to help affected companies.

“Businesses that are having a lot of trouble can apply to (it) for a cash grant, money in their pockets, to help their businesses stay vibrant,” the mayor explained.

But can a new program be designed that is fair?

Would it be able to get money out this year when the pain is being most acutely felt?

And what would stop it from propping up businesses that were already failing, instead of targeting firms facing unusually high tax hikes.

“The business community didn’t ask for this,” Gondek said. “They asked for certainty and predictability and they asked us to stop with the Band-Aid solutions.”

The idea of city hall designing a program to pick winners and losers — or in this case, the biggest money-losers that need help — doesn’t sit well with business operators.

Lalli worries it will lead to more regulatory work for companies to apply for grants. She’d prefer to see the city make the overall environment better for all players

“Most businesses are survival of the fittest, who is the most competitive and whoever does a better job survives,” added Gupta. “The city shouldn’t be deciding.”

So many questions still need answers. So much debate has already been held.

Council can’t dodge the unpleasant taxing decisions much longer.

Chris Varcoe is a Calgary Herald columnist.

cvarcoe@postmedia.com

Some new furry faces may be entering the Calgary Zoo’s Panda Passage habitat in the coming months if all goes well.

Er Shun, the zoo’s adult female giant panda, was artificially inseminated Tuesday by a team of experts who are hoping to expand the current clan of four of China’s most cuddly ambassadors.

The procedure was a product of the zoo’s partnership with China, an agreement signed in 2012 between the Canadian and Chinese governments allowing for a 10-year breeding loan of giant pandas.

Er Shun’s first pregnancy was a success, delivering twins Jia Panpan and Jia Yueyue during their five-year stay at the Toronto Zoo in October 2015. They’re entertaining zoo-goers but are slated to return home to China within the next 18 months.

With help from China, the zoo found a genetic match for Er Shun. All of the genetic matching and procedures are done by experts from the pandas’ homeland, said Colleen Baird, general curator for the Calgary Zoo.

“China guides us through all that so they will let us know which pandas can breed with each other,” she said. “We’re diversifying the genes as much as possible.”

Officials at the Calgary Zoo prepare panda matriarch Er Shun for what’s hoped to be a successful pregnancy. Supplied photo

Baird said Er Shun had to be artificially inseminated because of the lack of compatibility and “genetic value” with her male partner, Da Mao. She added that they haven’t been successful breeding on their own.

With giant pandas only ovulating three days out of the year, the post-insemination process is highly monitored.

Baird said there are a lot of factors in a successful insemination, with the fertilized egg floating around for some time. A panda pregnancy usually lasts 160 to 195 days.

“She would need some cues, such as she needs to be healthy, the environmental factors need to be right, she needs to be comfortable, feeling safe, and then that egg would implant on the uterine wall and start growing a baby panda.”

The zoo will start looking at Er Shun via ultrasound near the end of May. Baird said if there is no activity, they’ll do more on a regular basis to “hopefully see something.”

If successful, any new offspring will likely stay with Er Shun for about two years, and then its fate will be determined with China’s guidance, said Baird.

As part of the partnership agreement with the Chinese government, the zoo contributes an annual donation of $1.4 million to the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding in China to support conservation efforts of the animals.

Fewer than 1,800 giant pandas, whose status has been upgraded from endangered to vulnerable in recent years, are believed to be left in the wild.

After what was seemingly the city’s longest, coldest winter in years, Calgarians can finally bask in the glory of warmth and sunshine over the next few days — just in time for opening weekend for many public golf courses.

“It has been misery,” said David Phillips, senior climatologist with Environment Canada, explaining that winter blew in exceptionally early for Calgarians this fall and didn’t wrap up until early March with record-breaking cold temperatures.

“September was much cooler than usual for you and October had five times the normal snowfall. There was a bit of warming in December, January, but then February was terrible — the coldest in 84 years, the second coldest in 115 years.

“And there were very few breaks, you had up to 116 days with snow on the ground.”

