My Update on the SW Transitway Project

By Diane Colley-Urquhart on April 2016

[audio mp3="http://councillordiane.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/20160418-122042.mp3"][/audio] Based on the feedback that I have heard over the past several months from my constituents, I am having increased concerns regarding the SW Transitway project. Above all, my biggest concern is the cost estimates of the project which was unanimously approved by Council over five years ago.  The approved budget was for $43M. We need to have transparency as to where the budget currently stands and I will ensure that I will seek that clarity on your behalf.  I am concerned that there has been a significant increase to this budget now that the detailed functional designs[...]

2016 Assessment Notice Mailing and Customer Review Period

By Diane Colley-Urquhart on January 2016

On Tuesday, January 5, 2016, The City of Calgary mailed out over half a million property and business assessment notices. January 5 also marked the start of the 2016 Customer Review Period. Property and business owners are advised to carefully review their assessment and if they have any questions, to please contact Assessment during the Customer Review Period (which runs from January 5 to March 7, 2016). Changes to a 2016 assessment can only be made if an inquiry is received during the 2016 Customer Review Period. As required by provincial legislation, the 2016 property assessments reflect the market value[...]

Colley-Urquhart: Don’t be so quick to dismiss CalgaryNEXT’s merits (with poll)

By Diane Colley-Urquhart on September 2015

Re: “No corporate welfare for CalgaryNEXT,” Paige MacPherson, Opinion, Sept. 9 Well — they do intend to pay for their “flashy arena desires” — not taxpayers! There were so many ill-founded politically expedient statements and assumptions in this piece that I felt compelled to respond. I did find an accurate one though — “Every use of public money is a choice made by our elected officials” — just as city council did in East Village 10 years ago by pioneering the first community reinvestment levy in Canada. We set up a separate corporate entity called the Calgary Municipal Land Corp. and told them to go to work.[...]

The Sunshine List

By Diane Colley-Urquhart on June 2015

Last fall I took forward a Notice of Motion for The City of Calgary to disclose all salaries, benefits and compensation of city employees – commonly referred to as a “Sunshine List”. Click here to read. The final motion was passed by Council but was much less transparent. WHEREAS by Calgary City Council leading by example and having implemented policies for full disclosure and transparency of all their salaries and expenditures, and WHEREAS these policies demonstrate a commitment to taxpayers by improving accountability, transparency, openness and transforming municipal government, and WHEREAS Council’s leadership in the above areas include campaign finance[...]

Our Calgary City Charter – An update

By Diane Colley-Urquhart on June 2015

I am pleased to share with you that Phase Two of the development of our City Charter is now underway. The City Charter aims to grant the big cities of Calgary and Edmonton more authority and flexibility in providing the services that citizens want and expect. It allows for the delivery of infrastructure and services needed to sustain economic vibrancy and maintain a high quality of life for residents. Right now, Phase Two of City Charter development involves collaboration between Municipal Affairs, Calgary, and Edmonton. This is to identify items that require involvement from Ministries other than Municipal Affairs in[...]