That’s a wrap.
The 2021-2025 edition of Calgary City Council is in the books with the adjournment of its final meeting on Wednesday.
It’s safe to say this edition of Calgary City Council will go down as the most divided ever.
Calgary is the largest "conservative" city in Canada, repeatedly sending more Conservative politicians to Ottawa and to Edmonton than all the other parties in the city combined.
And yet, the outgoing council was overflowing with more left-wing Liberal- and NDP-supporting councillors than those of the Conservative persuasion.
It could be because civic candidates do not need to identify the political party with which they identify, so the electorate doesn't know and maybe they vote for the candidates with biggest smiles, I don’t know.
That was the reason municipal parties were introduced this year, and I do know it was a massive failure, only resulting in the parties that identified as conservative fighting amongst themselves, as conservatives always do.
I feel you asking me, "who were the left-wingers on city council?"
The measure for that is performance.
Of all the mishaps performed by this outgoing council, including declaring a climate emergency; refusing to attend a Minora lighting ceremony; cancelling traditional fireworks celebrations; passing and then repealing the extremely poorly-thought-out plastic bag and single use bylaw; bungling a massive water main break that put the entire city on water restrictions; renaming the heart of the city from historic Fort Calgary, to the Confluence and more, too many to name, when council ignored what Calgarians wanted or told Calgarians what they wanted.
Of all of these bumbled and fumbled performances, the most egregious was the blanket upzoning bylaw.
The bylaw proposed to eliminate all areas of the city zoned solely for single-family homes.
So, my measure of right vs left is who voted in favour of blanket upzoning and who voted against.
In favour, on the left were: Mayor Gondek; Cllrs. Walcott; Penner; Mian; Dhaliwal; Pootsman; Wyness; Spencer; and Carra.
On the right and voting against were: Cllrs. Sharp; Chu; Chabot; McLean; Demong; and Wong.
Some councillors may dispute where I have placed them, but the voting roll call doesn’t lie. (If any of you disagree, you know where to find me.)
The blanket zoning fiasco gets top spot because it pushed aside democracy, was presented under false pretenses and was influenced by a bribe from the federal Liberal government.
At the largest and longest public hearing in Calgary history, more than 700 public speakers and more than 6,000 written submissions let their thoughts be known, with a combined 70%+ telling council they were against the bylaw.
In a dramatic demonstration of denouncing democracy and giving the middle finger to Calgarians, council voted 9 to 6 (as above) to implement the bylaw.
The bylaw allows up to 16 individual homes of varying sizes on a single-family lot, leading to neighbours fighting each other, making parking in front of their homes impossible, putting stress on infrastructure and more.
Absolutely worst of all, it has threatened the home equity value of thousands of Calgarians who worked long and hard to buy a home in the hope that home would be a source of funds in their retirement years.
A single-family home next door to a 16-unit behemoth is not worth the same as a single-family home next door to another single-family home.
The bylaw has also made issuing multi-family home permits a source of funds for the city.
The Liberals’ bribe was $228 million, payable to the City of Calgary for eliminating areas zoned for single-family homes and bonus money for issuing multi-family home building permits. Not for building the homes, just issuing permits.
That’s why mega high-density projects, such as on the former site of the Viscount Bennett school, readily get approval from the Calgary planning department. Earlier this year, a $22.8 million bonus was paid to the city for issuing multi-family building permits.
The good news is there will be, at the least, seven new councillors after the October 20 election, replacing at least five councillors who voted in favour of blanket upzoning. They are Spencer, Walcott, Mian, Carra, and Pootsman. If Mayor Gondek is unseated, it will be six of the nine. (Chu and Demong are also not running.)
It adds up to the most consequential election ever held in Calgary and if you’re a voter the total sum is up to you.
Ask your candidates about their political affiliations; where they worked before deciding to run; what type of home they live in; where they live; whether they support blanket upzoning and more.
Put them on the spot.
They are applying for a job, and you are the boss.
