Born: Regina, SK
Highest Level of Education: Law degree, U of Sask., 2000
Work Prior to politics: Senior associate at Miller Thomson LLP; co-founder (with Nepean-Carleton MP Pierre Poilievre) and president of 3D Contact Inc., a polling and consulting firm
First elected: March 3, 2008 (re-elected once)
Constituency: Calgary-Acadia
Previously: Solicitor General and Minister of Public Security, 2011–2012; Minister of Housing & Urban Affairs, 2010–2011; Deputy Government House Leader, 2010–2011
Sworn in as Minister of Justice and Sol. Gen: May 8, 2012

Contact
www.justice.alberta.ca Email: ministryofjustice@gov.ab.ca

Responsibilities
Justice: Crime prevention; gang reduction strategy; child and spousal support; courts; prosecutions, laws and investigations
Solicitor General: Correctional services (e.g., jails, young offenders); public security (e.g., police, victim services)

REPORT CARD
Grade: C

If you were to evaluate Jonathan Denis based on legislature transcripts, you might conclude our Justice Minister is somehow both a tough-on-crime zealot and a soft-on-crime “pinko.” A less partisan filter creates a more nuanced picture. Denis says his priority is improving access to justice. So far he’s overseen the opening of a new remand centre (to reduce overcrowding), introduced differentiated traffic fines (to relieve backlogged courts) and proposed that more minor offences be diverted to community service or restorative justice programs (more effective; less costly). Slow courts have real consequences: In 2013 Denis apologized to a woman whose sexual assault case was dismissed due to delays. All of this progress, however, may be short-lived. This spring Denis axed electronic monitoring (ankle bracelets) and the Safe Communities Innovation Fund. The cuts save money but shunt work back onto jails and courts. Denis also doesn’t seem too worried about due process; Alberta’s beefed-up civil forfeiture laws still assume guilt, guards say the new remand centre opened despite safety issues, and the minister himself is the subject of a complaint before the Law Society of Alberta for suggesting a sentence was too lenient. #

Varsity, T3A

Lethbridge
Population: (2012) 12,200
Ages: (2011, % of total pop.) 0–19: 18%; 20–34: 26%; 35-64: 36%; 65+: 20%
Marital Status: (2006, ages 15+) Married: 50%; separated/divorced: 9%; widowed: 6%; never married: 35%
Housing: (2006) Rent: 32%; own: 68%
Geography: Plateau north of the Bow River valley
Education: No certification: 12%; high school diploma: 22%; apprenticeship/trade: 5%; post-secondary certificate: 20%; postsecondary degree: 41%
Major employers: University of Calgary, Energy Resources Conservation Board, SMART Technologies
Local legends: Arlene Dickinson of CBC’s Dragon’s Den, CEO of Venture Publishing

Varsity’s design is unique in Calgary, inspired as it is by the Radburn Plan—an American vision for the ideal motor-age community. Following the 1929 original, Radburn, New Jersey, Varsity segregates people and cars, its cul-de-sacs making way for networks of walkways crisscrossing behind the rectangular homes. Landscaped backyards abut narrow sidewalks lined with mature trees and lit at night with their own streetlights, and few fences separate pedestrians from the wide lots and elaborate decks, allowing for a village-like intimacy. Some sidewalks lead to what feel like secret playgrounds and skating rinks hidden away from the bustling city.

Car culture inspired Varsity’s conception in the early 1960s, but the train will dictate the neighbourhood’s future. Approved in 2004, the City of Calgary’s Transit Oriented Development Framework includes guidelines for high-density mixed-use developments around transit hubs. A five-building complex with high-rise residential towers and a professional tower will be built in Varsity’s north end, opposite the Dalhousie LRT station. In 2009 the City approved the Brentwood Station Area Redevelopment Plan, which includes two 18-storey condominium towers on the community’s southeast edge. Meanwhile, just south of Varsity, across 32nd Avenue, the University of Calgary plans to develop hundreds of acres of its West Campus into a residential and commercial hub for students. Change is imminent and many residents embrace the value of high-density development, confident that their community’s Civic Affairs Committee—on which some volunteers work almost full-time hours—will ensure the City of Calgary safeguards Varsity’s inimitable character.