Happy Holidays, From Team Ward 9

Artwork for our Ward 9 Holiday Cards were created by youth participants from Antyx Community Arts

On Saturday Evening, after a fraught week of budget deliberations that stretched from 9:30 on the Monday morning till just past 6pm on the Friday, my family and I attended Theatre Calgary’s production of Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol.” The evening was a wonderfully apropos fundraiser for the amazing Calgary not-for-profit, Project Warmth, not to mention a rumination on the battle between austerity vs protecting services for the vulnerable that characterized the week’s budget debate.

It was also, as a brand-new, 100% made-in-Calgary production of the classic tale, a tour-de-force example of how world class our arts sector is, and by extension, how critical the arts are to the all-hands-on-deck project of diversifying our City’s economy. Despite our successful defense of last year’s historic commitment by Council to significantly fund the arts through this downturn - cutting the arts was on some of my bloody-minded colleague’s austerity agenda - it was also an example of how lean our arts sector runs; after hobnobbing with the assembled crowds there to support Project Warmth, the CEO of Theater Calgary changed out of his suit into jeans and a tee-shirt and helped his small crew break down the tables from the fundraiser to prep the lobby of Arts Commons’ Max Bell Theater for the following day’s matinee.

Also of note, because Project Warmth works closely with Calgary Schools - and particularly the vulnerable populations within our schools - the evening included delegations of teachers and students from dozens of schools. It was obvious that this was a unique experience for many of the youth in the audience and I found the impact the story had on the kids (my seven year old son included) - the observance of Christmas as an opportunity to celebrate the human impulses of generosity, compassion and high mindedness over greed, selfishness and the single-minded preoccupation with money - to be the most uplifting aspect of the evening.

I was deeply gratified that so many of the benefactors there to support Project Warmth were eager to discuss the budget we had just passed. There was a deep understanding of the tough balance we had had to strike between controlling costs, protecting services, protecting our small businesses against the tax shift, building towards our City’s best future, and weathering the downloading of costs onto our shoulders that is our fate at the hands of the Provincial Budget.

I had entered budget week heartsick and expecting that I would be casting my first vote against in the ten budgets I’ve helped craft as a member of Calgary City Council. But through the week-long process of hearing from citizens and debating our values we emerged with something that I could, and had to support.

So as we enter the Holiday Season and we take the time to reflect on how lucky we are, in this crazy world, to be Calgarians, let’s celebrate the fact that our taxes are low and the value we get for those taxes is high. Let’s appreciate that going forward homeowners will shoulder a little more of the responsibility to protect our small businesses. Let’s take deep satisfaction that we protected our nation-leading low income transit pass, thousands of transit hours to help everyone move around our city, and the police and fire services that keep us safe, the DOAP team at the very front lines of service to the most vulnerable amongst us, and services that make neighbourhood life in Calgary as special as it is with the protection of the Inglewood and Beltline pools. We did this while also maintaining our ability to pursue major projects that will shape the character of our city well onto the next century: the GreenLine, a new events centre, the BMO, a redux of Arts Commons, and a Field House.

We have much to be grateful for and hopeful about as Calgarians. I hope you and your families and friends and neighbours get some time to reflect on this and celebrate this Holiday Season.

And God bless us all, every one.