Sweetgrass and CFWE news briefs - Dec. 3, 2015

Edmonton MP appointed as parliamentary secretary for heritage

December 2, 2015. 

Edmonton Centre MP Randy Boissonnault has been appointed parliamentary secretary to the minister of Canadian heritage, Mélanie Joly. “This portfolio encourages Canadians to tell their stories to each other and to the world.  I look forward to working with a dynamic team across the country to share these stories,” said Boissonnault. He will be assisting Joly with work on files such as celebrating Canada`s 150th birthday, restoring funding to CBC/Radio-Canada, increasing the funding for the Canada Council for the Arts, and promoting linguistic duality across the country. In another appointment, Labrador MP Yvonne Jones has taken on the position of parliamentary secretary to Carolyn Bennett, minister of Indigenous and northern affairs. Jones was one of eight Indigenous candidates elected under the Liberal banner in October.

December 2, 2015.

The City of Calgary and Hopewell Residential have formed an alliance to help meet Calgary’s affordable housing challenge. Twenty-four Hopewell Residential properties in the southeast communities of Mahogany and Copperfield will be available to homebuyers using the Attainable Homes system. Attainable Homes is a non-profit corporation owned by the city that helps working-class Calgarians purchase a home. Those who want to use the system must qualify for a mortgage but make less than $80,000, or $90,000 if they have children. Mayor Naheed Nenshi said that for the $2 million seed money the city put into Attainable Homes, it has now helped over 700 people purchase a property. The 24 properties in the southeast are not yet complete. In Copperfield, 14 townhomes will be available in the new year through the program. In Mahogany, the Sandgate project is a 306-home condo. Ten of the units will be sold through Attainable Housing