It’s possible that I shall make an ass of myself. But in that case one can always get out of it with a little dialectic. I have, of course, so worded my proposition as to be right either way (K.Marx, Letter to F.Engels on the Indian Mutiny)
Sunday, September 10, 2023
UBC Okanagan ordered to pay $50,000 in sexual assault discrimination case
The University of British Columbia Okanagan has been ordered to pay a former student $50,000 for discriminating against her based on her sex and disability in the way it handled her allegation of sexual assault by another student.
The B.C. Human Rights Tribunal says the university’s method of investigating non-academic misconduct exacerbated Stephanie Hale’s PTSD and caused her harm to the point that she couldn’t participate in the process.
UBC-Okanagan campus comes alive as post-secondary students begin classes
The tribunal says that though the university had a high-level understanding of sexual violence and a commitment to support survivors, its response didn’t result in a reasonable investigation process or restore a “discrimination-free learning environment.”
The 132-page decision handed down late last month says the discrimination was very serious, involving a power imbalance and Hale’s “unique vulnerability.”
File photo of Stephanie Hale posing for a photograph in Kamloops on Oct. 20, 2016. Jeff Bassett / The Canadian Press
The university has also been ordered to pay Hale $50,000 as compensation, nearly $7,000 in lost wages and about $8,000 in expenses.
Hale, whose mental disability is said in the ruling to stem from her PTSD, has alleged she was assaulted in 2013, but the other student denied the allegations and said what happened was consensual.
Alleged B.C. sexual assault victim speaks ou
UBC’s then-president, Santa Ono, dismissed Hale’s complaint against the other student in 2017, citing a lack of evidence.
UBC lawyers went to court in 2019 and tried unsuccessfully to quash the tribunal’s decision to hear the case.
The Canadian Press does not typically identify complainants in cases of sexual assault, but Hale has previously said she wants her name used.
Garden River leadership opposes 'unequal and unfair' distribution of $10B RHT settlement
First nation leadership unanimously reject agreement to distribute proposed Robinson Huron Treaty annuities settlement, which it says would use $1 billion to establish a trust fund while shelling out $500 million to lawyers
Leadership in Garden River First Nation is opposing what it calls “unequal and unfair” plans to distribute the proposed $10-billion settlement in the Robinson Huron Treaty annuities claim among 21 First Nations.
Chief and council quietly released a memo to community members earlier this week speaking out against the distribution plan, which leadership says would see lawyers pocket an “unconscionable and outrageous” $500-million fee and Robinson Huron trustees using $1 billion of the settlement in order to implement a trust fund for future litigation and other needs.
The distribution agreement was voted on and approved by all 21 First Nations under the Robinson Huron Treaty in 2012 when litigation over unpaid treaty annuities was first initiated.
“This money comes out of your pockets and we don’t think it’s right or necessary,” said chief and council in the memo.
Leadership is also taking issue with the distribution formula, which it claims will make members of small First Nations “instant millionaires” while members of larger communities — like Garden River — receive roughly $50,000.
It’s also opposed to what’s being referred to as a “sliding scale” where the aging population will receive more settlement dollars than younger people.
“We are being put under great pressure to sign this unfair agreement,” said the memo to community members. “Please support us and resist this oppression.”
Leadership says Garden River First Nation will hold its own separate study group Sept. 9 — on the day of a treaty renewal ceremony in Sault Ste. Marie as part of the Robinson Huron Treaty of 1850 Gathering that’s being hosted by Garden River — so that band members “can learn what this agreement really says” without “carefully managed information coming from the head table.”
“We want you to know the truth so that you can make up your mind,” the memo said.
The $10-billion settlement from Canada and Ontario is expected to be finalized later this year.
In June, the federal and provincial governments announced the proposed settlement with the Robinson Huron Treaty Litigation Fund (RHTLF), the representative for the 21 Robinson Huron First Nations in the high-profile court case, after the Ontario Superior Court determined that the Crown failed to meet its treaty obligations to increase annuity payments for the Anishinaabeg as resource revenues within the treaty territory increased over time.
