Provincial politics in Alberta may be chaotic these days, but municipal politicians in the province’s biggest cities are riding a wave of popularity.  Excerpts from our March 2014 edition of the Eye on Alberta reveal that Edmonton Mayor Don Iveson and Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi, and their respective City Councils, enjoy the confidence of sizeable majorities in their cities.   […]

  “All Calgarians currently subsidize development of new suburban communities by approximately $4,800 per home.  In 2012, this subsidy cost Calgarians approximately $33,000,000…That subsidy has led to nearly $1.5 Billion in debt to The City of Calgary.” – Naheed Nenshi   What?!  If that’s true homeowners should be storming the polls on Election Day to stop it. If it’s not […]

Saw the oddest thing on Twitter the other night, and while I hope its not an omen of things to come for the municipal campaign, I suspect it may be.   The Mayor, his sister and a member of his office staff (on leave for the campaign) all pressed an aldermanic candidate from Ward 1 to give a “yes” or […]

There’s a general rule about public opinion and taxes.  Most voters will support increased taxation if: a) They feel it is necessary, and; b) They feel the proceeds will actually be going towards the services they want.   This may seem painfully self-evident, but you’d be surprised how often this simple guide is forgotten or ignored.   Case in point: […]

Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi enjoys very healthy levels of support from Calgarians according to a recent ThinkHQ survey of Calgarians.  Nearly three-quarters (73%) offer approval of the mayor, 43% strongly, compared to only 23% who offer any degree of disapproval for Nenshi’s performance as Calgary’s Chief Elected Official over the past three years.  Although Nenshi’s popularity is very high, it […]

What happens when a city has $52 Million in extra annual tax revenue and asks voters what should be done with it?   Most of them have an opinion…and in Calgary right now, a plurality want a tax break.  Indeed, a majority want to take the decision from Council, and put it on the ballot this Fall.   Property taxes […]