Transportation

We will prioritize and manage construction projects in order to minimize the impact on today’s roads. With this in mind, we need to focus on three key transportation projects for this new Council.

Airport Tunnel

I believe that construction of the Airport Tunnel is an absolute necessity. Let me explain. Currently, the airport runways are positioned between Deerfoot and Barlow. This allows north-south access to the airport via Deerfoot and Barlow. The Calgary Airport Authority is a quasi governmental body which is able to implement decisions independently from the City of Calgary. They have decided that the Calgary International Airport requires a new runway and they plan to build the new runway east of Barlow Trail. The result is that Barlow Trail will be permanently closed effective April 2011 without any plan to maintain the present amount of access to the airport or to increase it. This is wrong to me. In fact, we need more east-west corridors in the northeast quadrant to move goods and people, not less.

LRT to the airport

To be a world class city, we need a LRT to the airport and we will extend the line to the airport by 2015. Why would we choose the LRT to the airport? Consider this: the Airport is the third largest employment sector in the city and third largest international airport in Canada - welcoming more than 14 million visitors per year. It is crucial that YYC remains a readily accessible gateway to further travel, tourism and economic development for Calgarians and Alberta as a whole. Ottawa has supported major public transportation in Toronto, Montreal, and recently in Vancouver. It’s time for Ottawa to invest in the city that actually drives Canada’s economy.

Build the Southwest Ring Road

We need a solution for the Southwest ring road. The people who live in the deep southwest have had enough. As the former member of Council who warned the Province and City Council about approving a casino before the ring road deal was reached, I am as frustrated as the people who live in the area. We need a better north – south corridor in this quadrant. We will begin the process of a collaborative approach with the province to find a solution and deliver a vital transportation corridor for the people who live in this area. And we will do this, right now.

Build a Safe & Vibrant Community

Calgary is a great city poised to be a world class city. We will build a vibrant and safe downtown by:

- Creating a test pilot for Friday and Saturday nights to have the LRT run 24 hours with a visible enforcement presence. This will encourage Calgarians to enjoy downtown and leave their cars at home

- Establish taxi stands in specific areas of the downtown so people actually know where they are when they need them. For example, let’s make Stephen Avenue after 10pm was one large taxi stand. This will add greater convenience and access for people who choose not to drive

- The East Village and the future Stampede redevelopment is a blank canvas that could be at the core of our future festivals and entertainment district. Imagine a district with art galleries, little blues and jazz clubs, comedy clubs, and bistros to enjoy an evening of fun. What a great way to create an eclectic environment for artists to highlight the great talent that lives in Calgary.

- But you can’t be a vibrant city if you’re not a safe city. As a former Police Commissioner, I made public safety my #1 priority. We introduced beat cops, the Bad Behaviour Bylaw, safety audits on the LRT and +15 networks to establish a visible presence to deter crime. As your Mayor, I will continue to make public safety a key priority at City Hall

Building an Affordable & Sustainable City

To be more affordable, to be more sustainable, we need to be realistic. You can talk all you want about a plan but if it can’t be executed, it’s useless.

I have a four point plan that balances affordability and sustainability. We will implement in the first 100 days of office a plan to encourage a better process which will help drive down costs and encourage redevelopment in existing communities:

- Remove Members of Council and administration from the Planning Commission and the Subdivision Development Appeal Board (SDAB). I want a peer review of applications. Political views will be held in Council Chambers.

- We will enshrine entitlement rights to land. The debate regarding multi-family units and high rise development will be done at Council’s Public Hearing, not 3 or 4 years later at the permit process. Entitlement rights are key to affordability and redeveloping the inner city

- Give professional engineers and architects the authority and responsibility for their work and eliminate the red tape that delays development and artificially increases costs

- The key to urban sprawl is to be a leader in the Calgary region, not the bully. It is in our own sustainable interest to provide water, sewer, and transportation to our regional partners as long as they believe in sustainable growth

Creating an Accountable & Accessible City Hall

Currently, there are too many decisions being made by Council behind closed doors. As Mayor, I will open up City Hall in four major ways:

- Job One will be to create an independent task force of respected volunteer business leaders who will head up the external audit investigation on this Audit fiasco. We will open the books and start at ground zero. I want the report to be unfettered by the Mayor’s Office, City Council, and the City Manager’s Office. We will learn from this and City Hall will take its lumps and we will publicly disclose warts and all

- We will conduct value audits on Enmax, Calgary Parking Authority, and the Corporate Properties Department. Enmax alone represents almost 1/3 of the City`s growing debt. Why are taxpayers at risk of subordinating private business debts?

- Corporate Governance – Council sifts through the minutia and lets administration deal with the big picture. It should be the other way around. A perfect example is snow clearing. We had thousands of people at risk of no emergency services while Council took weeks to decide if a Chinook would take care of the problem. This is unacceptable.

- Budget Process – Members of Council need to be vigilant throughout the year not just at budget talks. Members of Council need to start acting like a Board of Directors. We will create a business like atmosphere by holding quarterly budget meetings to review financials. We will then send out with the people’s utility bill a quarterly update on the budget so all Calgarians will see actual and projected numbers. This is how you keep to a 3 year business plan and inform Calgarians of how their money is being spent

- To be more accessible, as Mayor, I will visit each ward twice a year so the ward alderman and I can meet with our constituents. We will meet prior to budget and mid season to get valuable feedback from Calgarians. I never, ever want to lose touch with the people I serve. We will take City Hall to the Community Halls of Calgary. I will work with ward alderman to help solve the local issues. Issues that appear to be across the city will become city priorities

Bring Innovative Ideas to Old Challenges

As Mayor, I plan to introduce to Calgary the Smart Card; a prepaid card that you can buy at retail outlets across Calgary and reload on line. This card will allow access to all city services like transit, parking, and recreation facilities. It’s secure, convenient, and it’s quick. Instead of different Business Units building their own IT empires, we can consolidate into one business unit reducing duplication of internal services. We will save costs and better yet, we will provide superior service to our customers. This card will generate millions of dollars in cash flow. We will take this cash flow and eliminate the $3 fee at the Transit Park ‘n Rides.

Open and Transparent

We will achieve a more transparent and open City Hall by offering Calgarians the 3Cs of leadership: communicating, consensus, and commitment. We will lead through open communication. We will be respectful of each others’ opinions; not only with other Members of Council but for the people we serve. We will build consensus through understanding the needs of each community. We will build a plan that puts the long term needs for all Calgarians as our top priority. Once we have openly communicated, once we have built a plan through consensus, we will be committed to action.