Prior to the landmark ruling, annuity payments to treaty beneficiaries had been capped at $4 for more than a century.
The Robinson Huron Treaty, which ceded a large swath of northeastern Ontario to the Crown, was signed in present-day Sault Ste. Marie on September 9, 1850.
Prince George encampment resident predicts violence will stem from forced move
Local authorities closing down Millennium Park encampment on Saturday
Ted Clarke
James Munro is worried the city's decision to close the Millennium Park encampment this weekend will hurt the city's homeless population.Hanna Petersen photo
The eviction notices have been handed out and James Munro knows he will be forced out of his temporary home at Millennium Park encampment in downtown Prince George.
Known as J-Rock, Munro has been living with his fiancée under a tarp in close proximity to about 30 other residents of the camp at First Avenue and George Street.
The Millennium Park campers have been loading their belongings into transport trailers donated by a private citizen for relocation to Moccasin Flats, a 52-site encampment along Lower Patricia Boulevard that’s been used by the city’s homeless population for the past two years.
The park is across the street from a gas station/convenience store and a shelter where they can get food, water and showers, while Moccasin Flats has few amenities. The city has yet to announce any infrastructural improvements to deal with more campers.
“There’s no water, there’s no electricity, there’s no anything, now we’ll have to go a mile-and a-half to get water,” Munro said. ”They brought in port-a-potties for us located at strategic places for them but that isn’t strategic for us at all.
“It’s a mile-and-half walk to get to the store and that will take half an hour to walk there and back. Now if we want power we’ll have to buy generators at $3,000 apiece. How do a lot of people afford that?”
The campers have been told they must take their belongings with them or risk losing them. He said none of the authorities have come up with any alternative housing solutions.
“They haven’t done anything,” Munro said. “Let’s face it, where are they building new homes in P.G. that are going to be affordable for homeless people? That’s why we’re here.”
Millennium Park is highly visible to highway travellers coming into the city on Highway 16 East and Munro says some motorists have shown their contempt for camp residents by throwing things at them as they pass by.
“They throw eggs and they bounce golf balls in here,” he said “Do you know what a golf ball does at 60 kilometres an hour? One girl was hit with a frozen slush (drink) that smashed into her face and broke her nose.”
Munro, 46, has terminal cancer and has been addicted to heroin for 15 years. He came to Millennium Park five months ago from Quesnel and says the campers have formed a tight-knit community. They look out for each other and police themselves and try to weed out the bad characters. They also clamp down on people for lighting large campfires or using drugs in plain sight of the public and he said they evicted some residents when they set up a chop shop for stolen bikes in one of the tents.
A fire in November 2022 got out of hand and spread to three tents before fire crews arrived to douse the flames. Munro says he’s seen the fire department attend the camp at least 30 times to douse small campfires in the time he’s lived there.
Citing the fire danger of flammable material and liquid/compressed gas storage present at the site, fire chief Cliff Warner issued an order that took effect Wednesday afternoon for the Millennium camp to be taken down due to the fire hazard and risk of an explosion. An order issued earlier this week by the city requires the camp to be evacuated by Saturday. Munro says the eviction is not justified and blames the fire chief and Mayor Simon Yu for overstating the danger to residents.
Munro worries that campers bound for Moccasin Flats will be no longer be in close proximity to an experienced first aid attendant stocked with Narcan to prevent drug overdose deaths when they move. He said there have been two overdose deaths at Moccasin Flats since April and a woman suffered a gunshot wound there last winter. Munro predicts more violence is likely when the Millennium Park residents move in.
“There’s a lot of little underground societies that don’t get along with each other and once you put them in one area it’s going to be more of problem for these individuals to get along, that’s why people live here and people live out there, because they don’t get along with each other,” he said.
