SABLE: Endless Love and Hope

I love my hometown, Mohkinstsis! I was born and raised here. I have close and extended family living throughout the Bow Valley. This city is where my son was born and where we have chosen to live, learn, work and play. My ties are not just to the city. My ancestors have lived on this land, from Edmonton to Yellowstone, from the Cypress Hills to the Rocky Mountains, since time immemorial. Unlike the vast majority of Calgarians and Southern Albertans, my Blackfoot ancestors did not immigrate here. In the distant past we welcomed other Indigenous people to our lands like the Tsuut’ina and Stoney Nakoda peoples. Yet like so many other Indigenous people who have grown up or lived in this city, I did not feel welcome. Growing up I was frequently told to go back to my reserve, that I did not belong here, and so I was faced with the ugly reality of ignorance and the deep racism that lies in the foundations of this city and amongst many of its citizens.

Despite the racism we faced, my family defiantly refused to leave. I knew more and more Indigenous people from across Turtle Island were choosing to live and work in Mohkinstsis. I could see that there were more new Canadians from around the world making Calgary their home too. I could see the change happening and I wanted to be a part of it. I began to volunteer and work for organizations like the Glenbow Museum and the Aboriginal Friendship Centre of Calgary, as well as becoming a founding member of the Urban Society for Aboriginal Youth and leading Indigenous artists as the president of the Calgary Aboriginal Arts Awareness Society. I also decided to attend university at the U of C and started pushing for changes within that institution as a member of the First Nations Student Association. Where there were no safe spaces for Indigenous women, Indigenous trans women, I made space.

This city has always been my home even though it hasn’t always felt welcoming and only now, in this past year of a global pandemic and anti-racist uprising, has the foundations and awareness of Mohkinstsis/Calgary begun to shift. Looking forward 20 years I can now see this city being a place that every citizen will be proud to call home and where there will be equitable opportunity for everyone.

This city is far from perfect but I do have endless love and hope for my hometown.

DAVE: I don’t know anything about how Calgary came to be, and how we came to be here.

For years I’ve stood on the Calgary Stampede Grandstand Stage as the Evening Show’s Master of Ceremonies. I’ve introduced dignitaries and special guests, I’ve entertained the audience with stories, I’ve played run mini chuckwagon races with kids and sometimes in the show I’d get the entire audience involved in a game of  “Where are you from?” I’d get people to stand from Eastern Canada, (“yay!”) I’d ask if there was any politicians from Ottawa (“boo!”) I’d ask if there was anyone from the US (“yay!”)  What about Edmonton (BOO! Yay Boo YAY) Then we’d see who was from farthest away. South America? Europe? China? Australia?

And the further away people were from, the louder we’d cheer.

If there was time, I’d go into the audience and talk to the faraway people. Sometimes their English was good enough for a conversation, and they’d tell me about always wanting to experience the world famous Calgary Stampede. But a lot of times, they’d point to someone beside them and say, “I came to visit them.” Their cousin, their uncle, or their grown up grandkids.

Which made me wonder… why did their cousins move here? And why some countries but not others? Why are there way more people here from China and the Philippines than from Japan or Korea? Why are there way more people here from Ukraine than Poland? And did they come in waves in a certain decade or gradually over a century? And what about Indigenous people. Did the Blackfoot get here before the Tsuut’ina? Do they speak the same language? Why are the Stoney called Stoney? 

I realized that other than the stories we all have heard - the Olympics, The Flames, The Stampede - I don’t know anything about how Calgary came to be, and how we came to be here.

And what does where we’re from tell us about where we’re headed?

So that’s what I want to find out. And that’s what I’m going to spend some time writing about.

ADORA: Gimme the gist.

What do people who are Black think about Calgary; this city, my hometown?

I have so many beautiful memories, Black History Month at the Jack Singer concert hall, packed every year. Carifest at Prince's Island park, THE place to be in Alberta that weekend. Thousands of people celebrating Black people. Shall I mention the filming of Cool Runnings? It was, and remains, my go-to Calgary pop culture reference. 

There are many great things that have come from this city, but it's not synonymous with Black, Blackness, Black people, black achievement, Black excellence, Black accomplishment, Black communities. All those things are here.

I know because I am witness to or have experienced all of those things.

I want to explore Calgary with the lens of a Black woman. I want to know what folx are doing at Stampede? Throughout the summer? Do they festival and which ones? Is winter a deal breaker? I'm finding out no. LOL who's skiing? It's snowboarding now, right? I know we are, so where? Gimme the gist.

The story of Calgary that I read and heard about rarely included someone like me and when it did it was not a reflection of their humanity as a whole. It was as an exception not the rule and every day I wake up Black and proud. That's the rule. 

