Focusing on Voting Rights While Calgary Faces Economic Challenges
‘Breakenridge: Council wasting time on non-issue of voting rights
Why focus on an issue with no chance of succeeding and doesn’t address the more pressing concerns that the public consistently identifies?’
Your property taxes are on the rise
While you are struggling to keep up with bills, Cllr. Walcott voted with the Mayor to increase your property taxes in 2024 by 7.8%. He then voted against amendments made by his colleagues to try and find ways to lower that increase.
Voted in favour of the climate emergency plan
Shortly after being elected Cllr. Walcott voted in favour of an $87 billion plan to fight climate change. A plan that no candidate in the 2021 municipal candidate campaigned on. The vote was 9-6, city administration insisted city taxpayers won’t be picking up its entire tab.
It will not be taxpayers paying for this grand climate plan, it will be the other set of taxpayers.
This is on top of the yearly property tax increases that Cllr. Walcott voted in favour of.
voted against a rCMP investigation
Cllr. Carra was investigated by the Integrity Commissioner for not disclosing a $300,000.00 down payment on a property as is required of all Cllrs. so that there is no conflict of interest when a vote occurs that could benefit them financially.
When two Cllrs. asked for it to be directed to CPS for investigation, and as Cllr. Sharp said: “This was not an oversight,” Sharp said. “People need to have confidence that council is here to represent the citizens, not feather their nests.”
Walcott Stands Firm on Plastic Ban Despite Public Pushback
While you are struggling to get by, and it feels like everything is another hit on your wallet. Cllr.Walcott supported the single use plastic ban. Then when Calgarians had enough and pressure mounted, Council voted 12-3 to repeal it.
Walcott Resigns from CPS Board, Slams Provincial Oversight Proposal
After resigning from the Calgary Police Commission as one of two Councillors that sit on the board, Cllr. Walcott then criticized the province for wanting to appoint Board members under Bill 6 that would provide oversight to provincial taxpayers and suggest that it just be made up of civilians entirely. A proposal that removes elected representatives from having a say on how the CPS functions. We elect Cllrs. to watch how our tax dollars are spent, if that is to much for him, he an always resign.
Walcott Advocated for a 30% Police Budget Cut Before Joining Council
Before Cllr. Walcott was elected he was also an author for the group Defund2Fund Coalition that called for the Calgary Police to have their budget reduced by 30% and ‘be reallocated throughout our communities.’ The police budget in 2024 for CPS is $603 million. The group that Cllr. Walcott authored posts for would want $180.9 million of that budget. To do what with is not clear. This is the same Cllr. who was not happy that the province was appointing people to the CPS board to provide further scrutiny for taxpayers.
Beltline Concerns Met with Inaction from Councillor Walcott
Cllr. Walcott’s Ward represents the Beltline, and when residents grew weary of having to be the first to respond to the sheer number of drug overdoes around the supervised consumption site, they asked for help.
Cllr. Walcott’s response: “These issues, they aren’t really any one particular group’s problem; they sit with all of us and the solution also sits with all of us accordingly.”
As a result of inaction, a local resident said “people are getting complacent with it because they realize when they call, nothing gets done,” he said. “So they stop calling.”
The people living in the Beltline are having a problem, and their Cllr. dismissed it.
Continues to ignore residents concerns a year later
‘It’s just not the same neighbourhood anymore’: Business owners, residents weigh in on role of safe consumption site’ – Calgary Herald, October 4, 2024
While businesses, and residents have had to deal with fights, discarded needles, and smashed car windows for years. Their CA President & Ward 8 Cllr. have other ideas:
“Peter Oliver, the president of the Beltline Neighbourhood Association argued the only way to effectively lessen the social disorder brought on by the Safeworks site would be to open more safe injection sites in other parts of the city, to reduce the concentration of users in the Beltline and the pressure currently on the Sheldon Chumir site.”
“The Beltline’s area councillor, Courtney Walcott, disputes the notion that Safeworks has brought an increase in crime to the area… [AND] “If the [province] deemed this to be a failure, it’s their responsibility to close it. But I think the reason they can’t close it is because despite what everyone says, public opinion is not uniform.”
So, we have the local Cllr. once again ignoring residents safety concerns like he did in 2023 even though residents and businesses are saying there is a problem; and the local CA president wanting more sites to open so that the ‘social disorder’ can be shared around the city.
Fun fact: Peter Oliver donated to Cllr. Walcott’s 2021 campaign.
Walcott Backs massive Zoning Changes
Ward 8 makes up many inner-city communities that are facing pressure from infill developments. Under the blanket zoning plan proposed by this Council and then passed in April of 2024, residents will not have a say on how their community can be built.
Cllr. Walcott voted in favour of this zoning change. That lot next to you, can now mean 4, 6, 8, or 10 units. You don’t get a say on the matter anymore. If you do, it is not because you are worried about what is being built next to you, it is because Cllr. Walcott said: “any massive efforts to reduce the cost of housing, (I) can understand that when people are in a business, they might want to oppose anything that reduces the potential profit that can be earned.”
It is not that a lot that had a single family now can have ten units that is the issue, it is that you are just in it for profit. It is the developers that are there to make money, not the neighbours like you who have to deal with parking.
Walcott Rejects Plebiscite on Zoning Changes
Cllr. Walcott voted no to this. As he said:
“To kick this to a plebiscite in the next election benefits those who want to run on an opposition to changing our communities,” said Coun. Courtney Walcott. “That is a political choice, that is not a choice that helps Calgarians, that is not a choice that builds housing, that is not a choice that helps our affordability, that is not a choice that builds our competitive edge — that is a choice that helps the selfish few.”
You are selfish for wanting to have a say in how your community is developed.
FYI – in the 2021 election, Walcott’s campaign office was in a former inner-city developers showcase building on 33 Avenue in Marda Loop. The co-founder of that company donated $2000.00 to Walcott’s campaign in 2021.
Walcott Backed by PACs that Push for Bigger Government
Cllr. Walcott was supported by PACs like Look Forward, and Calgary’s Future a group that was fully funded by CUPE 37 and CUPE 38 with over $1.7 million in the bank even before the 2021 election started. During the 2021 October election they were actively spending money on Facebook promoting their preferred candidates. Cllr. Walcott was one of them.
This is a PAC is for bigger government and will be supporting their choice of candidates that are for larger governments in the next election, and that means they want a Council that will vote for more tax increases in order to pay for their higher wages and benefits. If you cannot afford the 2024 property taxes, just wait for 2025.
Cllr. Walcott has voted in favour of every property tax increase since being elected. Make no mistake, this same PAC will continue to support his re-election efforts.
Bikes Lanes < Emergencies at a Senior Home
Seniors in Ward 8 are worried about an upcoming bike lane on 15th Ave SW that will have a cement barrier; and prohibit street parking outside their apartment. Their issue: ambulance access.
“They are putting our lives at risk if we can’t have access to an ambulance to come to the door and give us service quickly,” says resident Gerry Morgan.
“Resident Ashleigh McNear claims the back entrance does not make a good alternative since it is “too small” and congested with parking. [and] “It’s impossible,” she says. “All of our vehicles are in the back parking lot, the maintenance vehicles for the building are here. The garbage truck can’t even get in.”
Cllr. Walcott’s office suggestion when a resident needs an ambulance: have it park in the alley by the back door.
Ward 8 has great representation.
Biggest offenses to Calgarians:
Increasing Taxes
You struggle to pay bills, and he votes to increase your property taxes each year.
Ignoring the problems of residents
Ignoring the problems in the Beltline to ignoring the opposition to blanket re-zoning.