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“It’s a classic smokescreen,” Rick Donkers, a spokesman for the group opposed to the plan (and a former colleague of mine), told the CBC. “This is a diversionary tactic: ‘We won’t talk about the weaknesses of this plan. Instead, we’ll talk about the bad people.’ And yes, because we’ve been vocal, Ready to Engage has been the centre of their attack.”

If this is, indeed, a smokescreen, it is the first time I’ve ever heard of the city attempting anything like it. This is hardly a uniquely contentious proposal, and inventing death threats and assaults would be a pretty elaborate way to avoid town-hall meetings.

In fact, the details of the actual transit route seem, frankly, unambitious. The most controversial point seems to involve widening a major roadway and installing two bus-only lines, with no reduction in the existing road for traffic. Residents in most cities would be utterly baffled by this level of opposition. It’s not even a light rail line, God forbid. Just a bus route.

But then, to focus on the details would be to ignore the fundamental nature of Calgary’s unique flavour of NIMBYism. All cities have their own variety, and Calgary is terrified of other kinds of people — and poor people, in particular.

This is a segregated city in which social classes divvy themselves up by quadrant, albeit imperfectly. A depressing amount of information can be gleaned about a Calgarian by whether she puts a SW or an NE in her address.