City hall candidates making the most of Stampede week
The Stampede can also double up as a political rodeo as city hall candidates want to connect with potential voters. The signs and billboards are going up...
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CTV News
21 minutes ago
- CTV News
Calgary mayor, Alberta minister to discuss bike lanes as threats of removal loom
In a composite image made from two file photographs, Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek, left, is shown in Calgary on Oct. 25, 2021 and Alberta Minister of Transportation Devin Dreeshen is shown in Calgary on May 19, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh EDMONTON — It was 10 years ago this month that Edmonton city staff returned a national traffic safety award when the councillors of the day voted to rip up a trio of bike lanes that played a small role in winning the prize. Councillors considered the lanes unsafe and underutilized. Edmonton has since built a flurry of new lanes to higher standards in busier areas. But the spectre of lane removals is again looming — this time over both of Alberta's major cities. In recent months, Transportation Minister Devin Dreeshen has said he thinks Edmonton and Calgary have been going the wrong way when it comes to building bike infrastructure. He has said the province hasn't ruled out stepping in. In April, Dreeshen called on Edmonton and Calgary to remove bike lanes from 'major corridors,' as he said they clash with provincial goals and investments in expanding roadway networks for vehicles. Dreeshen, in an April interview, said his eyes were set on four already-finished bike lanes in Edmonton, plus an additional project that was nearly complete. When it came to Calgary, he said he hadn't done the same level of digging for examples. He traded brief letters with Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek earlier this summer over the future of bike infrastructure in her city, and the two are set to meet Wednesday to discuss next steps. Just like the reasoning used in 2015 by Edmonton councillors, Dreeshen has said the lanes he's concerned about aren't being used enough to justify their cost and, in turn, are making commutes longer for drivers. Francisco Alaniz Uribe, a professor at the University of Calgary's School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape, said little has changed in the politics of bike lanes over the past 10 years. He expects it to remain a political conversation for years to come. 'We are in a moment where we're shifting some of our values of what we have been doing for decades, which is to prioritize the car on the street,' Alaniz Uribe said. 'And that has come to a point where you cannot continue to add capacity to that — there's no more room for extra lanes. 'But the political part of it is that there's a huge pushback on these changes for people that are accustomed and used to what is the status quo.' He said what's usually missing in the political conversation around bike lanes is data. 'They make streets safer, they allow for other aspects of urban planning to develop like making our cities more compact and building housing closer to employment centres, not having to spend so much money on parking, and even opening space for trees and green infrastructure,' Alaniz Uribe said. 'It is very difficult to talk about those in this kind of political conversation. Is it really the issue — bike lanes — or are we talking about more (of) a resistance to change?' City planners in Edmonton and Calgary say the actual percentage of cycling infrastructure that shares the road with cars is small in terms of each city's overall cycling network. In Edmonton, separated bike lanes and painted, but not protected, bike lanes make up just five per cent of the city's roughly 1,500 kilometres of cycling infrastructure, said Natalie Lazurko with the city's infrastructure department. Just how much of that five per cent meets the 'major corridor' threshold set by Dreeshen is unclear. Earlier this month, his office said the province is undertaking a review of existing bike lanes in both cities. Dreeshen has said the province hasn't ruled out stepping in to remove existing bike lanes, and that Alberta could follow Ontario in legislating that any new bike lane coming at the price of removing a vehicle lane would require provincial approval. Ontario's law, passed last year, also gave it the power to order municipalities to remove bike lanes and reinstall traffic lanes. A Charter challenge has been launched against parts of the bill, and awaits a judicial ruling. Lazurko said it would be difficult to pivot if the province or the next city council were to act on anti-bike lane urges. Adapting to new directions handed down by elected officials is also just part of the job, she said. 'Right now, we have a plan. Council has approved that plan. We're moving forward with that mandate,' said Lazurko. The plan, approved by council in 2020, set Edmonton's philosophy around bike infrastructure as being necessary to ensure residents have options to get around as the city grows. 'We have to rely on other ways of getting around. Otherwise, we're going to be living in congestion all over the place,' Lazurko said. 'We're not moving away from vehicular travel in Edmonton — that's never going to happen — but we are looking at providing more opportunities for people to travel in a different way.' A spokesperson for Edmonton Mayor Amarjeet Sohi, who, unlike Gondek, isn't seeking re-election in the municipal elections this fall, said the minister hadn't requested a meeting with him about bike lanes. This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 29, 2025. Jack Farrell, The Canadian Press
National Post
21 minutes ago
- National Post
Terry Newman: Why your steak sucks this summer
Article content When questioned about where the meat comes from, he said that, 'The chicken is almost 99 per cent Canadian. The beef and the pork, one day we could get 10 cases of back ribs and it's all Canadian, and the next day we get two cases of American.' Article content Yet 'none of the labels would tell you. That's what the little flags are for,' he explained, pointing to signs sitting above a bin of meat. 'Every couple of hours, they're constantly revising it in terms of what is and what isn't (Canadian).' Article content Again, there was nothing on the individual packages of meat to indicate whether the beef is foreign or homegrown, just flags or signs being shifted around to indicate whether beef is Canadian. Article content I spoke to a fourth butcher, this time at a Loblaws store, who confirmed that if it is not marked, there is no way for consumers to tell if the beef they are buying is from the United States or elsewhere. Article content At this location, a display case with unpackaged prime cuts featured some pieces of meat with flags indicating that they were Canadian. However, other meats in the case did not have any country-identifying information. Article content Article content There were packages of beef marked 'Canadian Beef,' with stickers saying, 'Pick the Beef with the Leaf,' and clearly displaying a black Canadian flag with 'Canada' written in the centre on each individual package. Article content Article content However, there was also beef that was unmarked. For example, a section filled with stewing beef, striploins and eye round marinating steaks with and without 'Canadian Pepper Seasoning' did not bear the same Canadian symbol on the individual packages. Article content Article content Article content The Loblaws butcher did, however, point to price tags above one bin of meats that had Canadian flags on it. These, he told me, were brought in as part of the 'Buy Canadian' movement against U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs. But these weren't everywhere in the store. In this location, they were above some vacuum-sealed, pre-seasoned pork products. Article content Article content Article content Grading requirements aside, I needed to determine whether the butchers were correct about Canadians not being able to tell if their meat is not Canadian. Article content I contacted Metro, Loblaws and the CFIA to ask why, as per the butchers I spoke with, there appears to be a lack of clarity around the labelling of meats from foreign countries, despite the rules posted on the food agency's website. Article content I asked Stephanie Bonk, communications manager for Metro, if the butchers were correct in saying that beyond marked boxes out back, consumers in the store would not be able to know if their meat was Canadian. Bonk said that Metro follows Ontario rules, which do not require country of origin labelling. Article content When I asked about store inspection, Bonk said that, 'To ensure compliance with federal and provincial requirements, the stores could be inspected by CFIA and/or' the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Agribusiness. Article content She explained that, 'There is no requirement for country of origin on retail meat cuts that are cut and packaged at store level. This would include ground meats, stewing meat, kabobs, stir fry meat, etc.'
