Calgary city council will debate a motion that could see mayoral candidate and Coun. Jeromy Farkas and banned from holding election events outside his own ward..Passage of the motion would force Farkas to seek permission from sitting councillors to hold events in their individual wards, making up the vast majority of the city..If accepted, the motion would put a large legal obstacle in Farkas’ plan to run for mayor in October, 2021..The motion did fail at committee on Tuesday by a vote of 6-4 but will still go before the whole council on Monday..Over the past three years, Farkas has been the foil of Mayor Naheed Nenshi and other members of the council – and this motion could be their revenge. Farkas is regularly on the dissenting end of majority votes. He earned the ire of other councillors when he unilaterally refused to accept a pension after his attempt to cancel them was blocked by most of the rest of the council..Farkas is the only sitting councillor officially running for mayor, meaning that the motion would likely apply primarily to him. The motion would not restrict incumbent Mayor Nenshi should he seek another term..“Failure to follow the Policy could lead to a complaint about the Councillor to the Integrity.Commissioner. Where a Councillor is uncertain as to the scope and application of the.Policy, they are encouraged to seek confidential advice from the Ethics Advisor,” reads the motion..“An Outside Councillor must inform the Representing Councillor when attending a.Local or Ward-Specific Public Event.. POLL: Many Albertans say they will ignore Christmas COVID lockdown .“An Outside Councillor will not attend a City or Ward Governance Private Event.without the permission of the Representing Councillor.”.The same rules were also put in place in 2016 prior to the 2017 election..In council on Tuesday, Farkas asked if a councillor could deny permission to attend a private function in an outside ward..Ethics adviser Emily Laidlaw said yes, but she can’t see why that would happen if a person’s been invited..“This unfairly targets city councillors running for mayor,” said Farkas adding the rules would be unconstitutional..Coun. Ward Sutherland one of Farkas’ foes on council, said the motion has already become politicized..“We’re now in the world of, ‘I will question every single word and interpret it any way I want,'” he told council..Coun. Druh Farrell said: “We’re talking about common courtesy… which would be lovely if it was more common.”.Dave Naylor is the News Editor of the Western Standard.dnaylor@westernstandardonline.com.TWITTER: Twitter.com/nobby7694