“They think cleaning this park up is going to help, but another will spring up somewhere else.”
Volunteers frustrated with lack of help for Millennium Park decampment
Helping residents move out of Millennium Park has been left to a handful of volunteers
City Coun. Trudy Klassen helps occupants move belongings at Millennium Park.
Hanna Petersen
Those left at the Millennium Park encampment on Saturday spent the day dismantling tents and moving their belonging with the help of a few volunteers.
The city had given a Sept. 9 eviction deadline to those residing at Millennium Park and said that any material remaining will be removed and permanently disposed.
Philip Fredrickson, a volunteer with UNDU (Uniting Northern Drug Users Undoing Stigma), had spent the previous three days helping people pack up and move.
The city had signed a Memorandum of Understanding, called Heart to Hearth, with the province regarding supports for the unhoused in Prince George in June, and Fredrickson said he was a part of the Heart to Hearth team.
He said he did not find out the city had planned to decamp Millennium Park until it was mentioned at a meeting he attended on Aug. 31 the same day it was publicly announced.
“Immediately everyone at the table just really realized we have work to do,” he said. “This last week, we've been trying to put together teams to come down and help but you know, back to school, back to work, everybody's really busy and we've had to have just random volunteers come down and help.”
Fredrickson said he was disappointed there was not better coordination from the city and helping residents at Millennium Park has been left up to volunteers.
He said Coun. Trudy Klassen has been the only person from the city on site helping the residents move their belongings.
The residents of the Millennium Park encampment were also served with a second eviction notice on Wednesday in Sept. 6 in the form of an evacuation order signed by Prince George fire chief Cliff Warner.
Fredrickson said the biggest challenge facing the occupants has been the stress and anxiety and confusion of the last-minute notification to evacuate.
“It’s the confusion, the misrepresentation, the lack of coordination with any kind of city workers or city officials…I mean the fact that we have a city councillor down here, helping move things, but not knowing what the actual plan was kind of speaks for itself,” said Fredrickson.
“It would have been nice to have a little interaction with some of maybe city bylaw or city outreach, or something like that but I haven't seen any of them down here in the last week at all.”
He said the second evacuation order had thrown a wrench into their work because the stress and anxiety has caused residents in active addiction to up their use because they’re self-medicating.
“The last couple days, we've been moving all of their stuff without their help, because they're just not functioning. So, it's created more of a problem for the volunteers and people helping them,” he said.
“I'm just a little frustrated with the fact that we haven't had any support from city or by law or outreach. The organizations that are in the area haven't been able to assist because their contracts and policies prevent them from coming on any encampment site. So it's been really difficult.”
He said there’s been between five and 12 volunteers helping residents move over the last week.
“I feel that we need to take responsibility for the decisions we make and the decision that we made at council has a profound impact on the people that have been making this their home the last few years, and I felt I needed to be here to help out,” said Coun. Klassen.
She said she also wanted to meet the residents and learn more about their stories and get a better sense of the circumstances they are in.
“Well, I’m new on council and so I'm not quite familiar with all the things that are at our disposal, but I'm surprised at the lack of coordination,” said Klassen, adding that there have been a lot of amazing individuals who have stepped up to help.
“Throughout the week, it sort of looked like okay, people are settling into the fact that there is no coordination, and then everybody is sort of just trying to pitch in gently and do what they can. It does speak to the fact that there was no plan.”
In an earlier interview with the Citizen, Mayor Simon Yu had confirmed a local resident donated several large container trailers to help the occupants transport and store their belongings.
He said he hoped they would have a proper plan in terms of course of action by the Sept. 9 deadline.
When asked about the city’s operational role in the decampment of Millennium Park, a statement from the City of Prince George sent to the Citizen referred back to the MOU.
“The City does not have the resources or jurisdiction to provide support services to occupants of Millennium Park,” read the statement.
The city also said it will not be issuing any comment with respect to operations on the site until it has been cleared and secured.
