Calgary’s new city council was sworn in on Wednesday evening, an interesting assemblage of 10 rookie councillors, four councillors returning from the last council and a mayor returning from the 2017-2021 council.
But, writes long-time Calgary Herald columnist, Catherine Ford, the new council doesn’t have enough diversity, equity, or inclusion (DEI).
“Of the 15 members of council, only two are women, and one of those — Kim Tyers — is also one of the few visible minorities this time around,” wrote Ford on Wednesday. “Returning Ward 5 member Raj Dhaliwal is another, and Harrison Clark, the new councillor for Ward 9, is also half-Pakistani on his father’s side.”
I cannot confirm Ford has been reporting on Calgary city councils for as long as 75 years, but she writes that the outgoing council has been “replaced by a 1950s version of itself, mostly male, mostly white, mostly conservative.”
Ford defended defeated Mayor Jyoti Gondek.
“Gondek has endured misogyny, racism, sexism, threats and anger throughout her tenure,” wrote Ford. “She stood tall in the face of it all. She was gracious in defeat.”
I agree Gondek’s concession speech was gracious and will also say she managed council meetings masterfully.
But standing tall? She led the charge against the wishes of thousands of Calgarians when she and her gang, giving the middle finger to democracy, spear headed the approval of blanket upzoning. She and her gang declared a climate emergency; she refused to attend the annual menorah lighting at city hall; the single use bag bylaw, et al.
Ford is entitled to voice her opinion as much as we all are, but I would remind her the woke/DEI experiment of the last five or so years has failed miserably as the common sense approach to problem solving has returned to clearer minds.
To suggest that white male conservatives cannot reach beyond misogynist 1950’s beliefs in this year of 2025 is ludicrous. An election statistic that is likely difficult to confirm is that many women and visible minorities voted for many of the male members of council.
The City of Calgary must be seen as and managed as a corporation and is in fact the largest one in the city. City Hall should not be seen as a woke ideological culture centre, neither by administration nor council.
The job of city council is to keep taxes low (a failure of the last council), fix infrastructure, pave roads, keep our streets safe, treat everyone as equals (even white male conservatives), plan growth with common sense, not a blanket approach; it's a long list.
And so, back to Wednesday’s swearing-in ceremony.
Jeromy Farkas, Calgary’s thirty-eighth mayor, had a message for the new council.
“Do your due diligence, read your material, be prepared when you come to meetings, because ultimately, you’re only as good as the information that’s before us.”
Farkas added tackling the budget will be job Number 1.
“We’re inheriting year four of a four-year process,” he said. “We’re going to be coming into that with some sharpened pencils, as well as some greater advocacy for some of the needs that we heard during the election.”
A word to council: your new jobs start now, as does the 2029 civic election. Calgarians are watching you and keeping score.