Calgary Daily Digest — March 10, 2026

Budget watch: Calgary city council on Tuesday (March 10, 2026) set six high-level priorities for the 2027–30 budget — infrastructure, safety, transit, community livability, balanced growth and trusted government — but some councillors (Andre Chabot, Myke Atkinson, Jennifer Wyness, DJ Kelly) say the outcomes are too broad and lacking specifics. This matters because city staff will use these broad goals to build the budget, with cost updates due in May, another review in July and full debate in November; councillors worry this could mean big property tax asks if everything is funded.

Breaking: RCMP in High River are responding to a bomb threat at Notre Dame Collegiate (High River is about 70 km south of Calgary); all students and staff were evacuated and police are doing a thorough search — the school will share more updates as they come.

Transit fairness: Mayor Jeromy Farkas has asked Alberta for a new, multi-year funding framework after Calgary’s low-income transit pass cost the city $58 million in 2025 while the province covered about $6.3 million. The pass uses a sliding scale (95%, 65%, 50% discounts); Farkas sent a letter to Minister Jason Nixon on Feb. 12 seeking predictable provincial support and says he hasn’t yet had a firm response, while the province says Budget 2026 holds $16 million for the program.

Trade boost: Exports from Canada’s West Coast hit records in 2025 — 170.4 million tonnes of cargo vs. 158.4 in 2024 — and crude oil shipments rose 95% to 24.4 million metric tonnes, largely via the Trans Mountain pipeline. The pipeline expansion (completed May 2024) and big federal investment (nearly $35 billion total) helped producers reach markets like China and South Korea, a trend that may strengthen with higher global oil prices tied to the Iran war.

Safety alert: Two separate early-morning pedestrian collisions in Calgary on Tuesday left three people hospitalized — at about 7 a.m. a child was hit in a marked crosswalk on Taradale Drive NE (broken leg) and the driver fled in a white four-door sedan, and about an hour later an 18-year-old changing a tire on Nose Hill Drive NW was struck and sustained life-altering injuries (a passenger had minor injuries). Police say the second driver cooperated and investigators are examining factors like possible sun glare; officers remind drivers to stop safely and use flashers during roadside repairs.