‘Absolutely unacceptable’: Lack of communication confuses Prince George decampment
Posted September 8, 2023 Work is underway to clear the Millennium Park tent city in Prince George. More than thirty people have been living in the encampment, but in May, council voted to tear it down, citing safety concerns for those living in the camp and police and other first responders.
It’s been a little over a week since the City of Prince George notified residents of the Millennium Park encampment they would need to leave — a process riddled with confusion and poor communication, one advocate tells Global News.
Since the Aug. 31 order to pack up, accommodations have been found for just six of the 30 or so people living in the park. Around 12 are still at the camp with nowhere to go and the rest have fled, according to Phillip Fredericksson.
“They’re full of stress and anxiety. Some people have fled and left all their things because of the fear of forceful removal,” the volunteer for Uniting Northern Drug Users UNDU’ing Stigma said Friday.
“We’re compounding trauma here, this is becoming such a complex PTSD situation.”
Prince George removing encampment without offering alternative housing
His comments come after a Sept. 6 notice from Prince George Fire Chief Cliff Warner ordering the evacuation of all people and removal of all combustible materials from Millennium Park due to “imminent and serious danger to life and property.”
“This order is effective commencing September 7, 2023 at 4:25 p.m. and will remain in effect until it is withdrawn by me in writing,” it stated.
Fredericksson said that notice — issued with no advance warning to those on the frontlines — sent people into a panic. They believed the deadline to vacate Millennium Park had been moved up two days from the Sept. 9 timeline provided by the city.
Drug use on the site increased as a coping mechanism, he added, although as of Sept. 8, no police or fire department action to evict the residents had been taken.
“It was written as a deadline and threatened, and then was not followed through. So we have paid officials in this city who make empty threats and strike fear and anxiety and stress and pain into unhoused residents,” Fredericksson said.
Explosive situation at Burnaby homeless camp fire
Global News requested an interview with the mayor or a council member on Thursday, but none was provided.
IN AN EMAILED STATEMENT, HOWEVER, PRINCE GEORGE SENIOR COMMUNICATIONS ADVISOR CLAIRE THWAITES SAID THE FIRE CHIEF’S ORDER TOOK EFFECT ON THURSDAY, BUT DID NOT CHANGE THE CITY’S SATURDAY DEADLINE. SHE FURTHER WROTE THAT NEITHER THE MAYOR NOR COUNCIL IS “IN A POSITION TO COMMENT ON AN INDEPENDENT DECISION OF THE FIRE CHIEF.”
The City of Prince George funds the fire department.
“The City intends to comply with the order of the fire chief in conjunction with its efforts to clear the site pursuant to the Trespass Act,” Thwaites wrote.
“Notice of these efforts was provided to occupants of Millennium Park on August 31, advising that the site must be cleared of all personal possessions or other material by September 8. As a matter of employee safety, the City will not be issuing any comment with respect to operations on the site until it has been cleared and secured.”
Global News has reached out to the fire chief for comment.
City of Vancouver ‘tiny shelter’ project behind schedule
Reached by Global News on Friday, Coun. Trudy Klassen said that like others, she had interpreted the fire chief’s order to be a deadline: “That sounds to me like a deadline of Sept. 7, 4:25 p.m.”
Klassen was at Millennium Park on Friday helping residents pack and move, alongside Fredericksson. Asked about her message to those now facing uncertain future, she said, “so much in our society is broken these days, and I would say this is just one example of things that are not working well.”
She will “absolutely” follow up with mayor and council to ensure better communication in the future, she added.
“When you’re sitting in city hall, it’s easy to say this, it’s easy to say that — but for the people on the ground, their requirements for notice is not always understood by those sitting around the chamber circle.”
Klassen said Prince George seems to be “getting a bid of a bad rap” when it comes to challenges with housing, mental health and addictions. In part, the councillor said it’s because the major northern city is a “catch basin” for folks in need of support and services from across northern B.C.