Phillips said that between Jan. 3 and March 25 there were no full 24-hour cycles above freezing. “So really no melting points at all.”

But this week promises Calgary a well-deserved respite, with more than seven days of above-average temperatures forecast, starting with highs of 13 C Thursday and reaching up to 15 and clear skies by the weekend.

Golf courses around the city are gearing up for a busy start to their season.

“It’s been such a long winter, with snow always on the ground. People have had to really hibernate. So I think they’re going to be really happy to finally get out,” said Greg Griffith, head pro at Fox Hollow golf course along Deerfoot Trail N.E.

Golfers were all smiles at Fox Hollow on Wednesday.

“As soon as the weather broke, we could really feel it in terms of all the phone calls we’re getting, and people heading into the dome to get ready,” Griffith added, referring to Fox Hollow’s indoor driving range.

Fox Hollow will roll out permanent greens starting Thursday, after early birds weathered temporary greens for a couple of weeks.

Silverwing Links in the northeast is expected to head into a very busy weekend, almost booked solid for Saturday and Sunday, after opening last weekend on permanent greens.

“Last weekend, we booked up within the first two hours, people were just so excited to get out,” said assistant pro Nicola Jeffries, saying the Scottish links-style course is especially popular in the late fall and early spring seasons.

“This weekend should be good too, with the forecast looking a lot better than we expected.”

The City of Calgary will open 18 holes at Maple Ridge golf course on Thursday, as well as Confederation driving range and its nine-hole course ready to go Friday.

Shaganappi Point 18-hole and nine-hole courses along with the driving range are already open.

Lakeview Green and Richmond courses are yet to be open, and McCall Lake, after a series of upgrades and renovations, is scheduled to reopen nine holes by May 17, with all 18 holes ready by late June.

eferguson@postmedia.com

Conservative voters are turning away from the UCP, fed up with the intolerance within that party, NDP Leader Rachel Notley said Wednesday.

Citing several instances of past bigoted comments made by UCP candidates, Notley said some traditionally conservative supporters are souring on Jason Kenney’s party and urged others to follow suit.

“There are those who’ve voted PC in the past, but frankly can’t bring themselves to support Jason Kenney, who are not comfortable with the extremely divisive direction Jason Kenney is taking Alberta,” Notley said at Calgary-Currie NDP candidate Brian Malkinson’s campaign headquarters.

The union of the Wildrose and PC parties has wedded intolerance and corruption, respectively, to form the UCP, said the premier.

“It’s clear Mr. Kenney didn’t bring the best of the PCs and Wildrose together, he brought the worst, he brought the sky palace to the shores of the lake of fire,” said Notley.

And she said voters don’t need to prioritize economic issues at the expense of rejecting discrimination, adding she’s been fighting for the Trans Mountain pipeline and shipping oil by rail.

“We cannot let our economic troubles, as frustrating as they are, be an excuse to abandon our better selves,” said Notley.

Joining her was Alberta rodeo champion Denny Hay, who admitted to being a longtime Tory voter but one who’s become dissatisfied and has gone over to the NDP.

“As you can see from my outfit, I’ve probably voted Conservative in the past,” said Hay, donning a cowboy hat.

“I’ve watched (Notley) progress and seen how great she’s been doing.”

Hay said the UCP stance on allowing educators to alert parents when their children join school gay-straight alliances is troubling and that he knows of other long-time Conservatives abandoning the party.

“I hope there are more like-minded people who’ll do this,” he said.

Polls for months have consistently shown the NDP trailing the UCP throughout the province except for Edmonton and that economic concerns easily trump others.

The latest survey conducted March 25-30 of 900 people by Janet Brown Opinion Research shows the UCP holding a commanding 53 per cent to 34 per cent lead over the NDP throughout the province, with a similar margin in Calgary.

When asked if UCP candidates’ homophobic and Islamophobic statements from years ago are falling on mostly deaf ears, Notley said, “Should Albertans have to be imploring someone who feels entitled to the premier’s office to take this issue seriously?”

