HANNAFORD: Do Calgary's new councillors have it in them to repeal open zoning?

When Calgary’s new city council is sworn in, it should start by repealing the deeply unpopular blanket-rezoning bylaw — and facing up to the chaos that decision created. Thus political strategist Patrick Poilievre, a four-year veteran of Calgary's City Hall and tonight’s guest on Hannaford..“It was disappointing to see council pass that bylaw,” Poilievre says in tonight’s episode. “Now it’s going to have to be rescinded, and it’s going to be messy. How are you going to deal with all these pending applications? All the properties that have already been rezoned? And what about those places that already have a monstrosity sitting next door — something that’s destroyed their parking, their garbage access, their property values?”He called it the direct result of a council that refused to listen to Calgarians… “It’s a shame it happened the way it did.”.The rezoning debate did indeed dominate much of the last council’s term. Despite thousands of written and in-person submissions opposing the plan – a record number with nearly 90 per cent against in writing and about 70 per cent against in person – the bylaw was forced through by councillors dazzled by the promise of more than a quarter of a billion dollars under the federal Housing Accelerator Fund. Calgarians who had packed public hearings, left believing City Hall was working against them, not for them.Now, Poilievre said, the new council will have to unwind it all: pending applications, half-built projects, legal challenges, and property disputes. “It’s not as simple as just flipping a switch,” he warned. “You can’t undo zoning decisions without dealing with all the consequences.” Even so, he believes repeal is both necessary and inevitable. “The previous council imposed something Calgarians overwhelmingly rejected. To restore trust, this council has to show it’s willing to listen.”But beyond rezoning, Poilievre said the biggest issue facing Calgary’s new mayor and council will be taxes. “City spending went up by about 30 per cent during the last term,” he said. “That’s an incredible increase, and for what? Services are worse than ever, and businesses are leaving the city because they can’t afford to operate downtown anymore.”.He described the city’s fiscal situation as “unsustainable,” pointing to major projects like the arena deal and the Green Line LRT as evidence of a council that spent freely while ignoring taxpayers. “If this council doesn’t get spending under control, the consequences will be serious – for property owners, for businesses, and for the city’s future competitiveness.” For Poilievre, the question isn’t whether Calgarians are taxed too much – that’s a given – but whether City Hall is accountable to those who pay the bills.“The last council treated the budget like monopoly money. That has to end.”Yet for all the fiscal and policy challenges ahead, Poilievre said the deeper problem is one of leadership. “For years now, real power in Calgary hasn’t rested with elected officials,” he said. “It’s shifted to the administration – to the City Manager’s office – and council has gone along with it.” He described a city bureaucracy that is “unresponsive, unaccountable, and insulated from the people it’s supposed to serve.” The 311 system, he said, acts as “a firewall between residents and their councillors,” preventing meaningful contact.“Many Calgarians can’t even get a response from their representative,” he said. “That’s not leadership. That’s avoidance.”.Fixing that culture, Poilievre argued, is the real test of the new mayor and council. “Leadership has to come from the elected side again. Council needs to take back control – over the budget, over administration, over the direction of the city.” Until that happens, he suggested, changing faces at City Hall won’t change much else.“The bureaucracy will keep running the city the way it wants to. What we need now is a council with the courage to wrestle that control back.”It’s a tall order, but Poilievre remains hopeful. “It’s not as simple as just electing a new council,” he said. “But I’m optimistic this one will do better than the last.”Hannaford airs at 7:00pm tonight.* Finally, in case you missed it on the night (I did, to my shame) Landon Johnston, who led the petition drive to recall Jyoti Gondek as mayor last year, now joins council himself. With more than 9,000 votes cast for him out of 29,000, he defeated six other candidates to represent Ward 14 as an independent. Congratulations to Mr. Johnston... 'Fiat justitia' – "Justice is done."

HANNAFORD: Do Calgary's new councillors have it in them to repeal open zoning?

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