Alberta
Graffiti artist completes world’s tallest mural in downtown Calgary

CALGARY — It looms on the edge of downtown a stone’s throw from the Calgary Tower, a splash of colour amid aging buildings, railway tracks, parkades and a steady stream of traffic.
It’s billed as the world’s tallest mural, painted by one of the globe’s top graffiti artists, and is part of a project to turn an austere area of downtown into an expansive open-air urban art gallery.
“The brutalism and dystopian look of this area with the giant parkades and the spiral ramps and stuff — it feels like Gotham. So turning this wall from concrete nothing to this is really fun,” said Peter Oliver, president of the Beltline Urban Murals Project, or BUMP.
The mural is an abstract painting in various shades of orange, black, grey, blue, white and yellow and is the creation of DAIM, an internationally renowned German artist. DAIM, whose real name is Mirko Reisser, has been creating public artworks for more than 30 years.
“DAIM’s work is rooted in graffiti art. It’s abstract and he was actually the very first graffiti artist to start exploring three-dimensional works. So his work kind of obeys the laws of light and shadow but defies the laws of gravity,” Oliver said.
“I think his work really marries well with the brutalism of this building and it’s just a massive flat wall of concrete. It’s the very first prefabricated concrete building in Calgary, built in 1980.”
The mural is 95 metres high, making it the tallest mural in the world “by a long shot,” said Oliver.
He said most cities don’t have giant concrete walls available, with the majority being glass, steel or aluminum. So this was a perfect marriage.
DAIM, who was assisted by three local artists, spent over three weeks painting and went through more than 500 cans of spray paint after a base coat was added to the bare concrete. It is to be a permanent addition to the area and, as of last week, was awaiting a coat of UV sealant to make it complete.
Facing toward the east, it can be seen from a long way away.
“If you’ve got the window seat on the airplane, you can see it on the approach into the airport,” Oliver said.
“I think what we’re really doing with BUMP is re-architecting the identity of this city.”
The project will be unveiling about 60 new murals during its annual festival, which runs from Aug. 1 to 28. Before that, the new art work can be viewed by visitors at the annual Calgary Stampede, which begins this week.
“If you’re coming down, I’d check this out over the parade any day,” Oliver said with a chuckle.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 4, 2022.
Bill Graveland, The Canadian Press
Alberta
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says conservatives must learn to win in ‘big cities’

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith speaks at the Canada Strong and Free Network in Ottawa on Thursday, March 23, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick
Ottawa (CP) – Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says conservatives must learn how to win in “big cities.”
Smith made the comment to a room of conservatives gathered in Ottawa for the annual conference of the Canada Strong and Free Network, formerly called the Manning Centre.
With Albertans set to go the polls in a provincial election this year, Smith says the United Conservative Party has more ground to gain in the province’s two largest cities: Calgary and Edmonton.

Smith replaced Jason Kenney as party leader and premier last fall, after he resigned following a leadership review where he received only 51 per cent support.
Kenney faced considerable backlash leading up to that vote for his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, and Smith told today’s crowd that the party had lost “a lot” of its base.
Smith’s belief that conservatives must make inroads in large cities is shared by the federal Conservatives, with Leader Pierre Poilievre spending many of his weekends in Metro Vancouver and the Greater Toronto Area — areas where his party has struggled to gain ground in the past several elections.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 23, 2023.
Alberta
Toffoli’s two-goal effort leads Flames in 5-3 win over Sharks

