BRAID: Calgary Council chased shiny fads while city crumbled - now we pay the bill
Calgary city hall behaves like a bumblebee in a field of daisies, buzzing from one bright colour to the next while the field itself decays.
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For the last four years council has blown millions on the fad of the day – the infamous paper bag bylaw, new bike lanes on roads where cars are brutalized by potholes, the ridiculous rebranding as Blue Sky City.
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Now they discover that infrastructure is crumbling and they need another $62 million to fix it.
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'We're in a place in the city where key infrastructure is degrading at a pace that is outpacing what we can do to keep up with it,' says Coun. Evan Spencer, who brought the motion to spend this money.
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Who didn't know that? Not many citizens. They know bolts aren't in evidence but the nuts are still at city hall.
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Drive any street where developers have left obstacle courses of humps and potholes. Walk a sidewalk that looks like a volcano is bubbling below.
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The city is currently spending $17.8 million to upgrade the Mission bridge over the Elbow, at the junction of 4 St SW and Elbow Drive.
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That's essential work. But stroll a short distance away from the bridge on the east side of 4 St. and you're suddenly on a sidewalk with broken concrete, ruts, humps exposed, jagged holes, and grates with raised edges.
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This is simply the worst, most dangerous stretch of sidewalk I've ever seen in any Canadian city.
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We recently encountered a couple from Mexico who were in town for the big Rotary convention. They looked bewildered as they picked their way cautiously along 4 street. They may have been told Canada is a developed country.
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One of city hall's biggest failings is allowing roads to be virtually destroyed by home and condo developments.
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Developers are required by law to repair the streets, sidewalks and any other public property they dig up.
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In many areas, there's no sign whatever that this is enforced.
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Take a drive though Marda Loop, where massive development turns sidestreets into a landscape of humps and dips. Buckle up or your head might hit the roof.
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The trenches get filled in, yes, but the street is no longer close to level.
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The only remedy for many damaged stretches is complete repaving. If the city does that, taxpayers would be on the hook for work developers should have done in the first place. Repairing the damage city-wide would cost scores of millions.
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Toronto Sun
23 minutes ago
- Toronto Sun
LILLEY: CBC pushes left-wing political values in effort to cancel Christian singer
But the public broadcaster's news coverage of the 'MAGA musician' has instead made Sean Feucht a much bigger celebrity in Canada Get the latest from Brian Lilley straight to your inbox American musician Sean Feucht had been scheduled to perform in Moncton, N.B., on Thursday, July 24, 2025. Photo by Gage Skidmore/CC BY-SA 2.0 CBC went on a religious war against a Christian singer this past week in an effort to cancel his concerts. Instead, CBC raised the profile of Sean Feucht in Canada and showed just how politicized their news coverage has become. It started several days ago as Canada's public broadcaster went wall to wall with coverage of Feucht's show in Halifax. They described him repeatedly as a 'MAGA musician' and then made it clear to their readers and viewers that Feucht holds views that no Canadian should welcome. 