Calgary's Flood Mitigation Program

The Calgary Leadership Forum is a non-profit think tank that examines public problems in order to seek the truth by providing factual evidence in the true spirit of transparency to help provide practical solutions.  The Calgary Leadership Forum is the brainchild of Brian Lee a professional event speaker and former Calgary alderman from the 1980's.  The Leadership Forum assembled a panel of experts on hydrological flood plain data on the two catch basin watersheds that created the massive floods in Canmore, Calgary and High River.  During the question and answer period, the panel of experts had to field the hard questions of what caused the floods, how could the floods have been prevented, how people are coping with the flood, future solutions proposed by the municipal and provincial government in the flood mitigation program. It is interesting to note that the politicians from the municipal and provincial government from the flooded areas came to find out answers to possible solutions from the general public and the experts. It is apparent that the government officials are more concerned with public relations rather than finding viable solutions because they have no expertise in flood management . Moreover, the government is not tapping into the valuable resources from the community and are not forthcoming with viable solutions. In this one afternoon at the Croatian Club more information and understanding of the flooding of Calgary and the surrounding region was divulged in one afternoon to the general public than the trite sound bytes delivered by the municipal and provincial government who have assumed the majority of the responsibility to repair the flood damage and help mitigate future floods.  The community at large has to keep the politicians accountable for providing viable solutions instead of allowing them to sweep everything under the carpet and bureaucratic delaying tactics.

Leadership Forum 1:  Brian Lee introduces the flood mitigation problem followed by a commentary by the MLA from Calgary Bowness.

 

 

 

 

Corn, Tomatoes and Wheat

My good friend has spent the last two years creating experimental automatic watering systems to grow corn, tomatoes and wheat.  The concept of  the automatic watering system is based on the fact of the plants root system uses the capillary action of the plant  roots to draw water as the  water is required by the plant during photosynthesis. The plants receive a steady consistent stream of water that keeps the soil damp but not water logged . The roots are never allowed to dry out.  Because the plants receive a consistent amount of moisture that out produces traditional gardens.  Growing corn in Calgary is not possible because of the short growing season and the altitude. Using the automatic watering system, my friend is able to grow corn.  The tomato plants produce five or six pounds of tomatoes per plant.  From sowing 18 grains of wheat, with the automatic watering system, 182 heads of wheat are produced with each wheat spike producing 48 florets ( grains of wheat).

Golfing in Bowden

All the small towns surrounding Calgary have their own golf courses. The small community golf courses are reasonably priced.  For two people to golf  nine holes and rent a motorized golf cart only cost $64.  In non-primetime golf time the green fees are even lower. The golf courses in the small town are not crowded like the city courses where you are being pushed to complete the course because of the greater number of golfers on the course.  As you can see from my tee shot, I do not dress like a golfer. My golf swing is terrible because I have a poor backswing and I do not follow through; however, I do make good contact and the ball does about 150 yards straight down the fairway.  My friend who tees up second demonstrates a similar poor form but we are both having fun. This is the first time I have gone golfing in over two years. 

Calgary's Chinatown

Calgary's Chinatown lies in the downtown Calgary core between 1st avenue and 4th avenue southeast. Chinatown straddles Centre Street and is located in North East Calgary on the east side of  Center Street and on the west side is located in the North West Calgary.  It is ironic that the James Short Parkade is named after a mayor of Calgary who actively tried to demolish Chinatown because he believed it brought down the property value.  In the 1960's, Calgary's city council tried to relocate a major roadway through Chinatown that would have ultimately removed all of Chinatown. Canadian born Chinese fought city hall's expropriation attempt and today Calgary is the only Chinatown protected by a bylaw in Canada that guarantees its existence as a cultural and historical site.

Fox Hollow Golf Course

Fox Hollow is a nine hole golf course that is inside the Calgary city limits located on 32 Avenue North East. In the background you can see the traffic from 32 Ave. N. E. and on the left the golf course borders on Deer Foot Trail a major roadway running North and South. There is a golf dome driving range that charges only $15 for unlimited number of bucket of balls that you wish to hit. Outside the clubhouse is a practice putting green. There is also a putting green inside the dome. The golf course is a short 9 hole course. The first tee is about a 425 yard par four. The fairways are fairly wide with thick brush along the fairways. You walk under a steel culvert tunnel to get to the first tee . You golf due north for the first five holes and eventually you swing back due south to end up back at the first tee box.  Fox Hollow is a public golf course with reasonable green fees. For someone wanting a quick round of golf , Fox Hollow is a good beginner's golf course.  Believe it or not Stephen Ames a Canadian on the PGA golf tour can be seen practicing his tee shots in the golf dome in the winter. Most people would not recognize him as a well known golf professional.

Zen Garden

Click on the link to view a power point presentation on a brief history of Zen Gardens and  how to make a Zen Garden.   THE ZEN GARDEN

Arbour Lake

Calgary was selected by an international survey to be the 5th best city in the world in which one should choose to live.  Sidney , Australia was voted number two and Vancouver was number three and I believe a city in Switzerland was number four.  A Northwest neighbourhood in Calgary called Arbour Lake was voted by the City of Calgary as the 5th best neighbourhood in all of Calgary. The neighbourhood's were evaluated according to residential neighbourhoods, shopping areas, school facilities, recreational facilities, green spaces, community facilities and lack of crime. I visited my friends at their house in Arbour Lake that they purchased just a year ago and went to check out the plants I gave them for their front flower . I then asked my friend to take me to the local community lake called Arbour Lake. All the residents of Arbour Lake pay a $200 fee for the upkeep of Arbour Lake as an all year round recreational facility. In the summer the lake is used for swimming, fishing and boating. There is a sandy beach for sun tanning and docks for fishing . The lake is stocked with rainbow trout. In the winter, the lake is frozen and becomes a skating rink and in some areas there is ice fishing. On this Monday , Labour Day, the last holiday before the start of the school year . the lake was crowded with families enjoying the last summer holiday.

McDougall Centre

There is an Alberta Government Building called the McDougall  Centre in Calgary located on 7th Street and 5th Avenue South West.  The Members of the Legislative Assembly for the Calgary Conservative Caucus hold Provincial Government meetings.  The main Legislative Assembly is located in Edmonton which is our Provincial Capital. Surrounding the McDougall building is a lovely circular garden in the front and a series of water fountains with flowing water over cement steps that enter a reflecting pool. During the week, the local office workers can be seen taking their lunch break in the courtyard.  Sometimes protesters will demonstrate against provincial government policy on the front steps.  On weekends, the courtyard is usually vacant but wedding couples come to take their wedding pictures against the water fountains as a backdrop.  On the day , I shot this video it was around 5:00 pm on a Saturday.  This courtyard is a bit of peaceful nature hidden away in the downtown city centre.  If one was to walk north for five or six blocks you would encounter the Bow River and its cycling paths along the riverbank.