She acknowledged, however, “there is more that we could be doing to encourage the co-ordination of services and making sure that we manage, as a city, a little bit better place for all of those things.”
The mayor does have a vision for a city that “takes care of its vulnerable, that is thriving, that is a vibrant community where’s there’s opportunity,” Klassen added.
Advocates protest closure of Abbotsford homeless camp
In an interview with CKPG on Thursday, Mayor Simon Yu said the city is “not in the business of moving people from encampment to encampment.”
“Hopefully, we’ll work together and we can move people from encampment to housing.”
Last year, prior to Yu’s election, the City of Prince George apologized for the harm it caused when it took down structures from the Moccasin Flats encampment, stating it believed at the time they had been abandoned.
The municipality had appealed a court ruling that denied its injunction request to close the encampment. A B.C. Supreme Court judge later determined the city had “inflicted serious harm on vulnerable people” last March, and Prince George withdrew its appeal.
Yu said Thursday the city must prove that sufficient housing exists to accommodate the residents of an encampment before an injunction is granted by the courts.
According to the Canadian Observatory on Homelessness, as of 2021, 163 people in Prince George were experiencing homelessness, 82 per cent of whom reported experiencing “chronic homelessness.” Eighty-two per cent also identified as Indigenous, while 10 per cent identified as youth 25 or under.
Fredericksson, however, said the number of unhoused people in Prince George is closer to 500, including people who are accessing other services, couch-surfing or the hidden homeless. UNDU is currently setting up a new wraparound social services shelter to accommodate some, he added, but it’s not expected to be open for clients until October.
More than 100,000 British Columbians at risk of homelessness due to lack of affordable rentals
There were apparent challenges last week with regards to the Millennium Park decampment as well.
Fredericksson said no one knew about the eviction order prior to the public, Aug. 31 announcement from the city, and the Sept. 9 deadline was an extension that was obtained through last-minute advocacy.
THE MUNICIPALITY ACKNOWLEDGED AN “APPARENT MISALIGNMENT” BETWEEN MAYOR AND COUNCIL AND HOUSING MINISTER RAVI KAHLON, WHOEXPRESSED HIS DISAPPOINTMENTIN THE DECAMPMENT ORDER AND URGED THE CITY TO RECONSIDER, GIVEN THAT ACCOMMODATIONS HAD NOT YET BEEN SECURED FOR EVERYONE.
Both Prince George and the Ministry of Housing had signed a memorandum of understanding about the provision of resources and work to house residents in need.
In an emailed statement last week, mayor and council said it would investigate “the apparent misalignment” and expected to issue a statement this week. As of Friday morning, no such statement had been posted to the municipality’s website.
Kahlon said Friday that BC Housing and provincial outreach workers continue to engage with residents of Millennium Park, to offer housing when available and making sure they’re aware of nearby shelter options.
“BC Housing’s nurse was also on-site this week and completed 10 health assessments and provided health referrals when needed,” he said in an email.
“As of Wednesday, BC Housing staff and outreach workers have helped four individuals move out of the encampment into long term shelter spaces at the Association Advocating for Women and Community … They will continue monitoring closely to ensure every open shelter space is made available for people. To this end, BC Housing has worked with AWAC to add 10 additional beds.”
An additional 52 supportive homes are currently underway in Prince George, Kahlon added. He did not address a question on the communication challenges of the decampment process.
Where will de-camped homeless from Hastings Street go?
Fredericksson, meanwhile, said work to clear the camp for Saturday continues, interrupted periodically by “toxic” jeers and car honking from some passersby who want the camp dismantled.
It has been the site of a fire and drug use, and a police raid also found weapons there.
Fredericksson said he’s disappointed he hasn’t seen a single municipal outreach worker at the camp in the past two days.
He called the lack of overall communication in the past week “absolutely unacceptable” and said he plans to take on a bigger advocacy role at city council meetings to help ensure the pattern “cannot continue.”
