Bell: Calgarians win big, Gondek loses, council to axe bogus bag bylaw

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You probably did it. You actually did it.

To cite the legendary Peter Maher, the long-time voice of Calgary Flames hockey: “Yeah, child!”

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Sure, we’re now just one step away from seeing metropolis council formally pull the plug on the half-baked bag bylaw.

There will probably be a public listening to in Could and a remaining vote and a final hurdle earlier than throwing the bylaw into the rubbish can of historical past, by no means to be recycled.

Right here’s Mayor Jyoti Gondek from the loser’s dressing room.

“It’s going to be coming to a public listening to to make it disappear,” says Gondek, of the bag bylaw she a lot wished to save lots of.

She talks concerning the full repeal of the bylaw, the killing of it.

“The complete repeal coming ahead takes away each measure we’ve got tried to place in,” says Gondek.

Completely and that’s the perfect information we heard all day.

The mayor says “there have been parts of this bylaw that have been truly fairly good.”

However guess what occurred?

Calgarians weren’t shopping for what she and others have been promoting they usually pushed again and scared sense into sufficient councillors to place one within the win column.

“As a substitute of understanding what was good and preserving it we simply threw the entire thing away at present,” says Gondek.

Ain’t it grand.

Individuals in every single place have been having fun with the second.

Premier Danielle Smith took to social media pictured ingesting Canada Dry ginger ale with a plastic straw.

“Calgary is one step nearer to getting free napkins, cutlery, condiments and luggage again … subsequent, plastic straws.”

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Dan McLean would have beloved to provide the bylaw the heave-ho Tuesday however metropolis corridor has its guidelines and the pull-no-punches councillor will not be going to sit down again and maintain his hearth.

“This bylaw is perhaps extra unpopular than this metropolis council,” says McLean.

“We must be listening to the individuals. We’re employed by the individuals.”

And, taking a look at ballot numbers, that is probably the most unpopular metropolis council ever together with Gondek, probably the most unpopular mayor ever.

Sure, she is on the brief finish of the stick on this one.

The mayor thought a propaganda replace from metropolis paper shufflers and a change to the bylaw having the brand new guidelines not apply to drive-thrus would one way or the other save the day.

The plan? Water down the bylaw however don’t eliminate it.

Didn’t work.

Congrats to the councillors who stood their floor.

This was one experiment that blew up within the faces of the Calgary metropolis corridor institution.

Down at metropolis corridor, typically nicknamed the Cowtown Kremlin, they don’t get it as a result of they don’t need to get it.

They see their job as telling you they’re proper and also you’re fallacious.

Chabot factors to the large and historic pushback from Calgarians.

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“I have to ship the copies of all these emails I’ve obtained. It looks like they’ve by no means seen them,” he says, of town higher-ups.

Councillor Chabot, they’ll’t deal with the reality.

Chabot provides this bylaw is “a ache within the butt.”

Too true.

Sonya Sharp is the councillor who believes punishing individuals will not be the answer and Calgarians received what was happening.

Sharp calls bringing within the bag bylaw probably the most unpopular determination of this metropolis council’s time period of workplace.

There may be the opposite aspect.

There may be Gian-Carlo Carra, the councillor who advises us all to “sit back” as a result of that is “small potatoes.”

“We’re coming into foolish season,” says Carra.

Foolish season appears to be the one season at metropolis corridor.

On Tuesday, a chinook of frequent sense blew into the constructing.

Carra mocks the anti-bag bylaw emails he’s learn and speaks of a lot of them as “unhappy and laughable.”

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The councillor is speaking concerning the emails not himself.

Hear Carra as he reaches the height of pomposity.

“I’m reminded of the Dunning-Kruger impact which is the concept that individuals who have the least quantity of information on a topic have probably the most quantity of confidence.”

He’s speaking about you, expensive reader. I feel it’s an insult.

Kourtney Penner, who received elected as a result of Ward 11 voters will need to have been sleeping on election day, talks about “placing a value on comfort and consumption.”

“I’m OK with that,” says Penner.

However the whole lot was not OK.

For this one time the council majority couldn’t maintain collectively.

There’s an election subsequent 12 months and folks have to begin seeing the writing on the wall and it isn’t fairly.

Jennifer Wyness is the councillor who put ahead scrapping the bylaw.

Does she suppose the bylaw will probably be declared useless on the public listening to?

“With this council I’m by no means 100% positive of something.”

Memo to Calgarians. Maintain the stress on, proper to the end line.

rbell@postmedia.com

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