iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Serene Yew @serene.pixeltree.ca · 15/07/2026

Mayor @jeromyyyc.bsky.social wanted it both ways. At the repeal hearing, he said the city was truly represented in an act of "local democracy," but also admitted that we are ignoring those who "may not have ever had a seat at the table." #yyc #yyccc

1175

Serene Yew @serene.pixeltree.ca · 03/06/2026

TFW $2 billion hits different once you find out it's measured in trees. #yyc #yyccc

072

Serene Yew @serene.pixeltree.ca · 02/06/2026

Cllr @mykeatkinson.bsky.social was quick to correct the misinformation! R-CG has MORE tree requirements than RC-1 and RC-2. It also requires a landscaping plan, where the lower density land uses do not.

1145

Serene Yew @serene.pixeltree.ca · 02/06/2026

Cllr Jamieson says in IPC today that "density is the enemy of tree canopy". #yyc #yyccc

452

Serene Yew @serene.pixeltree.ca · 02/06/2026

R-CG rezonings cost less council time per permit than other rezonings, and the gap got bigger as R-CG hearings became routine.

Grouped column chart, "Council time per approved permit, by council term and district." For each term (2017–2021, 2021–2025, 2025–2029 in progress) a red bar (R-CG) sits beside a grey bar (other districts). R-CG bars are shorter than other-district bars and the gap widens over time. Y-axis to ~$1,400. Footnote: calgarylens.ca/housing.

171

Serene Yew @serene.pixeltree.ca · 02/06/2026

It costs ~$674 of council deliberation time per approved permit, averaged over 951 permits, from 2018–26. However, the costs are going up.

Line chart, "Council time per approved development permit, by year," 2018–2026. A violet dashed line of cost per approved permit ranges from about $460 to $1,400, ending near $1,400 in 2026; window-wide ≈$674 per permit. Footnote: calgarylens.ca/housing.

172

Serene Yew @serene.pixeltree.ca · 02/06/2026

Why does this matter? What rezoning actually removed was a whole approval step. the rezoning itself took a median ~5.3 months at council. the building permit (~2 months) didn't change at all. So the time it saved was the council step. This saves money for the taxpayer as well as for the homebuyer.

Combo chart, "What it costs, and what it buys, by month," 2018–2026. Stacked bars = amendments heard per month by outcome (teal approved, red defeated, grey pending); a violet line = fully-loaded council-time cost per month on the right axis ($0–$60k). Approvals dominate. Footnote: calgarylens.ca/housing.

184

Serene Yew @serene.pixeltree.ca · 02/06/2026

Once R-CG became a base district, you could build a rowhouse without rezoning first. R-CG permits went 180 (2023) to 2,746 (2025) while total permits citywide barely moved.

Area-and-line chart, "Development permits to build R-CG infill, by month." A teal filled area (R-CG infill) climbs from near zero in 2022 to ~250–340/month by 2026; a grey line (all development permits citywide) stays roughly flat at ~500–700/month. Dashed markers: rezoning adopted May 2024, in effect Aug 2024, repeal passed Apr 2026. Footnote: calgarylens.ca/housing.

140

Serene Yew @serene.pixeltree.ca · 02/06/2026

The is tabling its quarterly report on rezoning today at IPC. Here's a look at what citywide rezoning did for housing in Calgary. And then, a moment of silence for what we've lost. #yyc #yyccc

Column chart, "Units enabled by citywide rezoning, by quarter." Teal bars: Q2 2025 = 128, Q3 = 257, Q4 = 401, Q1 2026 = 247, with a black running-total line rising to 1,033. Y-axis 0–1,200 units. Footnote: calgarylens.ca/housing.

2123

Serene Yew @serene.pixeltree.ca · 29/05/2026

In spite of @jeromyyyc.bsky.social's claim that local area plans are the way to go (instead of citywide R-CG rezoning), he still voted against 4 planning applications that the City's own planners recommended approving as consistent with the community's local area/area redevelopment plan. #yyccc

1249

Serene Yew @serene.pixeltree.ca · 28/05/2026

Here's what the most expensive decision making body in Calgary is doing with our taxpayer dollars. All because some councillors can't bring their own water bottles - something we expect from every kindergarten child. #yyc #yyccc

1163

Serene Yew @serene.pixeltree.ca · 28/05/2026

Cllr Chabot, says he wants data consolidated "into one portal… as opposed to trying to navigate a whole bunch of different reports." While sitting in front of a gigantic binder of papers. Why are people who aren't going to be here for the climate wars making decisions for us who are? #yyc #yyccc

153

Serene Yew @serene.pixeltree.ca · 28/05/2026

Cllr Jamieson: "It's time we focus City Hall on delivering reliable infrastructure, safe for communities, and value for the taxpayer." And that's why we spent over $6000/hr talking about spending $25k to deliver water bottles to your office. #yyx #yyccc

0218

Serene Yew @serene.pixeltree.ca · 28/05/2026

Cllr Rob Ward: "Every dollar raised privately is a dollar that the city doesn't need to spend." However, I guess that doesn't apply to the $25k it's going to cost taxpayers to deliver him water bottles. #yyc #yyccc

3127

Serene Yew @serene.pixeltree.ca · 28/05/2026

You don't need to "believe" in climate change for it to be real. It's not a unicorn. Here are the days of smoke observed in Calgary since 1990. #yyc #yyccc

Bar chart that shows wildfire smoke hours per year observed at Calgary (YYC) from 1990 to 2025. Values were low and near zero through the early 2000s, with a dashed line indicating the 1990–present mean of ~73 hours/year. Starting around 2015, smoke hours increased sharply, reaching peaks of over 500 hours/year by the mid-2020s.

