8 minute read
Parker’s Pen
BY DAVID PARKER
Letters to the Editor are always a good read; written by people who have a genuine gripe, want to have some fun, or just want to bring something they feel strongly about to other people’s attention.
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I enjoyed the missive written by Governor General Awardwinning Calgary architect Fred Valentine who complained of the four-square box clad with Soviet-style glazing that will become our new event centre.
I agree with Mr. Valentine – surely, we could expect a Central Library kind of design with some pizzaz for $608.5 million.
The Saddledome design remains – for the time being – iconic Calgary.
I don’t often scan flyers but an item jumped out at me in a Canadian Tire sheet. I just can’t imagine someone spending $999.99 (on sale) for a Christmas tree, no matter if it had Aurora music and colour changing LED lights. What could the Mustard Seed have done with that money?
Irwin Drugs was pharmacy years ago on the corner on 8th Street and 17th Avenue S.W. owned by paraplegic Mel Irwin. He used to say: “It’s bad enough being sick without having to pay for it.” Which meant his prescriptions were really low cost.
I was reminded of him paying for parking at the former Children’s Hospital at the posted rate of $4.50 per hour. Bad enough having to be there, and not knowing how long a visit would take so better buy enough not to worry.
Wonder where the revenues are used?
Some people just love what they do – and stay around a lifetime in doing it. It’s great to go for a beer and nachos at Nick’s Steakhouse & Pizza and still say hello to Nick Petros who founded the popular eatery across from McMahon Stadium in 1979. And nonagenarian Joe Giuffre’s big complaint about the pandemic is that it kept him away from his office at Avenue Living too long.
Providing a postage-paid return envelope is a smart marketing tool for charities to encourage a follow-up donation. But I was really disappointed in receiving one from a local charity I support urging that ‘Your gift stays in your city’. I found the statement to be quite selfish. Yes, we support local organizations but don’t try and persuade me not to care about people in other parts of the world who desperately need help from those more fortunate.
Calgary-based not-for-profits like Operation Eyesight that has been preventing treatable vision problems since 1963 and HOPEthiopia, established 20 years ago to provide care and live to the marginalized in East Africa, particularly with the orphaned and widowed in Ethiopia and Rwanda, are just as deserving of our giving.
Attending the well-run Business in Calgary dinner honouring Calgary’s visionary business leaders was the first time in several months for many of us to sit down at crowded tables.
What a pleasure to enjoy fellowship with good conversation over a hearty meal. Let’s trust we can have the opportunity in 2022 for many more occasions to be as relaxed and forget about pandemics for a night.
Final Words
Confidence is the feeling you have before you really understand the problem.
Brewing Greatness!
Lil E Coffee Café opened in early 2021, in the newly renovated Ampersand building located in downtown Calgary at 140 4th Ave SW. Lil E is more than a coffee café. They are ‘Brewing Greatness’ by providing meaningful employment opportunities to individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
Lil E was inspired by founder/director, Paul Constance’s threeyear-old daughter, Ella, who has Down syndrome. Through the experience of raising a child with Down syndrome, Constance and his wife Alana (Ella’s mom), discovered there is a gap between the Canadian workforce and individuals with disabilities who are able and willing to work.
“These individuals are not successfully finding paid, consistent work opportunities,” says Constance. “I didn’t want that to be the case for Ella when she is an adult. We saw an opportunity to make change.”
Lil E is not just a job opportunity. They are facilitating a journey for persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities to build meaningful and long-lasting careers; in turn creating a more accepting and inclusive community.
Lil E’s BHAG (Big Hairy Audacious Goal) as a registered charity is to build 10,000 bright futures, one cup at a time. Using Lil E as career platform for these individuals, as they craft their skills and transition into a future career. When Lil E team members are ready to further apply their workplace experience, they are connected with future opportunities through the Lil E Roasters (their corporate friends). Lil E Roasters are fabulous sponsors who have shown immense generosity in this endeavour of Brewing Greatness with personal or corporate donations in amounts at our LuckE or Xtra-Awesome levels. These individuals and organizations have set a foundation for success.
These wonderful corporations share the café’s values and are aligned to hire Lil E employees and/or candidates in their pipeline.
“Greatness starts with a belief that each person has what it takes to succeed,” says Constance, describing the Lil E mantra which is what makes us difference, makes us great! “We want to ensure important awareness for our local community. We have received overwhelming support from Calgarians and internationally since opening in early February, and we are looking forward to using our platform to create a culture of acceptance and inclusion.”
Stay tuned to learn more about the exciting expansions news with Joey Moss Foundation and Winnifred Stewart Association for Edmonton Lil E location along with Toronto Lil E Café in 2022.
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Bracing for Business Tax Hikes
As much as Calgary business is focused on the dynamics of moving forward from the various COVID disruptions and the roller coaster of the Calgary economy, even the most polsitive and gung-ho Calgary business types are starting to wonder about the relevance of the cliche, “can’t win for trying.”
Now that Calgary Council has approved 2022 budget changes (individual property assessments won’t be finalized until January and tax bills mailed out in the spring), there’s much concern that some Calgary businesses could see the heavy hit of property tax hikes of more than 10.37 per cent.
The explanation, and most of the blame, for the downtown tax hikes are about spending increases at City Hall, the continued pressure of high downtown vacancy rates aggravating the squeeze on municipal finances, and the advanced math of Calgary’s protracted tax shift problem.
The tax shift refers to the Calgary reality that, under the city’s assessment system, high downtown office vacancy rates combined with Calgary’s depressed property values have caused a redistribution of the tax burden on to commercial properties outside the downtown core.
The hardest hit properties are expected to be retailers in neighbourhood shopping centres, which could see a more than seven per cent hike in taxes directly attributable to the tax shift. There is also concern about large-format industrial warehouses getting hit with a more than nine per cent tax hike and maybe getting driven out of town, to tax-friendlier business jurisdictions such as Rocky View County.
“Over the last several years, non-residential properties in Calgary have seen the largest tax hikes relative to other major cities in Canada,” notes Deborah Yedlin, president and CEO of the Calgary Chamber. “Despite early signals of a moderate increase to property taxes, the approved 2022 property tax rate will result in double digit increases for some Calgary businesses.”
The Calgary Chamber has consistently urged Council to rebalance property tax ratios to foster fairness and competitiveness in Calgary’s property tax system. “With the tax split and ratio remaining relatively consistent, the burden placed on businesses to fund critical investments reinforces the need to ensure that Calgary can effectively raise revenue through alternative means,” she adds. “This could include the sale or lease of City-owned property or the issuance of municipal bonds.”
With certainty and stability as key factors for ensuring a sustainable economic recovery, The Chamber urges that Council turn its attention to creating a property tax system that is predictable and transparent. “The higher taxes, coming at a time of inflationary pressures, will put additional pressure on Calgary businesses,” Yedlin says, “as they seek to move beyond the challenges presented by the pandemic and, given ongoing issues with downtown vacancy.”
There’s business consensus about the need for the City to be innovative and identify additional options to diversify revenue streams, while also addressing the property tax issues, in order to ensure Calgary is positioned to attract new businesses.
Yedlin emphasizes that, as Calgary enters the next fouryear budget cycle, Council must establish a direction that supports economic recovery and fiscal responsibility, while also investing in the future of the City.
