Ramsay residents are fighting council’s decision to relax a bylaw allowing the Calgary Stampede to build horse corrals on the floodplain of the Elbow River.
Arthur Matsui, Ramsay Community Association’s civic affairs liaison, says the community needs signatures from 10 per cent of the voting population, about 110,000, to overturn council’s decision — a “daunting task,” he says.
Residents worry horse manure and urine will flow into the river and that a proposed chain-link fence on Scotsman’s Hill would cut off wildlife’s river access.
However, Stampede officials say the corrals, part of its “greening” redevelopment project, would be for temporary use for about a month each summer.
Ald. Linda Fox-Mellway, a Stampede board member, argued upholding the bylaw would have cost the Stampede millions of dollars in federal funding. Mayor Dave Bronconnier and Ald. Joe Connelly also sit on the Stampede’s board — a conflict of interest, Matsui says.
“Both Fox-Mellway and the mayor mentioned financial considerations even though the mayor acknowledged financial issues can not be considered in planning issues,” says Matsui. “This whole thing really dents your faith in the democratic process.”
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