She noted Kenney has chosen to keep Mark Smith as the UCP’s Drayton Valley-Devon candidate despite his alleged homophobic comments and actions in 2013 and 2015.

“He was put to the test yesterday and he failed it,” said Notley.

In Edmonton to announce a First Nations energy policy, Kenney was dogged Wednesday by questions over Smith, the latest of several UCP hopefuls to be ensnared by past comments.

“Mr. Smith has apologized unequivocally for his remarks,” said Kenney, adding those words came before the one-time UCP education critic was elected to the legislature.

“This will be a government of inclusion regardless of cultural background … this will be a party that reflects the diversity of Alberta.”

Kenney said Smith’s ability to carry out his duties if elected hasn’t been jeopardized by the controversy.

On Wednesday, the UCP leader reiterated his belief that Notley’s failure to solve the province’s economic woes is hamstringing the NDP’s political fortunes.

Agreeing with that assessment was Mount Royal University political scientist Duane Bratt, who said Albertans’ displeasure with intolerant remarks has its limits.

“I think it’s more like, ‘I’m going to vote for the conservative, but I’m not very happy about that stuff,'” said Bratt.

Such controversy gained more traction in the province’s 2012 election when the economy was more robust and not as big an issue, he said.

“If the economy today was the same as in 2012, the UCP would be sunk,” said Bratt.

BKaufmann@postmedia.com

on Twitter: @BillKaufmannjrn

Life is all about balance for Tyler “The Entertainer” Vemb. Splitting his time between Calgary and Vancouver, the stand-up comic and breakdancer says he tries to strike a healthy mix between work, play and travel.

So when Vemb learned of a cannabis company paying testers to sample different strains pot, he said it seemed like “a perfect job” for his lifestyle.

“It at first didn’t seem real. Like, what? To sample cannabis seems like a dream job,” Vemb said of his new contract testing products by Toronto-based cannabis company A Higher Level Of Thought (AHLOT).

But getting the gig meant going head-to-head with some 25,000 applicants, all looking to land one of the kushy jobs.

AHLOT had originally planned for five cannabis connoisseur positions, but the deluge of applicants led the company to add three more slots to its Cannabis Cultivation Committee.

“From seeing the post online to being here … it’s been a very beautiful, exciting, dream-like journey,” Vemb said. “Sometimes I have to check myself like, ‘am I awake?'”

Samplers are paid $50 an hour to evaluate the effects of several AHLOT cannabis strains — including wellness, casual, creative — earning up to $1,000 per month during the year-long contract. Their evaluations will directly shape AHLOT’s sample packs with strains from a variety of producers.

A company called AHLOT has produced a variety pack of cannabis from five different Canadian producers.

Vemb has only been on the job for a couple of days but says his evaluation strategy starts with meditation to “become mindful and present” before imbibing in some vapourized cannabis.

Then, after a walk to take in the high, Vemb does another round of meditation to see “what is different” and how his body feels before and after consuming cannabis.

“After that we have a little formal sheet we fill out just to see how it makes you feel … but then we also take a look (at the cannabis) through a microscope,” he said.

The testers are currently working their way through AHLOT’s sample pack dubbed the Discovery Series Vol. 1, which offers five one-gram samples of indica, sativa, and hybrid flower strains.

The committee’s findings on each strain are especially important for first-time or casual cannabis consumers who aren’t sure of their tolerance levels, Vemb said.

“If you’re new to cannabis you don’t want to be walking in blindly. It’s kinda nice that we’re going first … If you get your strains confused it might not have the effect you’re looking for.”

The AHLOT website says Vemb has earned a Master Certificate from the Cannabis Training University, an online training program which educates students to navigate the medical properties, cultivation, legal restrictions and business of cannabis.

The contact might only be for one year, but Vemb says he hopes to continue working in the cannabis industry promoting the healing properties of pot as part of AHLOT’s Cannabis Curation Committee.