'Sean Feucht is a religious singer from the U.S. who has expressed anti-diversity, anti-2SLGBTQ+ and anti-women's rights views on his platforms,' read one story about his original venue in Halifax being cancelled. Other media outlets joined in the pile on, simply describing Feucht as MAGA and therefore unacceptable. We don't need to tell you more than that, we've already told you that he likes the bad Orange man in the White House – BAN HIM! This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account A protestor chants slogans against pro-Maga and Christian singer Sean Feucht during his performance at Ministerios Restauración in Montreal on Friday, July 25, 2025. Photo by Allen McInnis / MONTREAL GAZETTE The original venues for all six concerts cancelled on him – some reportedly keeping the fees he had already paid. Feucht may not be a household name in Canada, but he has played and toured here many times and he quickly found new venues. The media hype about the dangers of allowing a Christian rocker to perform here kept up and when he played Montreal on Friday night, radical protesters showed up to try and forcibly shut down the show. Montreal police arrest a protester who refused to stop eating on the stairs of Ministerios Restauración during pro-Maga and Christian singer Sean Feucht's performance in Montreal on Friday, July 25, 2025. Photo by Allen McInnis / MONTREAL GAZETTE CBC quoted a spokesperson for Montreal Mayor Valerie Plante saying they believe in freedom of expression but not for this guy. 'Freedom of expression is one of our fundamental values, but hateful and discriminatory speech is not accepted in Montreal and, as in other Canadian cities, the show will not be tolerated,' Catherine Cadotte told CBC . Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Mayor Valérie Plante at a press conference on the terrace at City Hall in Montreal on Wednesday, June 11, 2025. Photo by John Mahoney / MONTREAL GAZETTE The mayor's office tried to shut down the show even after it moved from a municipal venue to a church – and the city is now threatening to fine that church. They claimed Feucht didn't have a permit to play and it wouldn't be allowed to go forward, a claim CBC dutifully put to the singer as he spoke with media ahead of the show. 'It's because you don't have a permit,' a CBC-Radio Canada journalist stated to Feucht on the issue of why some wanted his show shut down. 'I don't think you need a permit to worship in a church,' Feucht responded. Feucht, the American, has a better understanding of how our country operates than a CBC journalist, that is truly sad. If we lived in a country fully run by CBC and Montreal Mayor Valerie Plante, then we would have to sign away freedom of religion, freedom of assembly and freedom expression – three fundamental freedoms protected by Canada's Charter of Rights and Freedoms. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Pro-Maga and Christian singer Sean Feucht speaks before his performance at Ministerios Restauración in Montreal on Friday, July 25, 2025. Photo by Allen McInnis / MONTREAL GAZETTE As you can see, there is a selective approach to who gets those rights and freedoms protected. There is a lot of chatter about what kind of musical acts are acceptable these days. Concerts for British punk rap duo Bob Vylan were cancelled after they shouted 'death, death to the IVF' at the Glastonbury music festival. Irish rap group Kneecap are slated to perform four sold-out shows in Toronto and Vancouver later this year but there are calls for them to be banned from Canada for their open support of banned terrorist groups like Hezbollah and Hamas. Read More This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. When CBC did a story on protests against Kneecap, they spoke with the Centre for Free Expression about how problematic it is to ban musical acts. That's something they only did in Feucht's case after days of broadcast and online print stories whipping up the Canadian public about the MAGA invasion. I'd never heard of Sean Feucht before this past week and CBC 's decision to join a Holy War to shut him down. They may have gotten the venues to deny him entry, but they also made him a much bigger celebrity in Canada than he would have been otherwise. CBC also showed that while they claim to stand up for Canadian values, they don't mean the ones in the Charter, they mean the left-wing political values they push every single day. blilley@ Columnists Toronto & GTA Columnists Sunshine Girls Columnists
Winnipeg Free Press
23 minutes ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
City fines Montreal church for hosting MAGA-affiliated singer Sean Feucht concert
MONTRÉAL – The City of Montreal has fined a local church $2,500 for hosting a concert Friday night by the U.S.-based Christian musician Sean Feucht. The city says the church did not have a permit to organize the concert, which it says ran counter to Montreal's values of inclusion, solidarity and respect. Officials have cancelled Feucht's scheduled concerts in several Canadian cities in recent days, including Halifax, Charlottetown and Quebec City. Feucht has spoken out against 'gender ideology,' abortion and the LGBTQ+ community and his religious and political views have grabbed the attention of U.S. President Donald Trump's administration. Montreal police arrested a 38-year-old man during a protest Friday night outside the church. They also say a smoke bomb was set off inside the church during Feucht's performance. This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 26, 2025.