0299

Serene Yew @serene.pixeltree.ca · 13/05/2026

Of the 694 recorded motions for the current Calgary council term, how are the voting blocs lining up? Data shows that Kim Tyers (Ward 1) and Mike Jamieson (Ward 12) vote the same way 96% of the time. Explore the data: calgarylens.ca/council/alig... #yyc #yyccc

Network diagram showing voting alignment among Calgary city council members. Nodes representing councillors — including Pantazopoulos, Johnston, Ward, McLean, Tyers, Jamieson, Chabot, Wyness, Atkinson, Schmidt, Dhaliwal, Kelly, Clark, Yule, and Farkas — are arranged in a circle and connected by lines indicating how often they vote together. Blue nodes and orange/brown nodes appear to form two distinct clusters, suggesting partisan or ideological groupings. Source: calgarylens.ca

31111

Serene Yew @serene.pixeltree.ca · 08/05/2026

The Smith cabinet at its May 2025 reshuffle has the highest share of caucus on a supplement (55%): 27 cabinet members out of 49 UCP MLAs, costing about $5.0M/yr in cabinet salaries alone. By contrast, Notley's 12-minister cabinet was the smallest and cheapest in the modern era.

Bar chart showing total annualized cabinet salary cost across Alberta governments, with cabinet count and percentage of governing caucus above each bar. PC government (purple): Redford peak — 30 ministers (49%), $5.7M; Prentice — 20 ministers (29%), $3.9M. NDP government (gold): Notley initial — 12 ministers (22%), $2.3M. UCP government (teal): Kenney initial — 23 ministers (37%), $4.3M; Smith inaugural — 25 ministers (40%), $4.5M; Smith May 2025 — 27 ministers (55%), $5.0M. Source: Alberta Legislative Assembly Office remuneration tables and Wikipedia ministry rosters. Via albertalens.ca.

11911

Serene Yew @serene.pixeltree.ca · 08/05/2026

Alberta's political pay ladder, 2026: Premier — $227K Cabinet Minister — $222K Non-Cabinet MLA — $158K Average Alberta worker — $71K

Bar chart comparing 2026–2027 total compensation for Alberta MLA roles versus the average Alberta worker ($70,773). Each bar shows base indemnity (teal), role supplement (purple), and retirement + benefits (hatched). Totals: Premier $227,156; Cabinet Minister with portfolio $222,113; Speaker of the Legislature $222,113; Leader of the Official Opposition $222,113; Deputy Speaker/Chair of Committees $190,201; Cabinet Minister without portfolio $187,008; Leader of a recognized opposition party $187,008; Deputy Chair/Opposition House Leader $174,238; Government House Leader $171,045; Chief Government Whip $171,045; Backbench MLA $158,275. Source: Alberta Legislative Assembly Office and StatsCan. Via albertalens.ca.

23120

Serene Yew @serene.pixeltree.ca · 08/05/2026

Calgary's Downtown Commercial Core is on track to generate $344M in property tax. This is 7.3% of the citywide total, from a single neighbourhood. The Free Fare Zone costs ~$0 to keep. Why are suburb councillors making decisions for downtown communities? #yyc #yyccc #handsoffourfreefarezone

3D map of Calgary showing property tax revenue by neighbourhood. Buildings are extruded to show relative tax contribution — taller means more property tax. A single dark navy tower in the downtown core dwarfs all surrounding neighbourhoods. Colour indicates land use: dark navy/blue for non-residential, yellow/gold for residential. Surrounding areas like Airdrie, Chestermere, and Cochrane are visible on the map for geographic context.

33117

Serene Yew @serene.pixeltree.ca · 23/03/2026

Calgary's rezoning public hearing is today. Only 0.2% of Calgarians submitted written comments. This map shows who's being heard — and who isn't. rezoning.pixeltree.ca #yyccc #yyc #opendata

Map of Calgary showing public submissions to the March 23, 2026 rezoning public hearing by community. Submissions are heavily concentrated in inner-city and higher-income western communities, shown in yellow-green. Large areas of northeast Calgary with lower median incomes, shown in purple, have almost no submissions. Orange outlines mark R-CG parcels affected by the proposed bylaw. Median household income ranges from $28,107 (purple) to $73,534 (yellow).

2176