So what I'm exploring is Calgary as a place that has guests to this Treaty 7 territory and is overdue in the work to be done. Truth and Reconciliation is an action.  Anti-racism must be the everyday norm or the trauma of oppression continues.

Calgary, this oil and gas city that has flourished in so many ways, has also failed so many. I wonder will Calgary grow to flourish again in a way that is anti-oppressive and removes anti-Blackness as its status quo? Calgary must create the foundation for people to thrive outside of its current practices of oppression that can no longer serve to make this community sustainably fruitful.

I believe that there are those stories here: Black, Indigenous, People of Colour, diverse racialized groups, people in the margins thriving.  Calgary, your future must be that as the rule, not the exception.

Choosing to Stay

By Andrew Ng

The big topic of discussion over the past week has been yet another article about young people choosing to leave Calgary and not look back. This one comes from Don Braid in the Calgary Herald, who is citing a search for proposals from Western Diversification, a federal agency, to do a big study on why people are leaving the city and the province. It said, “… the growing number of young entrepreneurs and skilled workers that are choosing to leave Alberta in favour of other jurisdictions seems to indicate that without abundant economic opportunity there are few other incentives to retain or attract young talent.”

Braid responds, “…this problem is serious. We need more than fine words about youthful Alberta, when Alberta isn’t so youthful anymore.”

This was also the topic on this week’s Unconventional Panel on the CBC Calgary Eyeopener. Panelist Annalise Klingbeil, a 32-year-old communications expert and born and raised Calgarian said, “I think, in conversations and reading tweets and reading articles, a lot of this comes down to this feeling that they don't belong, feeling like there's no future here.”

Some people are treating this like it’s new when it’s not. This article with actual data on how many youth are leaving is from February 2020. Someone brought it up during Calgary on Purpose’s latest engagement circle this week: “I just heard young people are leaving.” (Paraphrased) Young people have seen the lack of opportunities for several years between the crash in the oil and gas sector and the desire for more action on climate change. Neither of those issues are being addressed to a point of satisfaction, especially by the provincial government. So it’s not surprising young people are choosing to go places where there are opportunities to grow and where the government isn’t openly hostile towards you. Just ask doctors, teachers or environmentalists.

For me, it’s really unfortunate that young people around my age (34) might not stay to help make this city and province what they want it to be. I get that they can’t stand the politics and the tension and they just want to live a peaceful life. But there’s an opportunity here to really shape our city’s future, especially because of this year’s municipal election. I’m not a born and raised Calgarian and I could always choose to find work back in Ontario where my family still lives. But I’m choosing to stay. There is a lot of potential here that many young people just might not see because we’re pushed to focus on the oil and gas sector. That needs to change. And it can change.

Where We’ve Come and Where We Plan to Go

By Andrew Ng

As the year draws to a close, the Calgary on Purpose team is taking time to reflect on the ups and downs that 2020 brought. Like many others, pandemic restrictions forced us to find a new approach to discovering the story of Calgary. We had counted on gathering groups of citizens for a conversation over dinner because we value the process of connecting strangers so they can listen to each other. But without that process available, we shifted those conversations to a virtual setting. In many ways, that allowed us to achieve more than what we had planned.

For starters, we quickly realized we’re not trying to discover the STORY of Calgary, but the STORIES of the city. Moving online meant we could be more accessible to anyone who wanted to share their thoughts. Throughout the spring, we had one-on-one conversations with folks from our networks to continue building that collective story. The voices of these 30 or so people were weaved together in a brilliant report by our researcher/writer Daranne Harris.

What we heard was as diverse as Calgary itself but five major themes emerged from those conversations:

1. Being at a crossroads

2. Our western heritage

3. Being in things together

4. Being a space of opportunity

5. Economics on our mind

We took these five themes and hosted another round of conversations. This time we tried to replicate our old dinner conversations by having small group discussions. In a virtual space guided by our facilitator, Anne Harding, the participants split a session between sharing their thoughts on the report and on Calgary itself, and then swap with the other half of the participants to listen. In a span of three months, we held nine of these discussions and just like that we heard the voices of dozens more Calgarians.

We patted ourselves on the back for where we’ve come, but only briefly. We are laser focused on getting to where we still need to go. We have big ideas for Calgary on Purpose in 2021:

• Capture more stories through group discussions

• Specific outreach to people from more diverse backgrounds

• Engage our allies to create buzz among their networks

• Dive deeper into working with artists

• Build our online, social media presence

• Engage candidates running in the municipal election 

Our goals are pretty lofty especially with the next election now less than a year away. We want to ignite the passion for our city. We want everyone to share in the creation of our future. We want to help Calgarians overcome the divisive politics. We want all Calgarians to think about the city in a way they haven’t before. We want them to be part of the conversation. And we want to create a city where anyone can comfortably express their vision.

