While Calgarians struggled with making ends meet during a pandemic lockdown which followed a protracted economic downturn, they were greeted by yet another massive tax increase from the city of Calgary in the mail this week.

To add insult to injury, Mayor Naheed Nenshi spent even more tax dollars to include a personal letter from him explaining how the tax hike really isn’t that bad. He even adds some bullshit in claiming that the city had found $750 million in savings. That is utter pap of course. The city has continued to greatly increase spending thus has to keep raising taxes. The math is way too clear on this one for folks to fall for Nenshi’s number juggling. I wonder if Facebook and Twitter will start marking the Mayor’s claims as being fake news soon?

Getting lectured by Canada’s highest paid mayor who enjoys not one but two tax-funded pensions has to be infuriating to Calgarians who are dipping into their meager retirement savings just to make the rent or mortgage payment this month. Unlike the vast majority of Calgarians, Nenshi hasn’t lost a nickle of compensation during this crisis. He is shielded from the impact of it and it has left him blind to the economic hardships that citizens are enduring.

Nenshi feels that Calgarians want and need to pay more taxes. They just need it explained to them by him. You can hear his condescending voice in your mind and envision him looking at the ceiling with his eyes closed while you read the garbage he wrote in the enclosed letter.

Election time is just over a year away now. Nenshi is finally only the ropes and he knows it.

With limits on contributions, Nenshi has had to get more creative in getting his campaign message out. Regular candidates have to spend tens of thousands on mailouts to citizens. Nenshi simply hits the taxpayers for it. I am sure we can look forward to a few more of these self-serving messages from the Mayor over the next year as he spends your money in hopes of retaining his platinum plated job for another four years.

Nenshi and council plan to commit the city to a “Green Line” to nowhere with a price tag which will land in the billions.

You can rest assured that there will be another huge tax increase in the mail this time next year. The letter accompanying it from the Mayor should be just as galling as the bill itself.