“It’s really good as a country that Canada, we’re stepping into this age of allowing for more natural, holistic medicine to be part of our everyday life.”

RRumbolt@postmedia.com

On Twitter: @RCRumbolt

When leaders of Alberta’s four major political parties take the stage for Thursday evening’s showdown, their performances could carry lasting effects for voters right up to election day.

NDP Leader Rachel Notley, United Conservative Party Leader Jason Kenney, Alberta Party Leader Stephen Mandel and Alberta Liberal Leader David Khan will face off in what’s expected to be the only leaders debate during the 2019 election campaign.

The televised debate, organized by a media consortium that includes Postmedia, CBC, CityNews and CTV, will take place from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m.

But in a campaign that’s largely seen as a two-horse race between the UCP and NDP, the pressure is on those parties’ respective leaders to connect with voters and demonstrate their fitness to lead the province’s next government.

“In 2015, the debate was a big changer in terms of voter preference, with virtually everybody thinking that Notley had won the debate hands-down,” said University of Calgary political scientist David Stewart.

“This will be the first opportunity for most Albertans who never watch question period to see the two leaders go head-to-head and I think that could move some votes, depending how it works out.”

Leaders debates have played a crucial role in past Alberta elections. In 2012, Wildrose Leader Danielle Smith made headlines when she said during a debate that the science of climate change wasn’t settled.

Progressive Conservative Leader Jim Prentice’s gaffe during the 2015 debate, when he remarked that “math is difficult” — perceived as patronizing and sexist — lingered for the remainder of the campaign.

“The debate was the turning point in the last campaign and really showed Albertans for the first time who Rachel Notley was,” said Jared Wesley, a political science professor at the University of Alberta.

It was also a significant moment of the previous election “in framing the candidates’ abilities to interact with one another and the issues,” said Geoffrey Hale of the University of Lethbridge.

“It will come down to the turnout game: who turns out the voters?” the political scientist said.

“If one candidate succeeds in putting the other at a major disadvantage the way that Rachel Notley did with Jim Prentice in 2015, when Mr. Prentice basically took her for granted and discovered that was a huge mistake, it could have a significant effect.”

Progressive Conservative Leader Jim Prentice and NDP Leader Rachel Notley at the leaders’ debate in Edmonton on April 23, 2015.

Recent polls paint an unclear picture of whether the NDP has been able to close the gap on the conservatives in Calgary, seen as the key battleground region during this election campaign.

An Ekos Research poll of 1,015 participants conducted March 15 to 26, commissioned by union group Unifor, suggested the NDP had made gains in Calgary, with 42 per cent support to the UCP’s 46 per cent.

But a new poll released Wednesday by Janet Brown Opinion Research, and commissioned by Global Petroleum Show, showed the UCP had an overall lead of 53 to 34 per cent after the second week of the 28-day campaign, including a 21-point advantage in Calgary over the NDP.

Still, it’s Kenney who has the most at stake in the debate, according to Wesley.

“I think more Albertans are familiar with (Notley) this time than last time,” he said.

“I don’t know if people have a sense of who Jason Kenney is, though. This will be the first time that he has a provincewide stage to convey his leadership style, his priorities.”

UCP spokesman Matt Solberg said Kenney intends to contrast the “NDP’s record of job loss and debt” with the party’s own vision of “job creation and lower taxes and more money in the pockets of families.”

“We’re going to treat it as an opportunity to speak directly to voters about our vision for the province versus what they’ve seen over the last four years,” said Solberg, adding the party is confident that public opinion is on its side, based on responses at the doors and both internal and external research.

“Our feeling on this is that the outcome of this debate, in all likelihood, isn’t going to have a dramatic effect on the outcome of the election,” he said.

For Notley, the debate marks an opportunity to further highlight her record as premier and compare it to the controversies that have dogged the UCP throughout the campaign.

She referenced past homophobic remarks by Drayton Valley-Devon candidate Mark Smith, which surfaced earlier this week, as well as an RCMP investigation into alleged UCP funding irregularities regarding the party’s leadership race.

