New Homes in Calgary

More Jobs Being Created in Calgary

A 10 minute drive just north of Calgary and you come to Balzac. This is where a new super-mall is being constructed, and this little town will soon be home to a new walmart distribution centre for all of Western Canada. The building is going to be huge -- almost half a million square feet, and one of the largest refrigerated buildings in the country. This is good news for Calgary and the surrounding towns like Airdrie.

In a sluggish economy, where the oilpatch is not performing well and a lot of folks have lost their jobs, this investment by walmart - which will create over a thousand jobs - is much needed. And since the starting wage at walmart's other supply chain centre in Calgary is around $15/hour, one can hope that people will find this an attractive place to work.

Jack And Diane go to Taber

Fed up with long commute times and high cost of living, a lot of folks from Calgary are moving to smaller towns. Join a young couple as they explore the possiblity of relocating from the daily grind of the big city to the easy living of small town Alberta. Great jobs, lower cost of living and lots of things to do make Taber a great option for people. Take the trip with Jack and Diane and discover all that Taber, Alberta has to offer.



Links:
Destination Taber
Wikipedia Profile
Town of Taber

Another Black Spot on Cecil

So there was another murder at the infamous Cecil Hotel in downtown Calgary on Sunday. According to the Calgary Sun;

"Cops were called to the notorious watering hole about 1 a.m. where they found a man dead from undisclosed injuries."

Also, according to a police source, "That seems to be the place where you'd have deals with money or drugs."

Is that right Mr.Policeman?


I have never understood why there aren't more officers in the vicinity of the hotel and the adjoining pub. This place is KNOWN to be one of the drug dealing hot spots, and more homicides have occurred near Cecil than any other area. Most people have no idea as to how bad this place is. Just read this tongue-in-cheek review of the place;

"The Cecil is by far the best place in town if you like the smell of stale booze and piss! It is great when you are greeted at the door by a wasted, toothless, homeless Ukrainian. If you show up more than once he will remember your name and greet you with a hug or a $h!t covered hand shake! Be sure to order up a short rye and coke and grab a front row seat for the blues band on stage that has that "who the Fu@K booked us here?" look in their eye! Be sure to wave goodbye to the blood covered crack whore on your way out as she is getting the sh!t kicked out of her by a drunk pimp demanding his 20 bucks so that he can fill his crack pipe. I have heard they are under new management and are offering room discounts to those who are willing to stay for more than 20 minutes"


I would guess the ONLY folks who stay at Cecil are people who are looking to pick up prostitutes or are hopelessly addicted to drugs and cheap booze. You can be guaranteed that your life expectancy will be very short if you are anywhere near that place. In short, this is not the venue to entertain your date.

There are some who think that the hotel should be bought by the city (paid by tax payer dollars) and be restored as a historical building, as it was built in 1910. I personally believe that it should be torn down. Calgarians deserve to enjoy a pleasant weekend walk in the downtown area and the city would be better off without this ugly structure in it's core.

Why Calgary is not attractive to migrants anymore

According to CBC News, the flow of people from other provinces to Alberta has slowed down considerably. In-fact, a lot of folks have moved back to their respective provinces. In addition to that, numerous families are transplanting themselves in less expensive places like Saskatchewan and Manitoba.

One of the major reasons for this slowdown is the insanely expensive real estate in Calgary (and Alberta as a whole). Here are some of the comments that people have left on a website relating to Alberta's soon to be bust;

"This Province has seen an amazing boom over the years,
but unless you are getting an amazing amount of money,
it is to the point where it's not affordable to live here anymore.
Not everybody is making it rich from the oil industry.
A lot of people are struggling just to make ends meet"

There is no doubt that the cost of living in Calgary has risen quite a bit, for some folks, disproportionately to their income. The city has done it's part to raise municipal taxes to suck out the last hard-earned dollar from the labourer.

Some people have also complained that us westerners - that is, the folks from the Canadian West - have not been very welcoming and friendly, even though we tout our western hospitality. There is a lot of truth to that as well.

A comment from another reader points to the regional animosity between central and western Canadians;

"Alberta has developed a strong hatred to people who
come from other provinces. I think that they prefer
minorities from third world countries that they can
pay only minimum wages and give all the really menial
jobs to. Canadian from other provinces know how much
their labour is worth. Third world labourers don't.
Do I think they are predjudiced? Yes.
Are Alberta companies really cheap? Absolutely!"

Well I'm not sure if hatred is the right word here, but there sure is a lot of resentment from the past when central Canada had all the goodies and provinces like Alberta and Saskatchewan were dirt poor and had slogans like, "The West wants in.."

Since Canada does not have the problem of illegal immigration like the United States, Canadian companies look to these so-called "Third World" countries to provide them with workers in the form of immigrants and refugees. Alberta companies are cheap no doubt, but so are Canadians, who are too selfish to have kids and establish families, and Alberta is the largest offender in this regard, (but that's another topic for a future blog post).

I hope that Calgary does not lose it's status as a city where anything is possible and where folks come to realize their big dreams. And in order for that distinction to be maintained, the large, and ever-increasing divide between the rich and poor will have to be narrowed so all of us, in this Heart of the New West, can live a fulfilling life.