CBC
22 minutes ago
- CBC
Chatham-Kent council defers decision on possible encampment relocation
Social Sharing Residents of a Chatham-Kent homeless encampment will have to wait until next month to find out if they have to move again. Municipal council voted to defer a decision that could relocate the encampment on the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) lands. Councillors passed a motion at a special meeting Monday night to have staff prepare a report outlining which municipal properties homeless people could camp on if they had to stay up to 100 metres away from residential properties. Staff will present options specific to the community of Chatham at council's August meeting and to the rest of the communities in the municipality in September. "My reason for asking for this is just to make sure that we don't repeat what just happened," said Coun. Allyson Storey, referring to the outcry from neighbours of the PUC lands that precipitated Monday's special meeting. "It is not an attempt to delay," Storey said. Where else could campers go? Many homeowners near the PUC lands say they were blindsided by the arrival of the campers approximately two weeks ago after the municipality broke up an encampment on the riverfront to make way for slope stabilization work. They told councillors Monday they were angry at not having been consulted over decisions about where campers could move. Storey's motion was a response to a motion by Mayor Darrin Canniff, which proposed amending Chatham-Kent's encampment protocol to prohibit camping within 100 metres of a residential property. Currently, the proscribed distance is within 10 metres. Storey said she wanted to know what options would be available to campers if the set-back radius was set at 25, 50 or 100 metres — and to give residents a chance to weigh in on any changes. If council had passed Canniff's motion as moved, there would only be two places in all of Chatham where homeless people could camp, Bruce McAllister told councillors. "It would be Thames Grove," said the municipality's general manager of development services. "If you go to 100 metres, you could still accommodate at the very southeast corner of the property a number of tents there. … The other potential option is Paxton's Bush." Councillors did adopt the remaining components of Canniff's motion, which laid out a number of measures aimed at eliminating homelessness and reducing complaints about encampments in the meantime. Those steps include: Requesting that staff prepare reports on options for delivering permanent supportive housing and more transitional cabins; identify properties that could be converted into supportive housing; and engage partner organizations such as mental health service providers to provide services in encampments. Transitioning as many homeless people as possible into the municipality's new transitional cabins. Continuing to work with R.O.C.K. (Reach Out Chatham-Kent) to house as many homeless people as possible. Permitting only one tent per person in encampments and requiring all possessions to be kept inside tents except for bicycles and small structures for pets. Hiring additional bylaw officers to enforce bylaws in encampments. Having police install CCTV cameras as needed at their discretion. Beginning regular communication with residents in the area around the PUC property. Councillors did not consider a motion put forward by Coun. Michael Bondy, which would've required campers to dismantle their campsites and disperse during daytime hours. The four-hour meeting opened with 17 delegations from neighbours of the encampment and advocates for homeless people. Some residents expressed concern about their property values and spoke of feeling unsafe in their neighbourhoods. They complained of garbage, vandalism and attempted break-ins. "When it was announced that the homeless population of Chatham would be relocated to the waterworks facilities, many teams decided they would no longer practice at that location," said John Foster, president of the Chatham Soccer Club. "Many parents are concerned with their children using a facility with such close proximity to possible drug use exposure, drug paraphernalia hazards, lewd behaviour ... including going to the washroom in public fully exposed." But some residents also said they wanted better solutions than to simply move the encampment to another neighbourhood. Larry Hutchins called for increased policing, 24-hour security and regular reports about addressing neighbourhood concerns. Advocates for the homeless, meanwhile, urged residents to view homeless individuals as members of their community who have had to resort to camping in public spaces because of systemic failures to address poverty, mental health issues and addiction. The general manager of Chatham Hope Haven said many of her clients live in the encampment, and they don't like it any more than their neighbours do because they are farther from the services they need for survival. It's absurd to think that moving them will help, Loree Bailey said. "I get being angry," she said. "I'm really angry too. I'm angry at every single system that these folks rely on to live being broken." Priest and soup kitchen volunteer Michael Bolohan urged the community to go beyond managing the housing crisis to experiencing what he called a "conversion of heart." "The ego driven part of us, obsessed with control, comfort and certainty, will always resist the presence of those who disrupt our illusions of safety and prosperity," he said. "Encampments do just that. They confront us with the failure of our systems, fragility of human life, and the lie that success and worth is the same thing."
