It's no secret that Canada is in a recession. Calgary, aka Oil City, is also experiencing the effects of the downturn in the global economy. Construction which was booming -- and employers were falling over each other to seduce workers -- has now come to a halt. Gone are the days when you would apply for a job in this city and the companies would call you within 15 minutes to hire you.
Most employers are laying off people, and those that aren't, have pulled back from the high wages that were being offered. But does that mean that jobs have completely dried up in Calgary...?
Far from it. In-fact, there are careers which still have a shortage of people and employers are having a tough time finding qualified people. A while back, I published a post about the hottest careers in Alberta on THTNW. Minus the construction workers, the list is still pretty valid.
However, I will list some additional occupations that are recession proof and in-demand in and around Calgary.
Health Care
Health services do not cease during an economic downturn. If anything, more people end up at hospitals and clinics because of high stress and physical illness. There is a serious need for RNs, RPNs, and medical lab technicians etc. The Calgary Health Region is a good place to start if you're searching for these type of positions. Dentists' offices also hire dental assistants in this industry.
Software Development
There is still a need for developers and programmers to help with updating software and managing databases for oil companies. If you are a DBA or an IT consultant, you should not have too many problems securing a good position with an employer here.
Energy/Mining
Calgary being oil capital of Canada, there are always jobs in the fields of Geology, Pipeline Engineering and Land Administration.
Environment
With the growing noise around global warming and environmental pollution, the prospects are very good.
Criminal Justice/Public Safety
Bad economy=increased in crime. Calgary's gang problem is getting worse, and the city is hiring more police officers.
Tax Accounting
Death and taxes are certain. Enough said...
Education
Kids don't stop going to school and when people are out of work, they tend to upgrade themselves at community colleges, hence the need for teachers.
Military
It's a verifiable fact that military gets most of it's recruits during tough economic times. If you don't mind being away from home and want to feel the pride of serving your country, contact the Canadian Forces.
Skilled Trades
There is still a shortage of welders, pipefitters, plumbers, and millwrights in Calgary. And with a major portion of the governments stimulus plan being spent on infrastructure, workers in these trades are going to be hunted by recruiters.
Self Employment
Instead of waiting to land a plum job, why not create one. You can take advantage of this slowdown to start your own business and be self-employed. Sure beats job-hunting!
I hope this list gave you folks some ideas. If you have any questions or want to share your own list, leave me a comment :-)
Friday, January 23, 2009
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Snow Removal in Calgary
I'm sure a lot of you folks are not too pleased with the poor job the city has done in regards to plowing snow and keeping the roads and highways clean in Calgary. Record numbers of auto accidents because of icy roads have prompted angry calls to the municipal government, but the Aldermen and Alderwomen are not taking action the way the citizens want them to.
I, myself, sent an email to my ward's alderman and here's the reply I recieved from his office;
(Note: text in Violet are my comments)
Mr. McCoy,
Thank you for your email sent to Alderman Stevenson's office.
I have forwarded your email to our Roads department. All areas in Calgary are experiencing the same difficulties and we are requesting that citizens be patient. We received the following information from our Roads department on Wednesday and I hope you find it helpful. These stats are before the snow received Wednesday.
Since December 20 we have removed 2,600 truckloads of snow from the downtown core and surrounding areas. Our SNIC Priority One and Priority Two Route Maps identify over 7,600 lane km of road network to maintain. Our sander trucks have travelled over 163,000 km maintaining the SNIC routes - the equivalent of driving around the equator four times. (jeez....must be a huge accomplishment eh)
Our sander drivers have logged over 11,000 hours of driving time behind the wheel. Our grader operators have logged over 1,700 hours of operating time.
Priority One: Major roadways with traffic volumes exceeding 20,000 vehicle per day
Central Business District streets which carry 8,000 vehicles per day
Designated routes on high-traffic-volume arterial roads
Priority Two: Roads which carry 5,000 t- 19,000 vehicles per day
Traffic lights and controlled crosswalks
Designated emergency routes (hospital, police and fire stations)
Priority Three: Designated feeders collector routes (too important to give it priority 3, IMHO)
Bus routes
School and playground zones
Designated hills
Stop.yield signs and bus stops
Priority Four: Designated hills
Sanding and Salting
Our crews are continuing to respond to snow conditions according to the Council Policy for Snow and Ice Control. During periods of snow like we experienced Wednesday, our sander drivers shift their focus back to conditions on the Priority One and Two Routes. When winter driving conditions are stabilized on the major roads, the crews shift their focus to the Priority Three and Four Routes. This entails spot sanding at designated feeders, collectors and bus routes as well as spot sanding at identified trouble spots. (ookaay....what priority are McKnight and John Laurine Blvds then....?)