'People are scared': Anti-poverty advocates fear homelessness spike amid affordable housing crisis
Advocates say they're seeing increasing 'hidden homelessness' in Calgary: 'We are hearing story after story of overcrowding in housing with family and friends, people sleeping in cars'
Alberta, has the most “financialization” of real estate in the country, which reduces the amount of available below-market lodging.
Author of the article:Bill Kaufmann Published Sep 07, 2023 •
Bryce waits knowing that his home, part of a large homeless camp, will soon be cleaned up. The city and province undertook a multi-day project to remove tons of garbage in the camp next to Deerfoot Trail in the Bonnybrook/Manchester area of Calgary on Tuesday, August 29, 2023.
Gavin Young/Postmedia
The minivan and its occupants parked next to what’s normally a happy place could be a bitter harbinger of what Calgary’s affordable housing crisis will bring, said an anti-poverty advocate.
“It was a whole family living in a van beside Riley Park with two kids, bedding down for the night, with mattresses and piles of clothes,” said Meaghon Reid, recounting an evening walk in the northwest Hillhurst area earlier this week.
“If we don’t get this right, we’ll be seeing more of this kind of result a lot sooner than people think.”
The executive director of Vibrant Communities Calgary said the city’s latest Housing Needs Assessment shows nearly one in five households in the city can’t afford lodging comes as no surprise.
Nor do numbers showing that to afford a single detached home, buyers need an income of $156,000 so they wouldn’t be spending more than 30 per cent of their earnings before income tax on housing.
The report also states the median price of a single detached home his risen 37 per cent in the past three years, and that those seeking to rent required an annual income of $84,000, up from $67,000 a year ago.
“Things are desperate, urgent and a lot of people feel helpless,” said Reid, adding housing challenges faced by Calgarians sometimes go beyond money.
“What’s very new is if you had money, you could find a place to live, but now it’s about availability . . . people are scared.”
Advocates hearing ‘story after story’ of overcrowding in housing
There’s no doubt more Calgarians are feeling the financial crunch, a crisis that’s almost certainly under-reported and will only get worse if the housing shortage isn’t addressed, she said.
Last year, Calgary Homeless Foundation’s homeless count was 2,782 — down slightly from four years before — but the number likely doesn’t tell the whole story, said Reid.
“We are hearing story after story of overcrowding in housing with family and friends, people sleeping in cars — there’s a lot of hidden homelessness, which is really telling, and we’re also talking about kids,” she said. Alberta, she said, has the most “financialization” of real estate in the country, which reduces the amount of available below-market lodging.
Echoing those sentiments is Bernadette Majdell, who helps operate a non-profit real estate developer. She says the city’s homelessness problem is poised to worsen significantly.
“People are making choices on spending on food and utilities . . . but eventually some of those individuals will have to move from existing housing to shelters,” said Majdell, chief operating officer for the HomeSpace Society.
High levels of inflation that have driven up utility costs and interest rates that have been hiked by the Bank of Canada 10 times in the past 18 months have added layers to unaffordability, she said.
After 20 years in the charitable sector, Majdell said, “I’ve not seen anything this bad and it’s not as bad as it’s going to get. It’s going to take money and time to fix.”
Shelter having difficulty transitioning clients into rental market
City officials say the problem is affecting all types of Calgarians, with one demographic conspicuously scrambling to secure elusive lodging this summer: post-secondary students.
If the status quo is maintained, considerably more homelessness “is guaranteed . . . with income security not keeping pace, it is inevitable people will lose their housing and enter experiences in homelessness . . . it’s daunting,” said Sandra Clarkson, executive director of the Calgary Drop-In Centre.
On Sept. 1, a dozen people showed up at the centre due to housing affordability issues, and a traditional autumn increase in client numbers is starting earlier this year, she said.
