If you’ve lived in Calgary for a number of years (and especially if you were born in Calgary) you might be a racist. If you own a home in Calgary, you might be a racist. If you operate a business or provide services in Calgary, you might be a racist. And depending on where you live in the city, you might be more of a racist than other racists. These are the conclusions outlined in The Calgary Plan, authored by members of the City of Calgary’s planning department. The Alberta Government’s Municipal Government Act mandates all metropolitan areas in the province have a development plan to guide future growth in areas such as population, economy, transportation and others, and The Calgary Plan is the latest iteration. The previous plan, called imagineCALGARY, was launched in 2005, guiding growth since then. It’s the only thing the two plans have in common. The opening pages of imagineCALGARY read: “For thousands of years, people have met at the confluence of two vital rivers to imagine and realize their futures. Together, we have built a city of energy, born of a powerful convergence of people, ideas and place.” "Our diverse skills and heritage interweave to create a resilient communal fabric, while our collective spirit generates opportunity, prosperity and choice for all of us.” What a difference 20 years makes. A page of the 156-page Calgary Plan reads, in part: "As one of Canada’s fastest growing and most diverse cities, Calgary’s population is a rich blend of social, cultural and economic identities.” “By embracing this growth and actively supporting anti-racism, equity, diversity, inclusion and a strong sense of belonging for all individuals in the city's communities, Calgary strengthens its social, environmental and economic resilience, especially during times of rapid change.” “Past discriminatory and racially unjust planning processes and practices about how land is used and how people move around the city have built and reinforced systemic barriers, leading to an inequitable distribution of opportunities and resources throughout Calgary.” So, depending on where you live in the city, you might be more of a racist than people across town, or even next door. "Indigenous, Black and diverse Racialized peoples, and equity-denied groups, and especially individuals with multiple overlapping social identities such as age, disability, race, ethnicity, gender, religion, income or other overlapping social factors often face disproportionate challenges."The Calgary Plan, write the authors, “strives for equitable, anti-racist and inclusive outcomes for all Calgarians. Achieving this requires acknowledging and addressing the deep-rooted racism and different forms of discrimination embedded in planning systems, programs, services and policies.” “Actively identifying, challenging and removing these barriers ensures that the design and building of the city supports racial equity and justice, diversity, inclusion and reconciliation, providing all Calgarians with the opportunity to experience a safe, affordable and livable city.” To solve this crisis, city planners have identified how certain areas in the city have been more discriminated against than others. “By conducting an equity analysis, collecting disaggregated data, developing reliable indicators and continuously monitoring progress, The City can identify and prioritize inequalities, such as in city building processes, service delivery and budgets.” "This approach can create more equitable and inclusive planning outcomes, offering all Calgarians greater choices and opportunities, especially for underserved communities, and fostering a better quality of life for everyone in our city.” So, our friends in planning have devised the Calgary Equity Index, which they say is an objective geographically-based tool “to identify disparities in equity across community service areas in Calgary, made up of numerous social and economic indicators across different categories that affect overall health and wellbeing of Calgarians, assigning a score between 0 and 100.” In short, a low score means more of Calgarians’ tax money spent and more city services in those areas, while a high score means fewer tax dollars spent and fewer city services received in those areas. So, as far as the planning department is concerned, the future is based on societal equity, not need, which is hardly equitable. How do areas of the city rate on the city’s equity index? The map below, part of The Calgary Plan, identifies them, with 50 being benchmark and 70 being target. Areas in pink are below benchmark at less than 49.7. Areas in yellow are between benchmark and target, 49.8 to 70.1. Areas in green are above target, more than 70.2. Grey areas are industrial areas or transportation utility corridors. The Calgary Plan goes before the infrastructure and planning committee on Wednesday (Dec. 11), eventually moving to a full council meeting. Council needs to send this document, which in itself is racist, back to the drawing board.
