Calgary Group Raises Questions
The Sprawl’s editor-in-chief, Jeremy Klazus, tweeted about a resident’s association in Calgary that purports to be grassroots but doesn’t appear to be more than an anonymous website:
The name has some similarities with community associations or a community group but the website does not have details about their ownership or governance.
The group does not appear to have a Facebook or other online presence. They do, however, appear as a signatory to a public letter that objected to the Calgary Guidebook for Great Communities. It’s a planning document that caused a lot of consternation and debate in March.
A Tale of Two Cities Mask Mandates
As Albertans turn the corner on June and enter what Premier Jason Kenney has promised will be the Best Summer Ever, Alberta’s two largest cities have different rules about the need to wear masks in public places.
Here is where Calgary started:
Here is where they are now
Meanwhile in Edmonton, masks will officially be optional for indoor public places after July 1:
Fair Deal Ballot Question Fails
An attempt to add a question for Calgarian’s at the ballot box this October has failed. The so-called fair deal question was intended to push back against the provincial referendum questions that will be on the ballot, and draw attention to the lack of funding the city receives from the provincial government:
Attack Ads
Edmonton Coun. Andrew Knack tweeted his reaction to being a target of attack ads on Friday (Rage hasn’t seen the billboards Knack speaks about—send us photos if you have). As Knack indicates in his Twitter comments, attack ads are not a common occurrence in municipal politics in Canada:
Particularly interesting in all of this is that Knack does not believe that the ads are coming from his opponents:
No Sanctions for Nickel
Another sanction hearing for Edmonton Coun. Mike Nickel took place this week, and Nickel once again avoided an official reprimand from his colleagues at city hall. Nickel did not attend the hearing.
The decision came after Edmonton's integrity commissioner, Jamie Pytel, conducted an investigation and reported to council that Nickel violated its Code of Conduct.
At issue were complaints from Edmontonians that Nickel, who’s running for mayor, had improperly used email addresses obtained through official council duties for his personal election campaign.
Some of his colleagues on council had some choice words for the situation. During the hearing, Coun. Caterina revealed a text message conversation in which Coun. Walters used profanity while discussing Nickel:
Walters apologized:
Fellow mayoral candidate Michael Oshry later took to Twitter to vent frustrations:
Despite Pytel's recommendation to sanction Nickel, the motion was defeated by a 7-4 vote in favour of sanction. A two-thirds majority vote is needed in order to pass a motion to sanction.
Coun. Sarah Hamilton was not at the sanction hearing and therefore did not vote.
If passed, the sanction could have meant a written letter of reprimand addressed to Nickel from Mayor Don Iveson on behalf of council.
An additional sanction hearing for Nickel's actions is still set to go before members of council on July 5.
That hearing will deal with social media posts Nickel made about Knack.
Indigenous Communities Receive Funding for Research into Residential School History
This week, we were again horrified at the discovery of a large number of unmarked graves on the land astride a former residential school. The Cowessess First Nation in Saskatchewan announced a preliminary finding Thursday of 751 unmarked graves at a cemetery near the former Marieval Indian Residential School.
The Alberta government has announced they are providing $8 million to fund Indigenous groups and communities.
“Alberta’s government is committed to assisting Indigenous communities to identify and commemorate these sites, in the spirit of reconciliation,” Kenney said, in a release.
The money will be in the form of grants for a community looking to gather oral histories and elder knowledge, as well as the use of ground-penetrating radar or other technologies investigate possible unmarked burial sites.
Chief Marlene Poitras, the regional chief for the Assembly of First Nations Alberta Association, says the money is a step forward. In the same government press release she says, “through this grant, families will be able to research grave burial sites and gain closure as part of their individual grieving processes. While there is still much work ahead, this is a positive step forward and I commend the actions taken today.”
Rage Subscribers Wanted!
This week, we started a campaign for new subscribers—and we’re offering a steep annual discount as part of that campaign.
We’re halfway there!