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Alberta

Merry-Go-Round is “Merry-Go-Gone” as City of Calgary closes playground equipment

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From City of Calgary:

As a result of community members not respecting the requirement for social distancing, The City of Calgary is closing City-operated playgrounds (equipment only) effective immediately.

City Parks crews will require a few days to cordon off all 1,100 City-operated playgrounds in Calgary. During this time, The City asks all Calgarians to respect this decision.

Unfortunately, not all City park users respect the need for social distancing during our state of local emergency. With playgrounds being a community-gathering place, social distancing is critical as all citizens, regardless of their age, are at risk to transmit the COVID-19.

The decision also recognizes a collective effort to control the spread of COVID-19 locally and elsewhere in Canada through playground closures.

“We’ve made the very difficult decision to close down playgrounds as it’s just not healthy for anyone at this time to keep them open,” said Calgary Emergency Management Agency Chief Tom Sampson. “We understand the impact this move has on kids and families. It’s hard to remove a trusted space for kids to play right now in the face of schools and daycares closing. But we need to make these sacrifices in order to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in the coming weeks.”

The City encourages its partners at the Calgary Board of Education (CBE) and Calgary Catholic School District (CCSD) to take similar measures with their play equipment.

City parks remain open

While City-operated playgrounds are closing, Calgary’s parks are and will remain open. Calgary has 8,000 hectares of parks spaces, including a variety of natural areas and nearly 1,000 km of pathways.

To minimize the spread of germs, park users are asked to stay at least six feet apart and avoid touching equipment with hard surfaces as they are not disinfected regularly. Use of City park amenities is done at one’s own risk.

In addition to providing opportunity to get some exercise outdoors, City parks provide citizens with ample room to practice social distancing while still feeling connected with the natural environment.

Studies have shown that time in parks can increase immune function which helps to fight off infections and diseases. Being outside increases vitamin D and even a short walk through a park has been found to lower stress, anxiety and provide a boost of happiness.

Visit Calgary.ca/parks for more information.

Dr. Jack M. Mintz heads up Alberta Economic Recovery Council

 

Alberta

Alberta Next: Taxation

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A new video from the Alberta Next panel looks at whether Alberta should stop relying on Ottawa to collect our provincial income taxes. Quebec already does it, and Alberta already collects corporate taxes directly. Doing the same for personal income taxes could mean better tax policy, thousands of new jobs, and less federal interference. But it would take time, cost money, and require building new systems from the ground up.

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Alberta

Cross-Canada NGL corridor will stretch from B.C. to Ontario

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Keyera Corp.’s natural gas liquids facilities in Fort Saskatchewan. Photo courtesy Keyera Corp.

From the Canadian Energy Centre

By Will Gibson

Keyera ‘Canadianizes’ natural gas liquids with $5.15 billion acquisition

Sarnia, Ont., which sits on the southern tip of Lake Huron and peers across the St. Clair River to Michigan, is a crucial energy hub for much of the eastern half of Canada and parts of the United States.

With more than 60 industrial facilities including refineries and chemical plants that produce everything from petroleum, resins, synthetic rubber, plastics, lubricants, paint, cosmetics and food additives in the southwestern Ontario city, Mayor Mike Bradley admits the ongoing dialogue about tariffs with Canada’s southern neighbour hits close to home.

So Bradley welcomed the announcement that Calgary-based Keyera Corp. will acquire the majority of Plains American Pipelines LLP’s Canadian natural gas liquids (NGL) business, creating a cross-Canada NGL corridor that includes a storage hub in Sarnia.

“As a border city, we’ve been on the frontline of the tariff wars, so we support anything that helps enhance Canadian sovereignty and jobs,” says the long-time mayor, who was first elected in 1988.

The assets in Sarnia are a key piece of the $5.15 billion transaction, which will connect natural gas liquids from the growing Montney and Duvernay plays in B.C. and Alberta to markets in central Canada and the eastern U.S. seaboard.

Map courtesy Keyera Corp.

NGLs are hydrocarbons found within natural gas streams including ethane, propane and pentanes. They are important energy sources and used to produce a wide range of everyday items, from plastics and clothing to fuels.

Keyera CEO Dean Setoguchi cast the proposed acquisition as an act of repatriation.

“This transaction brings key NGL infrastructure under Canadian ownership, enhancing domestic energy capabilities and reinforcing Canada’s economic resilience by keeping value and decision-making closer to home,” Setoguchi told analysts in a June 17 call.

“Plains’ portfolio forms a fully integrated cross Canada NGL system connecting Western Canada supply to key demand centres across the Prairie provinces, Ontario and eastern U.S.,” he said.

“The system includes strategic hubs like Empress, Fort Saskatchewan and Sarnia – which provide a reliable source of Canadian NGL supply to extensive fractionation, storage, pipeline and logistics infrastructure.”

Martin King, RBN Energy’s managing director of North America Energy Market Analysis, sees Keyera’s ability to “Canadianize” its NGL infrastructure as improving the company’s growth prospects.

“It allows them to tap into the Duvernay and Montney, which are the fastest growing NGL plays in North America and gives them some key assets throughout the country,” said the Calgary-based analyst.

“The crown assets are probably the straddle plants in Empress, which help strip out the butane, ethane and other liquids for condensate. It also positions them well to serve the eastern half of the country.”

And that’s something welcomed in Sarnia.

“Having a Canadian source for natural gas would be our preference so we see Keyera’s acquisition as strengthening our region as an energy hub,” Bradley said.

“We are optimistic this will be good for our region in the long run.”

The acquisition is expected to close in the first quarter of 2026, pending regulatory approvals.

Meanwhile, the governments of Ontario and Alberta are joining forces to strengthen the economies of both regions, and the country, by advancing major infrastructure projects including pipelines, ports and rail.

A joint feasibility study is expected this year on how to move major private sector-led investments forward.

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