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Also, a motion has no actual impact, compared to a bill that changes regulations or laws.

“A lot of what we do here is symbolic, and yet hopefully leads the province and municipalities to a better place,” Hehr told the Herald.

It’s largely a political message, said Hehr, who will run as a Liberal for Calgary-Centre in this fall’s election. Ideally, any provincial debate prods city councillors into action, he said.

Councillors have tried inching forward on a few fronts. They will vote this spring on a plan to end zoning restrictions on suites in the four most central of Calgary’s 14 wards.

City officials bill the new suite safety campaign, which council’s planning committee passed Wednesday, as a “co-ordinated and concerted 18-month effort to convert as many existing illegal and likely unsafe suites into legal and safe suites as possible.”

It includes a secondary suite registry that would list all suites that have the required permits and permission to occupy from the city. Those suites would also receive a display sticker to inform renters that the suite meets building codes.

During the city’s suite safety pilot project, city administration found that onerous city processes dissuaded owners of illegal suites from trying to legalize them.

As part of the campaign, Calgary would exempt secondary suites from the need for a development permit, though only where they are already allowed. According to the secondary suites working group, this exemption would give homeowners extra incentive to legalize their suites. The suite application process would also take less than an hour, instead of weeks.