On Tuesday July 25th, 2023, Calgary’s City Council will vote on amendments as part of bylaw IP2023-0559. These amendments will affect the Municipal Development Plan and several Area Structure Plans, which is the framework used to approve the creation of new communities. Even though the current framework has a lot of shortcomings, the new one is just as bad. The proposed changes are based on the assumptions that the real estate industry needs more public funding, that the growth within the existing established area is not feasible and that new communities have no socio-environmental costs. As we saw in the three episodes of the series, none of this is true.

What can you do?
1) Contact Mayor Jyoti Gondek as well as the councillor for your ward and ask them not to vote the amendments, and on the contrary, implement a moratorium on new communities.

E-mail addresses for Members of City Council
Mayor Jyoti Gondek
Ward 1: Sonya Sharp
Ward 2: Jennifer Wyness
Ward 3: Jasmine Mian
Ward 4: Sean Chu
Ward 5: Raj Dhaliwal
Ward 6: Richard Pootmans
Ward 7: Terry Wong
Ward 8: Courtney Walcott
Ward 9: Gian-Carlo Carra
Ward 10: Andre Chabot
Ward 11: Kourtney Penner
Ward 12: Evan Spencer
Ward 13: Dan McLean
Ward 14: Peter Demong
Find who your Councillor is

2) Make a submission to all members of Council on the website of the City of Calgary to expose your views on the issue

3) Speak at the July 25th public hearing, virtually or in person. You can also register on the website of the City of Calgary. The Calgary Climate Hub will participate, then can give you support and coach you if you are unsure about what to expect. You can contact them directly by email and let them know that you wish to speak and that you would need their help.

Calgary: A Sprawling Obsession is a podcast created as part of the 2022-2023 edition of the Canadian Wilderness Stewardship Program, managed by the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society.

Music credits:

The picture used for the podcast cover is from Kelly Hoffer.

In this third and final episode, we will discuss with a member of the Tsuut’ina nation to see how urban sprawl in Calgary affect their traditional activities, as well as how Indigenous people perceive the modifications to the land that are caused by the expansion of cities on their traditional territories. We will conclude this series with ideas from all our guests that could help to change the narrative surrounding urban sprawl.

Calgary: A Sprawling Obsession is a podcast created as part of the 2022-2023 edition of the Canadian Wilderness Stewardship Program, managed by the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society.

Music credits:

The picture used for the podcast cover is from Kelly Hoffer.

In this second episode, we will discuss with biologists and conservation advocates to describe the environment and ecosystems that are found within and around Calgary, and the benefits that we all gain from preserving them. We will also discuss some tools that could be used to implement strong conservation policies and properly integrate nature within the city.

Calgary: A Sprawling Obsession is a podcast created as part of the 2022-2023 edition of the Canadian Wilderness Stewardship Program, managed by the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society.

Music credits:

The picture used for the podcast cover is from Kelly Hoffer.

In this first episode, we will discuss with geographers and urbanists to describe the mechanisms within municipal policies and the market that encourage urban sprawl, and understand why this growth model has remained the easy solution in Calgary for the past few decades. We will also discuss the negative effects for Calgarians, from the urban planning, natural risk and economic point of view.

Calgary: A Sprawling Obsession is a podcast created as part of the 2022-2023 edition of the Canadian Wilderness Stewardship Program, managed by the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society.

Connect with me on Mastodon at https://earthstream.social/@delaplaineproductions

Music credits:

The picture used for the podcast cover is from Kelly Hoffer.

Calgary: A Sprawling Obsession is a podcast that aims at creating a discussion around urban sprawl in Calgary and its effect on biodiversity and people. Stay tuned for the release of the first episode on March 17th, 2023!

The music is Skies Legacy by Tristan Lohengrin (www.tristanlohengrin.com)
The picture used for the podcast cover is from Kelly Hofer.