As the rental housing stock diminishes, it’s become more difficult for her agency to transition clients out of the shelter, which has seen its number of clients rise from 4,416 in 2021-22 to 6,839 in 2022-23, said Clarkson.
Incentives for building more affordable housing are vital, said Clarkson, who raised an idea that’s proven successful in Scandinavia.
“I’d love to see with every development, some affordable housing must be mandatory or it doesn’t get built,” she said.
“This is about forcing us to think about the city we want,” said Meaghon Reid, executive director of Vibrant Communities Calgary.
PHOTO BY SUPPLIED BY VIBRANT COMMUNITIES CALGARY
The situation is dire enough for Mayor Jyoti Gondek to call for a special meeting of council on the issue on Sept. 16, a rare Saturday gathering.
Both Majdell and Reid welcome recommendations in the city’s affordable housing strategy, which includes 33 recommendations from the Housing and Affordability Task Force and another 38 actions already adopted by the city.
Among those recommendations is expanding R-CG zoning to allow for a mix of housing types in residential communities heavily skewed toward single detached zoning.
That would spread affordable housing developments more equally and reduce concentrations that some consider “ghettoization,” said Majdell, adding it would still need public buy-in, something that’s often lacking.
“We see it every time we try to do developments, it’s ‘not here in my backyard’ — there has to be concessions made by the general public,” she said.
“We need all three levels of government to step up, we need people to support the initiative in that strategy.”
‘It’s like you’re penalized for not having enough money to live in another place’
Doni Salazar and her husband have been struggling to find subsidized and affordable housing, last year moving from a low-income unit in the East Village, “where conditions were very bad,” to an apartment in Bridgeland where they pay $900 a month.
But even at that below-market rate, the seniors have little money to spare, said Salazar, who came to Canada with husband, Oscar, from Venezuela in 2012.
“We don’t have any money for entertainment, we pay for our apartment and food,” she said, adding some of the conditions in her building are subpar.
“We are getting less and less for the money we get and it’s so discouraging . . . it’s like you’re penalized for not having enough money to live in another place.”
But in some ways, Salazar said they’re the lucky ones.
“My friend is looking for this same kind of housing and they’re not able to find it — landlords put up a lot of obstacles,” she said.
With so much attention focused on the issue, the next few weeks or months could be a watershed on whether Calgary is able to retain its vibrancy, its younger population and talent, said Reid.
“This is about forcing us to think about the city we want,” she said.
The approval of Calgary’s upcoming corporate housing strategy could influence the flow of federal grant dollars, according to a Calgary MP.
Calgary’s corporate housing strategy, which will integrate recommendations from the recent Housing and Affordability Task Force, comes to the Community Development Committee on Sept. 14. Thereafter is a special emergency meeting of council on Sept. 16 to talk about how the city could implement any approved plans.
Calgary-Skyview Liberal MP George Chahal said that he’s both excited and inspired by the work Calgary has undertaken to put together a comprehensive housing plan.
“I believe that’s a game changer,” Chahal told media at a City of Calgary downtown flood barrier event on Thursday.
“I believe that will bring our city as a leader in Canada and building housing. Having the right public policy framework in place to incentivize developers to build more housing but also allow the non-profit housing providers the abilities to build more housing.”
Chahal said it directly aligns with the federal government’s Rapid Housing Initiative and housing accelerator programs. The latter program helps fund innovation in housing, while the former looks at affordable housing projects. Calgary has already seen millions in support from that program for a variety of housing initiatives.
Implementing the recommendations in the plan would send an important signal to other municipalities across Canada, Chahal said. Seeing politicians that want to block measures that could mean more homes is disappointing, he said.
“It’s a hypocrisy to see on one hand they want more housing built, but they don’t want to bring forward a policy framework and empower municipalities to build more housing,” Chahal said.
On Thursday, federal Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre also doubled down on his idea to tie federal infrastructure dollars to the number of homes built in Canadian cities. Federal funding at risk?
