| Extended hours and new services are being implemented by Calgary Transit as part of a plan to spend more than $1 million annually generated by a fare increase earlier this year.
The C-Train will operate earlier and later, beginning at 4:30 a.m. and stopping at 1:30 a.m. on weekdays. C-Train service during peak hours will also increase.
A number of other services were added or modified – the 72 circle bus route has extended its hours of service, and new express routes have been added in some suburbs.
Calgary Transit officials say most of the changes were based on market research that indicated a desire for extended hours of service.
The fare increase earlier this year brought the cost of an adult monthly bus pass to $60, which, transit officials are quick to point out, is cheaper than Toronto, Winnipeg, Vancouver and the national average.
Environmentalists are taking a new tactic in the effort to stop an expansion of Chateau Lake Louise, this time joining the Siksika Nation challenging a water permit.
Both groups are demanding an independent investigation into whether the Parks Canada bureaucrat who approved the water permit for the development had the authority to do so.
NDP leadership candidate Joe Comartin also joined the groups asking for the investigation.
The environmental groups say the expansion, which includes the construction of a 150,000-square-foot convention centre, threatens the natural ecology of the region.
Unionized workers in Canada are still more than twice as likely to have medical, dental and life insurance coverage than non-unionized workers, according to a new Statistics Canada report.
And 80 per cent of unionized workers have pensions, compared to 25 per cent of non-union workers. The figures have remained steady since 1995.
The study also reports that similar trends are seen in the United States, but the union advantage south of the border is less.
The Alberta government has committed $2 million to help the Vertigo Mystery Theatre relocate to the old Palliser Square Cinemas.
The pledge, from the Alberta Lottery Fund, has helped the group, formerly the Pleiades Theatre, reach more than half of its estimated total moving cost of $7.8 million.
The theatre group plans to renovate the vacant space into a 350-seat theatre, a 200-seat studio, offices and dressing rooms.
Vertigo Mystery Theatre also used the opportunity of announcing the funding pledge to kick off its capital campaign to raise an additional $3.9 million to complete the renovation plan. |