“The more people are able to focus in on what’s been going on in this campaign and what the choices are, I think it will have an impact,” Notley said of the debate.

“And as I said at the very beginning of the campaign, this election is going to be about who is fit to be premier … who’s — oh, I don’t know — not under an RCMP investigation and who is prepared to call out things like what we heard from Mr. Smith yesterday and hold his caucus and his team accountable for those kinds of views.”

Stewart said he expects the debate to reflect the contentious, at times “nasty,” tone of the campaign thus far.

“In 2015, it wasn’t really a nasty debate. It was pretty polite,” he said. “What’ll be very interesting is the debate on Thursday and the degree to which that continues with some of the nastiness.”

shudes@postmedia.com
Twitter.com/SammyHudes

Calgary drivers will be feeling short-term pain for long-term gain as major construction projects in all quadrants of the city prepare to wrap up later this year.

More than 20 infrastructure projects will have their ribbons cut in 2019, including years of improvement work to both 17th Avenue S.W. and Crowchild Trail.

And while that news may be cause for celebration among congested commuters and businesses feeling the financial impact of road closures, 10 more projects will break ground this year including a year-long replacement of the 9th Avenue S.E. bridge.

Around 21,000 vehicles travel across the bridge everyday. Evan Fer, city hall’s project manager for the bridge replacement, said a temporary bridge to be completed in July will have one lane open in either direction and maintain “the same capacity” as the current, 110-year-old river crossing.

“During construction of the temporary bridge … drivers won’t expect any delays or impacts to them,” Fer said. “9th Avenue S.E. will operate as it does today.”

City of Calgary rendering of the new 9th avenue S.E. bridge. Construction is set to start later in 2019.

Slated for completion by the end of 2020, Fer said the new bridge will be the first steel arch bridge in Calgary, doubling the lanes while improving pedestrian and cycling access along “the main gateway between Inglewood and downtown East Village.”

The replacement will cost $23 million, and the city said all projects completed in 2019 and 2020 account for nearly $400 million and more than 3,100 jobs.

With 200,000 vehicles per day travelling on some major routes, said Kerensa Swanson Fromherz, director of transportation infrastructure, the spate of projects will improve driver and transit travel times, pedestrian mobility and community access.

“I would say that (Crowchild Trail and 17th Avenue S.W.) are some of the projects that, to us, stand out as having the more significant impacts, and it really relates to just getting the traffic through,” Swanson Fromherz said.

Jeff Baird, senior transportation engineer on the Crowchild Trail upgrades, said the improvements will add one additional lane in either direction.

Work continued on the Crowchild Trail bridge widening project on Tuesday October 23, 2018. Gavin Young/Postmedia

Ramps will also be added to the Crowchild bridge over the Bow River, allowing for mergers on to westbound Bow Trail from northbound Crowchild.

Baird said work on the bridge deck will be a 24-hour a day operation as crews increase activity on the bridge deck until the project is completed.

Since 2017, businesses have lamented rolling closures along 17th Avenue S.W. as the city replaces aging water and sewer infrastructure and gives the avenue a facelift.

Peter Rudolf, senior transportation engineer on the 17th Avenue revitalization, said two-thirds of the project is completed.

Crews will halt work on the avenue during the Calgary Flames playoff run, but once the post-season ends the city will close the road between 8th Street S.W. to 14th Street S.W. with detours along 14th, 15th and 16th avenues.

For more information on major projects around the city visit www.calgary.ca/TI.

Major construction routes that will see the most relief in 2019:

Glenmore Trail: 80,000 vehicles per day. Widening to six lanes from four;
Anderson Road: 42,000 vehicles per day. Widening to six lanes from four;
Crowchild Trail: 107,000 vehicles per day. Widening the bridge with more lanes over the Bow River and new ramp locations;
14th Street S.W.: 57,000 vehicles per day.
17th Avenue S.W.: 20,000 vehicles per day.