Plowing
Plows are continuing work on Priority Two and Three Routes. Some work is necessary to continue to move snow further off the roads where initial plowing occurred but the road width is narrow because of the buildup of snow. Crews are also attending to windrows of snow at bus stops. (windrows is a misnomer, they should call it plowrows, as it is the plowing trucks who create these barriers in the first place)
Our crews have investigated a number of residential road plowing requests recently. In cases where our crews responded to alleviate conditions on a complaint basis, they continued to monitor the effects of our efforts. Our observations, and the public response, are similar to what we experienced when we conducted a trial of residential snow plowing a number of years ago. When our trucks and equipment respond, they often break through the existing hard pack due to their weight. Often that results in worse conditions that if we stayed away.(have to agree with that...you guys make matters worse).
Also, since we cannot remove snow from the residential roads, the windrows we create from plowing often cause a new set of problems. If temperatures drop, the windrows freeze and become harder to deal with. Cars cannot climb over the windrows to get into the travel lane. (unless one is driving a Land Cruiser).
The windrows also hamper the flow of water to the catch basins during warm weather, resulting in flooding problems.
Snow Removal and Storage
The snow removal crews are working on Priority One and Priority Two Routes. Crews are focusing their efforts on the structures and bridges. Where there are school and playground zones on the Priority One and Priority Two routes, they are also being evaluated.
Sidewalk Snow Removal
Hand crews are working on Priority Two and Priority Three locations with shovels and small equipment. Roads Maintenance Crews are contracted by Calgary Transit to clear bus stops, and this is occurring within the Priority Three work lists. (I drive quite a bit; haven't seen any...)
The Snow and Ice Control unit has been working around the clock to alleviate the problems. Again, thank you for your email and if you have any further questions or concerns please don't hesitate to contact us.
Best regards,
Lynne Banning
Community Assistant,
Ward 3 Office of Alderman Stevenson,
City of Calgary
Phone (403) 268-4854
Fax (403) 268-8091
PO Box 2100. Stn M Calgary, AB T2P 3M5
Ward03@calgary.ca
www.ward3calgary.ca
Proudly Serving a Great City
Hmmm.....same old response. Winter ain't over yet. Let's see what we have in store for the rest of the season...
I, myself, sent an email to my ward's alderman and here's the reply I recieved from his office;
(Note: text in Violet are my comments)
Mr. McCoy,
Thank you for your email sent to Alderman Stevenson's office.
I have forwarded your email to our Roads department. All areas in Calgary are experiencing the same difficulties and we are requesting that citizens be patient. We received the following information from our Roads department on Wednesday and I hope you find it helpful. These stats are before the snow received Wednesday.
(that's what they do.....send you a bunch of stats..)
Our SNIC material usage in all of 2008 was approximately 40,000 tonnes of salt and 48,000 tonnes of pickle.(pickle...??!)Since December 20 we have removed 2,600 truckloads of snow from the downtown core and surrounding areas. Our SNIC Priority One and Priority Two Route Maps identify over 7,600 lane km of road network to maintain. Our sander trucks have travelled over 163,000 km maintaining the SNIC routes - the equivalent of driving around the equator four times. (jeez....must be a huge accomplishment eh)
Our sander drivers have logged over 11,000 hours of driving time behind the wheel. Our grader operators have logged over 1,700 hours of operating time.
Priority One: Major roadways with traffic volumes exceeding 20,000 vehicle per day
Central Business District streets which carry 8,000 vehicles per day
Designated routes on high-traffic-volume arterial roads
Priority Two: Roads which carry 5,000 t- 19,000 vehicles per day
Traffic lights and controlled crosswalks
Designated emergency routes (hospital, police and fire stations)
Priority Three: Designated feeders collector routes (too important to give it priority 3, IMHO)
Bus routes
School and playground zones
Designated hills
Stop.yield signs and bus stops
Priority Four: Designated hills
Sanding and Salting
Our crews are continuing to respond to snow conditions according to the Council Policy for Snow and Ice Control. During periods of snow like we experienced Wednesday, our sander drivers shift their focus back to conditions on the Priority One and Two Routes. When winter driving conditions are stabilized on the major roads, the crews shift their focus to the Priority Three and Four Routes. This entails spot sanding at designated feeders, collectors and bus routes as well as spot sanding at identified trouble spots. (ookaay....what priority are McKnight and John Laurine Blvds then....?)