CBC
an hour ago
- CBC
Alberta immigrant support groups seeing recent uptick in anger, rise of racist narratives
Social Sharing Alberta resident Shamaila Akram says she can handle the increase in racial slurs and derogatory comments being thrown at her, but she worries about her newcomer and immigrant clients. As debates unfold over Canada's immigration system, those who provide help to newcomers in Alberta say there has been an uptick of hostility toward immigrants. "I hear from people in my own communities — women specifically who wear hijabs — many bad things and we realize there is a need to educate people," said Akram, with Calgary's Centre for Newcomers. "Clients are coming with severe anxiety and sometimes panic attacks after hearing racial slurs outside our door. We have instances where they're being harassed while walking in [the] downtown." WATCH | Alberta Next panel discusses immigration, sovereignty during provincial tour: 'Alberta Next' panel discusses immigration, sovereignty during provincial tour 9 days ago Alberta Premier Danielle Smith's 'Alberta Next' panel kicked off its provincial tour Tuesday to address concerns that have inspired separatist sentiment within the province. The panel hopes to hear from the public on ways to fix relations with the federal government. Once concluded, it will recommend ideas and policy proposals for a referendum. People have also screamed, "Go back to where you came from!" at Akram while she has been with her children multiple times this year, she said, and some have been aggressive. The Canadian Anti-Hate Network says charged debates about immigration in Canada and the United States are behind the rise in hostility toward immigrants online and in person. "We have been noticing a large increase in online hatred toward migrants, and especially toward South Asian communities lately," said Evan Balgord, the organization's executive director. "We are seeing classically racist narratives being spread that groups of people are dirty, criminal, incompatible with society and dangerous." In Calgary, Kelly Ernst, the Centre for Newcomers' chief program officer, says it has had to increase building security, reduce its online program marketing and bolster the number of workers on its crisis line for newcomers. Racialized workers at the centre are increasingly being harassed, and he said people often walk by screaming at the centre. Ernst said he and those working with immigrants noticed the increase in the last year as the immigration system returned to the spotlight. He said the ongoing Alberta Next panel led by Premier Danielle Smith that's touring the province to hear public grievances with the federal government is stoking that anger. "Since [the] Alberta Next panel raised its ugly head, it's also created additional hostility with some of the comments associated to that," he said. Ernst said he agrees that the population of newcomers in Canada and Alberta has exploded, but said governments need to stop using immigrants as scapegoats for housing and infrastructure issues. WATCH | The Alberta Next panel makes stop in Edmonton: The Alberta Next panel makes stop in Edmonton 9 days ago "It's not the people themselves that are creating that particular strain," Ernst said. "The problem is government policy." The Alberta Next panel has already made stops in Red Deer and Edmonton, and will return to Edmonton again, with visits to Fort McMurray and Lloydminster in August. Six surveys launched on the panel's website help inform what questions the government is putting to locals, and one of them is about immigration. "If Alberta isn't satisfied with the number or economic qualifications of newcomers moving to our province, we may have the option to withhold provincial social programs to any non-citizen or non-permanent resident who does not have an Alberta-approved immigration status," says a video participants are required to view before taking the immigration survey. The speaker in the video says although the federal government decides who is let into Canada, provinces pay for most social programs that they need. The video says immigration is to blame for high housing costs and unemployment rates, adding that "many of the divisions and disputes that plague other countries have begun making their way into ours." Smith's press secretary Sam Blackett said in a statement this week that the number of newcomers entering Canada needs to be sustainable. "Everyone wanting to come should be committed to upholding the Canadian values of hard work, love of freedom and peaceful co-existence," he said. "[Former prime minister] Justin Trudeau's Liberals upended Canada's immigration system for over a decade by instituting essentially an open borders policy that permitted millions annually to enter Canada, often without any sort of proper vetting, job prospects or needed employment skills. "The results have been disastrous. Housing prices have skyrocketed, and unemployment keeps increasing as immigration outpaces job growth." WATCH | Will Alberta Next panel result in a plan, or just another outlet for frustration? Will Alberta Next panel result in a plan, or just another outlet for frustration? 8 days ago Premier Danielle Smith's Alberta Next panel aims to hear about how the province can protect itself Ottawa while building a strong and sovereign Alberta within Canada. The CBC's Helen Pike talks to a conservative strategist and a political scientist about what the town hall format is for, and what value the province might see in hosting these discussions. He said the province and federal government have a shared responsibility to manage the population. Alberta Immigration Minister Joseph Schow, in a statement, added, "Alberta's government stands firmly against racism and continues working to build a province where everyone is respected — no matter their cultural background or where they come from. "Immigrants have been contributors to the economic and social fabric of Alberta, and they deserve to feel safe and respected in their communities." Laurie Hauer, the interim executive director of Edmonton's Newcomer Centre, said education is the key. "Immigration is vital for our economic growth, and it's really important to get that message out to people and understand those elements because what's coming out right now is just constantly, 'Immigrants are the problem,"' Hauer said. She said several of the centre's clients and workers have been accosted in the last year. Akram added, "We need to work on ways of making our communities more safer rather than scapegoating the vulnerable and racialized minority groups.