RRumbolt@postmedia.com

On Twitter: @RCRumbolt

The threat of long-term renters being evicted from their homes moved a council committee Wednesday to ask city bylaw inspectors to stand down while new rules are drafted to allow secondary suites in semi-detached homes across the city.

An unintended consequence of the city’s current land use bylaw has put some tenants living in illegal secondary suites at risk of eviction, council’s planning and urban development committee heard Wednesday.

“Basically what you have is a basement suite that conforms to all of the safety requirements, but nonetheless, we’re going to displace three low-income, aging tenants,” said Barb Renault, a property manager in southeast Calgary, who spoke in council chambers.

“It’s not a big, sexy development issue but it certainly affects a lot of people in the city.”

Council elected last year to approve secondary suites as a discretionary use for single-detached homes across Calgary.

But vagaries within the bylaw when it comes to the definition of duplexes or semi-detached homes have left secondary suites in dwellings built after March 16, 1970 in a legal limbo: suites built in homes after that date are considered illegal (unless located in an R-CG district) and owners must apply for re-designation of their land, which can cost upwards of $5,000.

And with the city pushing owners to bring their suites up to code and to have them inspected and listed on a mandatory suite registry, more illegal suites have been discovered, resulting in some cases in eviction notices being issued to long-term tenants.

Renault said the semi-detached home with a basement suite that she manages in Pennsburg was caught in exactly this way: the owners of the property were upgrading the smoke and carbon monoxide detectors and had called in city inspectors to look at the windows when they received some unwelcome news, she said.

“They were quite surprised when the inspectors came in and informed us all that as it wasn’t zoned for a secondary suite, and their tenants — who had resided for some 15 years, and one of them for 20 years, on the premises — would have to be given eviction notices,” Renault said.

The city says most illegal secondary suites in Calgary are actually in the basements of older semi-detached dwellings that were originally considered to be fourplexes — a style that was common in the 1960s and 70s.

At Wednesday’s meeting, committee members heard from two property managers in southeast and northeast Calgary, as well as from a tenant of one of the properties.

“I’ve been given an eviction notice,” said tenant John Maclean. “Which I’m not really pleased about. I’ve been with (them) for 15 years and considered as a good tenant. To be asked, at my age, to relocate or change my venue is not really becoming.”

Slide from a presentation at a council committee Wednesday. The basement suites in some of Calgary’s older fourplexes have been caught in legal limbo as the city urges more owners to meet safety and fire code standards for secondary suites.

There are about 21,000 semi-detached dwellings in the city that were built after 1970. It’s not known how many of those contain illegal secondary suites, the city says.

City staff recommended changes to the bylaw to allow secondary suites in duplex or semi-detached homes across the city — a move unanimously approved by the committee Wednesday. The decision will still have to be approved by city council and won’t come into effect until a public hearing can be held later this year.

Committee members also asked the city’s inspection department to take steps to prevent any further evictions in the interim.

The recommendations are the result of a notice of motion from Coun. Gian-Carlo Carra. The Ward 9 councillor related a story at Wednesday’s meeting about some tenants of an Inglewood fourplex who complained about the constant barking of a neighboured dog, only to wind up being evicted when the dog’s owners reported them to the city.

“The city, because of this ridiculous situation, has only one option and that’s to say, ‘you have to issue an eviction notice to your tenants’,” Carra said, adding that without the threat of eviction hanging over these properties, the city can focus on encouraging owners to make sure their units are safe and up to code.

“Once we bring it up to safety, people can continue to live the way they’ve been living. We’ve got literally thousands of Calgarians who are in this situation,” Carra said. “It’s a major final step in the secondary suite equation.”

The city says the new secondary suite application process has been a success when it comes to improving the safety of suites.

Since June 2018, when the suite reform process was implemented, city staff have contacted 800 illegal suite owners and more than 400 of them have pursued development permit applications to make improvements to their units.

There are currently 1,368 secondary suites officially registered with the city.

mpotkins@postmedia.com
Twitter: @mpotkins

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