The City of Calgary is considering how to meet the demand for more ice sheets for people to play hockey, figure skate, etc. The existing rinks are overloaded due to the rapid population growth, and as most city rinks are owned and operated by the City, they seem to think the solution is more city owned rinks…

I don’t know how the city rinks work, but I suspect that tax dollars subsidize the operation, thus subsidizing those people who choose to use them. This is government performing services that would be better served by the private sector, with competition.

Therefore, the city should simply simplify zoning requirements and let the private sector step up to the plate. In Calgary, there should be no shortage of entrepreneurs willing to invest in rinks, unless of course they would have to compete with taxpayer subsidized rinks. If that is the case, the proper solution is for the City to privatize the existing rinks and get out of the business altogether.

Recently, as has been reported in the Calgary media, many of the older schools in the city require significant maintenance to bring them back up to a level that would make the schools useable.

Minister tours schools with leaky roofs, plastic bags on windows

The Calgary Board of Education and many pundits have indicated that the problem is that the Province of Alberta hasn’t provided sufficient funding for the schools.

I see this problem as evidence of why the Trustees on the CBE should be fired and the Board dissolved altogether.

The Board of Education has the responsibility to run the schools.

Calgary’s city council, led by Dave Bronconnier, in the past week has done a few things that will lead to increased government spending, increased bureaucracy, and limited benefit to Calgarians.

Cat Bylaw – The city is going to register all cats, like they do dogs. They are going to charge cat owners $15 per cat per year to register the animals. First of all, I can’t imagine they can build and administer such a database for that small sum. Second, what public good will come of this? Alderman Craig Burrows claims it “…will reduce the number of cats that have to be destroyed.”. Perhaps he could explain to me that logic. I for one do not plan on paying this ridiculous fee.

Extending the C-Train – why would we want to spend tens of millions of dollars extending the C-Train transit system to the very edges of the city? Who exactly is getting on there – the people who live in outlying communities and don’t pay city taxes? Considering that at rush hour it is nigh impossible to get on a train anyway, why aren’t they upgrading the system and buying more train cars so the trains can run closer together and more often? That would alleviate problems on the far more than making the lines longer. Also – they publish a plan talking about two more train lines, but they have no budget for them and predict they might get built by 2025. Ooh, I can’t wait!

Demanding the province stop collecting education property tax – this one is even sillier. Bronco wants the provincial government to give up $1.2 Billion in education property taxes (thus forcing the government to find it from other revenues). The reason? Bronco wants it. Since education property tax is about half of the total property tax Calgarians pay, Bronco wants to massively increase the funds collected by the city. What for? So we can spend more on stuff. Perhaps Bronco should try cutting spending in areas where there is clearly too much government. Like why do I have to pay $260 for a building permit to finish my basement?? So they know to raise my property value assessment and raise my taxes, that’s why!!!!

I also think that this one would make it justifiable for the province to do away with the local school boards… Of course, if we privatized the schools that would be a very good thing.

Annexation of 150 square kilometres of surrounding countryside – Calgary is already one of the largest cities in North America by area. There is significant expansion space around the city for additional construction. This could be conserved by zoning for more multi-family dwellings (condos, apartment buildings). This would also save on how many roads need to be built. I think the real reason they want this land is so that all the wealthy acreage owners have to pay city property taxes… It’s just another tax grab.

How is it that Calgary votes Conservative in federal and provincial elections but puts a bunch of tax and spenders in to rnu the city.

How is it that the people of Calgary as a generic whole vote in Conservative members both federally and provincially, yet elect tax and spend Liberals to run the city???

Mayor Dave Bronconnier wasted $67,000 of taxpayers money this last week sending out a pamplet to every household in the city, and airing radio commercials of him sending a message. The message?

That the federal government collects 67% of the taxes from the city of Calgary, the province collects 29%, and the city collects only 5% to pay for all the city’s services. And that because of this the city should get more money from the other levels of government….

OK – first lie laid bare: The city may only collect 5% of the total tax revenue, but the city receives vast portion of the budget from the province in grants, and large infusions from both provincial and federal governments for infrastructure funding.

Second – certain services in the city, such as education and health care are not paid for AT ALL by the municipal government.

Third – Bronco claims the city needs more money. Yet they’ve raised property taxes 5% this year, and promise to raise them 14% over the next 3 years.

Fourth – During the last 10 years that Edmonton and Ottawa were tightening belts, the City of Calgary did not ONCE reduce expenditure in any department or reducing staffing.

So Dave: The message to you is to find ways to spend LESS money, not demand more.