🎁 Councillors Chabot and McLean championed a massive public subsidy for the billionaire Flames owners
This Calgary Flames owner's wealth jumped on the latest Forbes ranking of billionaires. (Sources: Daily Hive, Forbes)
This billionaire owner of the Calgary Flames just got even wealthier according to the 2026 ranking of billionaires by Forbes. In 2023, Councillors Chabot and McLean championed and voted for an arena deal that put taxpayers on the hook for 97% of the upfront costs of the $926-million arena and 82% of the costs over the 35-year project lifespan, while forfeiting 100% of the operating revenues to the Flames owners.
💰Now councillors McLean and Chabot are prioritizing $582-million in public funds for suburban developers over Calgarians in existing communities
Next week, Calgary City Council has a choice between redirecting public funds to prioritize suburban developers and restricting gentle density, or reinvesting public funds to repair crumbling infrastructure in existing communities and absorbing new growth within our existing footprint by permitting gentle density citywide.
We've seen this movie before. Councillors Chabot and McLean are prioritizing the use of $582-million in public funds for suburban developers ahead of the needs Calgarians in existing communities with crumbling infrastructure. If they are successful in their bid to fully repeal citywide rezoning for housing, these councillors will help ensure that public funds continue to be diverted from existing communities to build new infrastructure for more sprawl for years to come.
💸Report: Calgary can no longer afford to fund financially unsustainable growth
With the potential repeal of rezoning next week, Calgary needs citywide gentle density more than ever so that growth can be absorbed within our existing footprint. According to the independent report on the Bearspaw South Feedermain, decades of sprawl “exacerbated the risk and integrity challenges that ultimately affected the [Bearspaw South Feedermain]”. As a result, Calgary taxpayers are burdened with more kilometres of pipe per resident than any other large Canadian peer city. Instead of funding new sprawl, tax dollars should be reinvested in existing communities to tackle the crumbling infrastructure.
Source: Bearspaw South Feedermain Independent Review Panel: Final Report | January 6, 2026
🚧 Calgary is facing a $49-billion infrastructure crisis
The Bearspaw water feeder failure is just the tip of the iceberg. Today, Calgary faces a more than $49-billion infrastructure bill for aging roads, public transit, wastewater infrastructure and more over the next decade.
Approving new sprawl communities like Providence with their own new infrastructure needs or fully repealing citywide rezoning would be financially reckless of city council. It would be doubling down on the status quo conditions that led to this crisis where you are being asked to take 3 minute showers and not flush your toilet, yet again.
🥾 Proposed partial rezoning offers pathway to solving the $1-billion housing impasse
Mayor Farkas successfully campaigned in the October election to repeal and replace rezoning with gentle density, but to date he has not provided Calgarians with a proposed path forward for “replacement” or how he intends to “support gentle density while building a variety of homes at a more affordable price point” as he promised in his platform.
With just days to go before the March 23 public hearing on the proposed repeal of the Rezoning for Housing Bylaw, a full repeal of rezoning risks:
🔥 Lighting on fire $861-million in federal funding for housing and infrastructure;
💰 Doubling down on Calgary's reliance on costly sprawl that paves over farmland and natural ecosystems around Calgary;
🚰 Burdening Calgary taxpayers with the cost of replacing aging infrastructure in low density neighbourhoods adding to Calgary's $7.7-billion infrastructure gap to replace aging roads, public transit, wastewater infrastructure and more.
Meanwhile, at the request of City Council, City Administration has prepared a solution that would, in effect, partially repeal the least popular components of rezoning for housing while still maintaining citywide gentle density, preserving federal funding, addressing the aging infrastructure crisis, addressing the lack of housing options, all while incorporating community-focused feedback on the current R-CG rezoning.
The table below outlines three options for City Council after the March 23 public hearing:
- Full Repeal of Rezoning
- No Repeal of Current Rezoning (R-CG)
- Partial Repeal of Rezoning
Markup of City of Calgary table comparing options for full repeal, no repeal, or partial repeal of rezoning. Yellow rows and red text added by Project Calgary. (Source table: City of Calgary)
⚡️ TAKE ACTION: Help us ask City Council to support citywide gentle density so we can reinvest public funds in existing neighbourhoods
Calgary must build new housing within its existing footprint and stop diverting funds for more sprawl. Council must support citywide rezoning for community-focused gentle density (partial repeal or no repeal of rezoning) so we can preserve the billion dollars in federal funding for infrastructure and housing, address Calgary's aging infrastructure crisis and provide more affordable housing options citywide.
We are 3 days away from the start of the public hearing on the repeal of the Rezoning for Housing Bylaw. Here's how you can make your voice heard:
🎤 Sign up to speak at the March 23 public hearing
You can participate in the public hearing and submission to City Council on the proposed repeal of the Rezoning for Housing Bylaw using the City Clerk's Office online form before March 23, 2026. (Audio-video submissions (slides) must be submitted before March 16th at 12pm.)
📨 Email City Council
Email City Council and ask them to vote against approving the proposed new community of Providence and to hit pause on new sprawl communities until Calgary can get its crumbling infrastructure crisis under control. In the current housing crisis, Calgary must build new housing within its existing footprint. Council must support citywide rezoning for community-focused gentle density (partial repeal or no repeal of rezoning) so we can preserve the billion dollars in federal funding for infrastructure and housing, address Calgary's aging infrastructure crisis and provide more affordable housing options citywide.
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