San Jose Sharks goalie Kaapo Kahkonen, right, takes a drink as Calgary Flames players celebrate a goal during first period NHL hockey action in Calgary, Alta., Saturday, March 25, 2023.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh
By Darren Haynes in Calgary
Led offensively by two guys with Stanley Cup rings, the Calgary Flames kept their faint playoff hopes alive on Saturday.
Tyler Toffoli scored two goals and Nazem Kadri notched the game-winner as the Flames won 5-3 over the San Jose Sharks to climb two points closer to a playoff berth.
“They’re a desperate team, they have some skill. And obviously with (Erik) Karlsson on the back end, he can take over games, and I thought we did a good job sticking together and finding a way to win,” said Toffoli, whose 31 goals equals a career high.
Combined with Winnipeg’s 4-1 loss to Los Angeles, the Flames moved to within four points of the Jets, who occupy the final wild-card spot in the Western Conference. Both teams have eight games remaining including one head-to-head.
“We can’t really worry about what other people are thinking,” Toffoli added. “We just have to win every game we can, and every game we win keeps us in it and gives us a chance.”
Toffoli played for Darryl Sutter in 2014 when he was the coach of the Stanley Cup-winning Los Angeles Kings.
“He’s a winner,” said Sutter. “Can’t teach it, thankful to have him.”
Kadri won his Stanley Cup last season with Colorado.
“Ideally you want to find yourself to not be in this position this late in the season,” Kadri said. “But it’s hard to win in months like these leading up to the playoffs and we’ve given ourselves a chance so that’s really all that matters.”
Tied at 3-3, Kadri scored the go-ahead goal 5:45 into the third period. On his first shift moved onto a line with veteran Milan Lucic and rookie Walker Duehr, he banged in a rebound from the side of the net after Kaapo Kahkonen had stopped shots from both of his linemates.
“Great work ethic by them,” said Kadri, who has goals in consecutive games after a 16-game goal drought. “That’s what Walks and Looch are good at, staying on pucks and being tenacious and I just tried to get simple and go to the net as that’s where most of the pucks are going.”
Toffoli put the game away scoring into an empty net with 1:10 remaining.
“It was a real gut-check game. We had nine games in 15-and-a-half days for everybody in this room that travels with us and it was hard for us,” said Flames coach Darryl Sutter.
MacKenzie Weegar and Duehr added the other goals for Calgary (33-26-15), which won for just the second time in its last nine games at the Saddledome (2-5-2). Jacob Markstrom made 28 saves.
Logan Couture, Nico Sturm and Martin Kaut replied for San Jose (19-39-15), which had its winless skid extended to nine games (0-6-3). Kahkonen had 25 stops.
Erik Karlsson had two assists to reach 68 on the year and surpass his previous career-high of 66 in 2015-16 and break the Sharks record for helpers by a defenceman. Brent Burns previously held it with 67 in 2018-19.
“We just want to come every day and work hard and make the most out of a bad situation,” said Karlsson. “Today everybody showed up and we tried to play the way we need to to be competitive and I think we were for the most part of 60 minutes.”
The Flames saw their 2-1 lead entering the second period disappear after surrendering two goals to the visitors.
Sturm drove hard to the net, got his outstretched stick on the end of a hard centring pass from Noah Gregor and neatly deflected it in at 4:52.
Twenty-two seconds later, Steven Lorentz ripped a shot off the goalpost and Kaut knocked in the rebound.
The lead was short-lived, though, with Duehr answering back for Calgary 25 seconds later. He buried a one-timer on a dish from Trevor Lewis.
“Losing sucks,” said Couture. “Tonight was one of our better efforts. We’re realistic in here. We know where we’re at. We lost a bunch of guys at the deadline. We moved out six or seven of our full-time players. I liked our compete. We fought to the end. We can be proud of that.”
The Flames opened the game with a bang, grabbing a 2-0 lead before the Sharks even got a shot on net.
Couture cut into the deficit at 14:27 when he went hard to the net and was set up for a tap-in thanks to a slick pass from Karlsson.
MILESTONE FOR BACKLUND
Mikael Backlund played in his 900th career game Saturday. A first-round pick by the Flames in 2007, the 34-year-old centre is third on the franchise’s all-time games played list behind Jarome Iginla (1,219) and Mark Giordano (949).
BLUE LINE SHUFFLE
The Sharks made two changes on the blue line, welcoming back Matt Benning (undisclosed) and Jacob MacDonald (upper body) from injuries that had sidelined them for one and nine games, respectively.
UP NEXT
Flames: Conclude their home stand on Tuesday against the Kings.
Sharks: Return home to host Winnipeg on Tuesday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 25, 2023.
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