Plowing
Plows are continuing work on Priority Two and Three Routes. Some work is necessary to continue to move snow further off the roads where initial plowing occurred but the road width is narrow because of the buildup of snow. Crews are also attending to windrows of snow at bus stops. (windrows is a misnomer, they should call it plowrows, as it is the plowing trucks who create these barriers in the first place)
Our crews have investigated a number of residential road plowing requests recently. In cases where our crews responded to alleviate conditions on a complaint basis, they continued to monitor the effects of our efforts. Our observations, and the public response, are similar to what we experienced when we conducted a trial of residential snow plowing a number of years ago. When our trucks and equipment respond, they often break through the existing hard pack due to their weight. Often that results in worse conditions that if we stayed away.(have to agree with that...you guys make matters worse).
Also, since we cannot remove snow from the residential roads, the windrows we create from plowing often cause a new set of problems. If temperatures drop, the windrows freeze and become harder to deal with. Cars cannot climb over the windrows to get into the travel lane. (unless one is driving a Land Cruiser).
The windrows also hamper the flow of water to the catch basins during warm weather, resulting in flooding problems.
Snow Removal and Storage
The snow removal crews are working on Priority One and Priority Two Routes. Crews are focusing their efforts on the structures and bridges. Where there are school and playground zones on the Priority One and Priority Two routes, they are also being evaluated.
Sidewalk Snow Removal
Hand crews are working on Priority Two and Priority Three locations with shovels and small equipment. Roads Maintenance Crews are contracted by Calgary Transit to clear bus stops, and this is occurring within the Priority Three work lists. (I drive quite a bit; haven't seen any...)
The Snow and Ice Control unit has been working around the clock to alleviate the problems. Again, thank you for your email and if you have any further questions or concerns please don't hesitate to contact us.
Best regards,
Lynne Banning
Community Assistant,
Ward 3 Office of Alderman Stevenson,
City of Calgary
Phone (403) 268-4854
Fax (403) 268-8091
PO Box 2100. Stn M Calgary, AB T2P 3M5
Ward03@calgary.ca
www.ward3calgary.ca
Proudly Serving a Great City
Hmmm.....same old response. Winter ain't over yet. Let's see what we have in store for the rest of the season...
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Smile (and wave).....you're being watched!
With the recent increase in crime and gang activity in Calgary, the police department has decided to install over twenty video surveillance cameras in the downtown area to keep an "eye" on suspicious activity.
The folks at Calgary Police Services are inclined to believe that more cameras will translate into less crime. To say that this thinking is flawed would be an understatement. There is no credible evidence that criminal activity slows down due to surveillance cameras. They install cameras in the downtown core and the gang members will move somewhere else.
The recent triple murder on new year's day - in broad daylight at a restaurant- is proof that gang members do not limit their activities to downtown Calgary. We cannot put up cameras everywhere and the taxpayers money could be better spent on something useful - like snow removal to prevent auto accidents!
Another component that concerns me is the invasion of privacy. Is there any guarantee that the video footage collected from these cameras would not be misused? There is growing evidence that the police in the U.S and Britain have used the surveillance systems to send out tickets for traffic or by-law violations. In fact, I was told by one British visitor that after tourism, cameras are the second largest source of revenue for the London city government. So this apparatus is more like a cash cow for city councils than a detterent for crime.
Gangsters and drug dealers will eventually find a way to avoid these cameras, and the general public won't fee any safer. The best way to combat crime in this city is to change the criminal justice system and enact tougher laws to punish the crooks, instead of creating a totalitarian police state where big brother watches everything you do.
The folks at Calgary Police Services are inclined to believe that more cameras will translate into less crime. To say that this thinking is flawed would be an understatement. There is no credible evidence that criminal activity slows down due to surveillance cameras. They install cameras in the downtown core and the gang members will move somewhere else.
The recent triple murder on new year's day - in broad daylight at a restaurant- is proof that gang members do not limit their activities to downtown Calgary. We cannot put up cameras everywhere and the taxpayers money could be better spent on something useful - like snow removal to prevent auto accidents!
Another component that concerns me is the invasion of privacy. Is there any guarantee that the video footage collected from these cameras would not be misused? There is growing evidence that the police in the U.S and Britain have used the surveillance systems to send out tickets for traffic or by-law violations. In fact, I was told by one British visitor that after tourism, cameras are the second largest source of revenue for the London city government. So this apparatus is more like a cash cow for city councils than a detterent for crime.
Gangsters and drug dealers will eventually find a way to avoid these cameras, and the general public won't fee any safer. The best way to combat crime in this city is to change the criminal justice system and enact tougher laws to punish the crooks, instead of creating a totalitarian police state where big brother watches everything you do.
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