When asked if approval of Calgary’s corporate housing strategy could influence federal rapid housing dollars, Chahal’s response was succinct.
“Definitely,” he said.
While the money wouldn’t be cut off, seeing innovation in helping build more homes is what the program is all about.
“This will align with what we’re trying to do as a federal government to bring more infrastructure dollars to Calgary in line by building more housing,” he said.
Chahal noted the opportunities that exist along the Blue Line LRT and the upcoming Green Line LRT that are perfect for ongoing densification.
Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek said that they’ve always assumed that there’s an expectation that federal dollars would flow more freely to those cities doing the work to create more housing for citizens.
“We knew that when funding became available to municipalities, that it wasn’t without an expectation that we would do our own work in making things more affordable for people,” she told LWC.
“That’s not a surprise to me.”
Mayor Gondek said the city’s been watching closely what the federal government is doing with housing policy. Further, Tim Ward, the City of Calgary’s manager of Housing Solutions, said earlier in the week that they’ve already submitted an action plan to the federal government to tap into housing accelerator funding.
“I expect our partners who are giving us money to say to us, ‘what are you doing in return?’” Mayor Gondek said.
The City’s proposed corporate housing strategy is available on their website. The item will have a public committee meeting on Sept. 14 where dozens of speakers are expected to state their case for or against certain items. From there, it would still need final approval at Calgary city council.
As mentioned, there will be a separate emergency meeting on housing Sept. 16.
CALGARY
Wonder Woman statue unveiled at Bow Valley College’s Centre for Entertainment Arts
CEA educational assistant Anamaria Galindo and VFX student Luisa Echeverry stand next to the newly unveiled Wonder Woman statue at Bow Valley College in Calgary on Friday, September 8, 2023.
A little bit of the magic of the silver screen was brought to Bow Valley College on Sept. 8, as a statue of Wonder Woman in the likeness of Gail Gadot was unveiled at the college’s Centre for Entertainment Arts (CEA).
The centre, which has been training students in all aspects of VFX, film, sound, and video game design in Calgary since 2019, received the statue after the Vancouver branch of CEA put up a statue of Marvel Supervillain Thanos.
“Vancouver had a statue and they said we would love to gift you with a statue and you get to select,” said Alison Anderson, Dean of Business, Technology, and Centre for Entertainment Arts.
“When I think about our institution and what we do, inclusion is so important and in the creative space, we want more women to come. In creative industries, the more inclusive and diversity that we have is important, so [Wonder Woman] really exemplified that piece for us.”
The statue will be on permanent display outside of the CEA on the third floor of the South Campus building.
Anderson said that the statue would serve as a visible symbol of what students can achieve in the creative industries.
“So when they have a symbol like this, this is ‘we can create this, we can be in this space.’ And the work that they do is amazing—I’m always amazed by our students work even in first and second semester—but this just symbolizes something that they can strive for and be part of,” Anderson said.
Personal history with Wonder Woman
Current VFX student at the CEA, Luisa Echeverry, said that the statue had a personal connection to her. The very first Halloween costume her mother had was of Wonder Woman.
“Like, ‘oh, my mom.’ It’s all I can think of,” she said.
“Also the women empowerment is important and is nice, having you know the female representation.”
Echeverry said that she notices the lack of female representation, and having a visible symbol for more representation is important to her and a reminder that women are seen.
“For me, it is definitely a nice reminder that we can get into the industry, especially since I’m so close to graduating from the VFX program,” she said.
CEA educational assistant Anamaria Galindo said that the statue was a reminder of the changing entertainment industry, pointing to Wonder Woman director Patty Jenkins as an example of more women being involved in making the top tier of movies.
“It’s nice to see that they are giving us the kind of power to be in these kind of high positions,” Galindo said.
“It’s a good message for all the communities in Bow Valley, but also Calgary in general to like show that us women, we have the power to change a lot of things.”