These goals aren’t really things that can be measured. It’s a culture change and it’s going to be tough. But we want to clarify that the election is not a deadline and more like a perfectly timed pitstop. We plan to continue this journey well beyond October 18, 2021.

Between Us Calgarians...

By Brenda Kenny

In this time of pandemic and wondering what recovery will hold, Calgary on Purpose continues to engage a diverse range of people living in this city. We are listening as small groups talk about what matters most. There’s a lot of tough stuff. There is fear and anger. But rather than division, when we start with being open and respectful, that heart of Calgary – what builds strength between us – shines through everyday.

 Many groups, from communities to entrepreneurs, from Indigenous to the broadly diverse, find themselves naming values and virtues to express what matters most in our engagement together. We each have unique perspectives and experiences that lead us to a diversity of positions and judgements.  However, we know that the outcomes of our society and economy depend on hearing each other and building enough trust and common ground to function. When that works well, we flourish.

We start, not with surveys but with conversations. And to support those conversations we have looked at many tried and true examples. In particular, we thank Livingroom Conversations, On Being Civil Conversations, and the Alberta Rainforest initiative. 

We have put forward the following grounding virtues as our starting point. We invite you to practice these with us, and to help us refine these as a part of the Calgary on Purpose initiative – tailor made for our city, reflecting and living the spirit of where we have come from, who we are, and where we wish to go.

Honesty - Being truthful and frank, and calling out elephants in the room. Healthy and respectful disagreement is welcome and necessary to overcome crises, to grow, and to transform. We will be truly ourselves, with authenticity in every encounter.

Humility - Humility is not about getting small; it is about encouraging others to be big. We will set aside roles and “power” to engage all equally, and do our best to ensure everyone feels welcome and comfortable in sharing their views.

Respect - We welcome and respect all perspectives. Setting judgement aside opens us to learning from others and ensures we all feel respected and appreciated.

Diversity - We embrace diversity and strive to create an environment of inclusion. “Adventurous civility” recognizes that diversity is messy, and that in our world of change, this is about creating new possibility for living forward while being different and even continuing to hold profound disagreement.

Generous Listening - Real listening is powered by curiosity. It involves vulnerability and a willingness to be surprised. We bring people together and listen generously, as we gain strength from diversity and truly learning from each other.

Creativity - Being open to new possibilities and generating new ways forward is about creativity. Adding what we hear together will create something greater than the sum of its parts. Creativity takes us to new places with ingenuity and spirit. 

Between us Calgarians, let’s live the virtues that make us strong and resilient for the here-and-now, and for the possibility of a flourishing future.

Uncovering Our True Heart and Soul

By Philippe Reicher

According to the UN, 55% of the world's population currently lives in cities. By 2050, that number is expected to reach 68%. Behind this simple number is a reminder that cities are fundamentally about people. And because we are dealing with people, the city as a place where people live, work and play, has always been a confluence of ideas on how societies organize themselves to manage threats and opportunities. 

With COVID-19 as the backdrop, I digitally attended a recent event organized by the Globe and Mail and Tortoise Media called The Future of Our Cities Summit. The Summit brought a variety of individuals deeply involved in urban life. Urban planners, former and current mayors (including our own Naheed Nenshi), entrepreneurs, night club owners, academics and artists all came with their own perspectives on what it means to live in a city.  While most agreed on the pandemic's transformative impact, many weren’t sure of its lasting effects; at the least in the short and medium terms. Still, all agreed that cities were subject to significant forces that require a rethinking of city life, particularly as we embark on an era of digitization and decarbonization with or without the virus.

We can attest to this observation in Calgary, where important structural economic changes were taking place before the pandemic.

From affordable housing, safe and reliable public transit, adequate parks and open spaces to a vibrant arts and entertainment scene, the interconnectedness of these factors demonstrates the complex nature of cities and the critical role in creating a fulfilling urban existence. 

Experiences from Manchester, London, Toronto, Boston and Vancouver also remind me that cities are fundamentally products of their unique culture, geography, economy and political system. That is not to say that learning from others cannot be an eye-opening journey and provide useful ideas and perspectives. Still, I remain convinced that coming to an understanding of what makes up your city's heart and soul is the mission of good civic engagement and, ultimately, leads to policies that have the broad public interest at heart instead of being defined narrowly by specific stakeholder interests.

In keeping with the broad public interest, as our cities grow more complex and diverse, I also heard that civic engagement needs to evolve to ensure a greater range of voices are heard and considered in our civic life.  The need to "democratize" the political system kept coming up.

This is what Calgary On Purpose is all about. We are committed to getting an inclusive, wider range of people to talk and write about their city. And together, we’ll uncover its true heartbeat and soul.