| A benefit concert and local realty company are both trying to bring back the music of the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra (CPO).
A collaboration between CPO musicians, sponsors and suppliers has resulted in the organization of a benefit concert, scheduled for November 9. Headlining the concert are CPO music director Hans Graf, saxophonist Jeremy Brown and pianist Janina Fialkowska.
Admission to the concert is by donation only (suggested at $20). It takes place at the Jack Singer Concert Hall.
Calgary’s Torode Realty also announced a project aimed at helping the CPO. It announced the purchase of $25,000 worth of ticket packages and has also offered to help sell an additional $350,000 worth or tickets to Calgary corporations.
The CPO filed for bankruptcy protection October 15 and has ceased operations while it tries to work out a plan to allow it to remain in business.
Alberta now has the lowest minimum wage in Canada.
On November 1, Newfoundland raised its minimum wage to $6 an hour, leaving Alberta’s $5.90 as the lowest rate in the country. B.C. has the highest rate in Canada at $8 an hour, followed by Quebec at $7.20 an hour.
The Alberta government last raised the minimum wage three years ago.
The construction of a $100 million wind farm has been announced by Enmax and Calgary’s Vision Quest Windelectric Inc.
The new wind farm will generate 235,000 megawatts of environmentally friendly electricity per year in Southern Alberta by using 114 wind turbines – that is enough energy to power 32,500 homes annually.
The federal government is also partnering in the project by providing $2.3 million each year for the project’s first decade under its sustainable energy program.
The provincial government has refused to make similar investments in Alberta’s burgeoning wind power industry – something the province’s opposition parties criticize, especially considering the government’s stance against the Kyoto Protocol on reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
City council approved a small measure to help alleviate the crisis in the city’s taxi industry, but is still far from addressing the problems drivers have been complaining about.
Council agreed at a meeting on November 4 to look into the possibility of providing receipts for all fees paid by drivers to taxi brokers as a way to address part of the controversy.
However, taxi drivers’ request for temporary licenses while the city examines its taxi bylaws was rejected.
Taxi drivers have been protesting outside city hall for weeks – several have even been taking part in a hunger strike. They say the city’s licensing system has created a situation where drivers are forced to pay out thousands of dollars in illegal fees for taxi licences.
They recently won a court case against the city’s bylaws, but the city plans to appeal. Council has agreed to examine its taxi bylaws, but protesting drivers say the examination isn’t moving swiftly enough.
Calgary has a new interpretive trail through a unique natural area in the city’s southwest.
The John Simonot Trail near the community of New Discovery features a gravel pass through a forest of mature white spruce along the Elbow River. Signage along the trail provides details about the area’s natural ecology.
The trail will eventually become part of the Griffith Woods Park project, which will open sometime next year. |
