Jill Browne, from home and away

Fourth Avenue Flyover and Langevin Bridge, Calgary. Photo by Jill Browne, February 22, 2011.

Saturday, March 26, 2011

Home: Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Winter. Snow. If you’re getting tired of hearing me say it, imagine how I feel.

I have been hearing robins over the past week or two, but today I saw my first one. Poor guy, up there in the spruce tree in the snow.

The picture is from February, though the day looks much the same as today. We were going east on Memorial Drive, stopped at the light at Edmonton Trail, and I took this picture of the 4th Avenue flyover. You can also see the older Langevin Bridge behind it.

The Langevin Bridge is named after the same gentleman as the Langevin Block on Parliament Hill, Sir Hector-Louis Langevin. He was a Conservative Member of Parliament from Quebec, and one of the Fathers of Confederation. He was also the Minister of Public Works and left office because of a scandal. His department was the subject of an inquiry in 1891, and he stepped down that year.

It strikes me as odd that a Quebec politician from any party would have a bridge named for him in Calgary. Even in the early days, we had more than enough luminaries to cover the infrastructure.

Langevin was the minister who petitioned Parliament for a bridge across the Bow River, and that is why his name is on it. So says a brochure from the City of Calgary, “A Snapshot of Calgary’s History”. The petitioning was in 1885. The bridge was built in 1910, twenty-five years later.

You can just tell there’s a lot of juicy 19th century politics behind the scenes here. I wonder who in Calgary felt such loyalty to Langevin as to put his name on the Calgary bridge so long after the fact, and why.

Sunday, February 13, 2011

Home: Calgary, Alberta, Canada

One of the local news stories this past week was about our mayor going to Toronto and having a private firm pay for his trip. People tried to make hay out of the fact that the trip was paid for.

What I understand, based on no research, just listening to the radio, is that he was invited to go and give a speech. The people who invited him paid his expenses.

That seems quite acceptable to me, with one big caveat, and that is, we need to be clear on whether any elected people should accept invitations from the private sector, period, and what the rules for that should be. That is a discussion for another day.

The issue getting all the attention was, who paid for the trip to Toronto. Frankly that doesn’t concern me as much as who decides how the mayor should spend his time.

If going to Toronto and speaking at whatever venues he did is going to help the mayor advance Calgary’s interests in a meaningful way, then he was right to go. I would hope the decision to go was part of the mayor’s plan for Calgary, and that it advances a strategic objective.

Two or three days of the mayor’s time is very valuable. Was the trip worth the time?

This mayor seems to be an intelligent guy with common sense. I expect he determined it was in Calgary’s best interest that he go to Toronto and I’m optimistic that we got, or will get, some value out of that trip. Time will tell, I suppose.

One thing I’m sure of:  a working trip to Toronto in February is hardly a boondoggle.

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Home: Calgary, Alberta, Canada

In addition to deciding to stop adding fluoride to Calgary’s drinking water, the City Council approved (by one vote, I understand) the building of a tunnel underneath the airport.

Without such a tunnel, the expansion of the airport will create a kind of barrier for those who want to get in and out of north-east Calgary.

The Mayor said it will cost more not to build the tunnel than it will to build it. I suppose the more comes from dealing with the stress on the rest of the infrastructure.

Now the city engineers and outside contractors have got a big job ahead, though in radio interviews the city’s engineer seems calm about it. Building a tunnel in and of itself is not an extremely difficult feat of engineering, and the city staff have already got a lot of the preliminary work done. The kicker is that the airport, which is federal property leased to the airport authority, is going to build the new runway starting soon. Barlow Trail closes in April 2011. It’s now February.

Expect lots of digging.

Monday, February 7, 2011

Home: Calgary, Alberta, Canada

I confess, I’m writing this after the fact and the events may not match the dates perfectly. History may never forgive me.

Calgary City Council voted to stop adding fluoride to the water supply.

This is one of the hottest issues, perennially, in Calgary. We got fluoride added after a couple of plebiscites said, “No” and then one said, “Yes”, about 25 years ago. Before then, people who wanted fluoride for themselves or their children had to get it in little bottles and add it in drops to their water at home.

I was taught that fluoride is essential for strong teeth and bones, but that too much or too little is harmful. There is an optimal range, and that is what the addition of the fluoride to the water supply was aiming for.

One lady called in to the radio and said that by boiling water for babies’  bottles, parents were changing the fluoride concentration, I think by a factor of 40. I don’t know how that fits within the optimal range, or whether it’s true, but it’s certainly something to check out if you’re in that position.

Which we now won’t be.

I expect the health unit will advise us to add fluoride into our water at home if we have kids or perhaps if we are at risk of osteoporosis.

I don’t mind. I want it, and I’ll add it. I am happy to let people who don’t want it make their own informed choice.

I also hope those same people are scrupulous about their children’s diets and dental hygiene, because the absence of fluoride will mean extra care is required to keep the teeth and bones healthy.

Wonder how long it will be before we have another fluoride discussion.