February 2024 Newsletter

February 2, 2024

Dear ,

   Earlier this week, Council revisited the Single-Use Bylaw that was passed in 2023. The bylaw came into effect in January and has received significant criticism. Thanks to everyone who wrote to my office about it.

   Virtually all of Council agreed that the bylaw was not working for residents, but that some version of this bylaw needs to exist to address the 15 million single use items going into landfill each week.

  The debate largely centered around whether we should scrap the entire bylaw to start fresh, or amend the parts that weren’t working. Myself and some other councillors had exemptions that we thought could address the vast majority of concerns, but ultimately Council decided to completely start again.

   At the end of the day, we-- the public-- pay for our reliance on single use items no matter what. If nothing is done to change consumer behaviour, we will see the cost show up via increased waste management user fees. That being said, the bylaw proposed by the city is not the only way to address this problem. Thanks to everyone who sent in suggestions for other ways to reduce our waste—I’ll be sure to pass those ideas along to City Administration for future consideration.    

Coventry Hills School Walkabout

   Last week I went out to discuss some ongoing traffic safety concerns in Coventry Hills. Traffic safety and congestion in and around schools is a common issue that requires a collaborative approach. Members from the City's Mobility department and Calgary Police Service's Traffic Safety Unit, as well as CBE and CSSD trustees and administration all came together to discuss what we can do now to address the concerns, and how we can build school sites better in the future to prevent these issues from arising again. 

   So much of traffic safety around schools is dependent on student, parent, and teacher volunteers to help direct traffic at pick up and drop off times. I recommend contacting your school's parent council if it's a matter you'd like to be more involved in.

North Trail High School's Youth Town Hall

  Earlier this week I was invited to speak at the Youth Town Hall, a collaboration project of the Mayor's Youth Council, Youth Central, and North Trail High School. After a "Municipal Government 101" presentation, I had great conversations with grades 10 and 11 students about housing affordability, funding for transit, and what life is like as a city councillor. Their insights and questions were illuminating. It's so important to speak to the youth of today that will one day be running our city.

• Winter Walk Day - February 6

• Chinook Blast - Feb 2-19

• Chinese New Year Festival - Feb 3-11

• Outdoor Skating Rinks: It's been a warm winter so far, but there are still options for skating!

• DMAP: DMAP allows you to view active Land Use and Development Permit applications. 

• Residential Solar Calculator: This tool helps you understand the viability of adding solar panels to your home. 

• Playground Finder: An interactive map of all playgrounds maintained by the City of Calgary. 

• As always, here is a link to my voting record.