Yep

The sky's the limit!

Spring madness is in the air out here.  The big news is that after more than two years and $4.8 million, The Calgary brain trust has come up with a new moniker for Cowtown:  Blue Sky City!  Yep, that's right, the brilliant minds at city hall recently announced that 'Be Part of the Energy' was out and 'Blue Sky' was in!

At the same time as announcing an 8% property tax increase wallop, the learned burghers at city hall managed to find an extra $2 million for this nonsense.  Scrounging around further in the municipal coffers they also managed to discover they had a $200 million surplus!  Wow!  Great financial planning, guys!  Way to go!

The Blue Skyers are hoping to attract even more souls to Calgary than are already invading every month.  Never mind that there is no housing for them, the Blue Skyers haven't bothered with that annoyance.  No, they are plowing along painting the town blue and reaching for the sky!

The papers are full of clap-yourself-on-the-back photos of smug officials grinning for the cameras, while the homeless wallow in despair on every corner and the potholes get bigger and bigger.

They've also gone ahead with blanket re-zoning for every neighbourhood so that multi-unit dwellings can be built everywhere.  You can imagine how well that's going down with NIMBY-ism in local neighbourhoods.  Not well.

However, Michael Mauws, professor of business policy and strategy at Athabasca University, has proposed what I think is a brilliant solution:  Charge people more for the privilege of low density.  Frankly, that makes perfect sense to me, but it'll mean a change to how the mill rate is calculated.  Low density areas require many more metres of roads, sidewalks, sewer and later lines and whatever else is buried under Calgary's streets, writes Prof. Mauws.

This sensible solution wasn't even considered by council.  It's just blanket re-zoning.  Period the end.  Just watch the fireworks at council meetings now, as irate NIMBY-ers flock in droves to freak out.  Sit back and enjoy it all, folks.

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There was another provocative piece in today's 'Herald', lamenting the madness of owning an electric vehicle.  Why?  Because there is no infrastructure to support charging.  "Simply legislating that all vehicles sold by 2035 must be electric doesn't guarantee there will be options as affordable as the gas vehicles currently on the market," writes freelance columnist Katherine Brodsky:

Craziness.

She should know.  She dutifully bought one in a valiant attempt to go green and do her bit.  But she discovered the condo she lives in won't allow her to charge it because the rest of the owners don't want to cover her electricity costs.  Well, why should they?

"There's something deeply elitist in the government policies that surround EVs," she says.  "Forcing EVs on people without encouraging or building sufficient infrastructure in advance is bound to lead to trouble ahead."  Ms. Brodsky has now figured that out, but she is stuck with a vehicle she can't sell and can't drive!

Another green turbine bites the dust.

Are you listening Stephen Guilbeault?