Serene Yew

@serene.pixeltree.ca

704 Followers 113 Following

Founder of http://pixeltree.ca | yyc dev & yyc.js organizer | co-founder of http://localshops.com (she/her)

Two clips of Mayor Farkas speaking from the dais at Calgary City Council's public hearing on repealing blanket rezoning, joined with a fade to black. First (2026-03-27, questioning a public speaker) he says the public sentiment heard at the hearing only represents the people who come to the hearing, and asks how council should reach people who may not even be aware the conversation is happening, folks who may not have ever had a seat at the table. Second (2026-04-08, closing remarks before the repeal vote) he says the vast majority of Calgarians they heard from shared thoughtful ideas and deep love for their communities, that this was really local democracy at work, and a highlight of his time as mayor.
Video from the City of Calgary Infrastructure & Planning Committee, June 2, 2026 (agenda item 7.4, "2 Billion Trees Agreement Program Update"). Committee chair Councillor Chabot does per-capita math assuming the federal program is worth $2 billion in dollars, questioning why Calgary's share only works out to about $38 million. Urban Forestry lead Paul Atkinson corrects him: the "2 billion" refers to 2 billion trees, not $2 billion dollars.
Video from the City of Calgary Infrastructure & Planning Committee, June 2, 2026 (agenda item 7.4). Councillor Atkinson, at the council dais, tells colleagues to read up on the R-1, R-2 and R-CG tree requirements: R-CG has a much higher tree requirement, so "with density comes more trees."
Video from the City of Calgary Infrastructure & Planning Committee meeting on June 2, 2026 (agenda item 7.4, "2 Billion Trees Agreement Program Update"). Councillor Jamieson, at the council dais, asks city staff: he's heard the number one factor for trees being removed in mass numbers is blanket rezoning and development — is that true, and would density be "an enemy to tree canopy"?
Grouped column chart, "Council time per approved permit, by council term and district." For each term (2017–2021, 2021–2025, 2025–2029 in progress) a red bar (R-CG) sits beside a grey bar (other districts). R-CG bars are shorter than other-district bars and the gap widens over time. Y-axis to ~$1,400. Footnote: calgarylens.ca/housing.
Line chart, "Council time per approved development permit, by year," 2018–2026. A violet dashed line of cost per approved permit ranges from about $460 to $1,400, ending near $1,400 in 2026; window-wide ≈$674 per permit. Footnote: calgarylens.ca/housing.
Combo chart, "What it costs, and what it buys, by month," 2018–2026. Stacked bars = amendments heard per month by outcome (teal approved, red defeated, grey pending); a violet line = fully-loaded council-time cost per month on the right axis ($0–$60k). Approvals dominate. Footnote: calgarylens.ca/housing.
Area-and-line chart, "Development permits to build R-CG infill, by month." A teal filled area (R-CG infill) climbs from near zero in 2022 to ~250–340/month by 2026; a grey line (all development permits citywide) stays roughly flat at ~500–700/month. Dashed markers: rezoning adopted May 2024, in effect Aug 2024, repeal passed Apr 2026. Footnote: calgarylens.ca/housing.
Column chart, "Units enabled by citywide rezoning, by quarter." Teal bars: Q2 2025 = 128, Q3 = 257, Q4 = 401, Q1 2026 = 247, with a black running-total line rising to 1,033. Y-axis 0–1,200 units. Footnote: calgarylens.ca/housing.
Video from Calgary City Council's public hearing on repealing blanket rezoning (2026-04-08). Mayor J. Farkas says in his closing remarks, that the city's strategy should be more thoughtful, targeted density and more local area plans that involve the community. Open captions are included.
Councillor John Pantazopoulos at his chamber microphone: "I'm gonna vote in favour of this so that when I'm an old man on my deathbed, I have the comfort knowing that no other councillor from Ward 6 ever has to debate water bottles."
Councillor Andre Chabot at Calgary city council, 2026-05-26 climate emergency debate, seated behind a large stack of papers covered in pink tabs and yellow sticky-notes. He says he wants information consolidated "into one portal… as opposed to trying to navigate a whole bunch of different reports."
Councillor Mike Jamieson speaking at Calgary city council chambers on 2026-05-26: "It's time we focus City Hall on delivering reliable infrastructure, safe for communities, and value for the taxpayer."
Councillor Rob Ward speaking at Calgary city council chambers on 2026-05-26, presenting a notice of motion for a charitable partner program. He says: "Every dollar raised privately is a dollar that the city doesn't need to spend. So the program helps communities help themselves without digging into our budget."
Bar chart that shows wildfire smoke hours per year observed at Calgary (YYC) from 1990 to 2025. Values were low and near zero through the early 2000s, with a dashed line indicating the 1990–present mean of ~73 hours/year. Starting around 2015, smoke hours increased sharply, reaching peaks of over 500 hours/year by the mid-2020s.
Network diagram showing voting alignment among Calgary city council members. Nodes representing councillors — including Pantazopoulos, Johnston, Ward, McLean, Tyers, Jamieson, Chabot, Wyness, Atkinson, Schmidt, Dhaliwal, Kelly, Clark, Yule, and Farkas — are arranged in a circle and connected by lines indicating how often they vote together. Blue nodes and orange/brown nodes appear to form two distinct clusters, suggesting partisan or ideological groupings. Source: calgarylens.ca
Bar chart showing total annualized cabinet salary cost across Alberta governments, with cabinet count and percentage of governing caucus above each bar. PC government (purple): Redford peak — 30 ministers (49%), $5.7M; Prentice — 20 ministers (29%), $3.9M. NDP government (gold): Notley initial — 12 ministers (22%), $2.3M. UCP government (teal): Kenney initial — 23 ministers (37%), $4.3M; Smith inaugural — 25 ministers (40%), $4.5M; Smith May 2025 — 27 ministers (55%), $5.0M. Source: Alberta Legislative Assembly Office remuneration tables and Wikipedia ministry rosters. Via albertalens.ca.
Bar chart comparing 2026–2027 total compensation for Alberta MLA roles versus the average Alberta worker ($70,773). Each bar shows base indemnity (teal), role supplement (purple), and retirement + benefits (hatched). Totals: Premier $227,156; Cabinet Minister with portfolio $222,113; Speaker of the Legislature $222,113; Leader of the Official Opposition $222,113; Deputy Speaker/Chair of Committees $190,201; Cabinet Minister without portfolio $187,008; Leader of a recognized opposition party $187,008; Deputy Chair/Opposition House Leader $174,238; Government House Leader $171,045; Chief Government Whip $171,045; Backbench MLA $158,275. Source: Alberta Legislative Assembly Office and StatsCan. Via albertalens.ca.
3D map of Calgary showing property tax revenue by neighbourhood. Buildings are extruded to show relative tax contribution — taller means more property tax. A single dark navy tower in the downtown core dwarfs all surrounding neighbourhoods. Colour indicates land use: dark navy/blue for non-residential, yellow/gold for residential. Surrounding areas like Airdrie, Chestermere, and Cochrane are visible on the map for geographic context.
Map of Calgary showing public submissions to the March 23, 2026 rezoning public hearing by community. Submissions are heavily concentrated in inner-city and higher-income western communities, shown in yellow-green. Large areas of northeast Calgary with lower median incomes, shown in purple, have almost no submissions. Orange outlines mark R-CG parcels affected by the proposed bylaw. Median household income ranges from $28,107 (purple) to $73,534 (yellow).