Election 2025: Campaign Roundup - Day 4

Welcome to Day 4 of our Calgary 2025 Campaign Roundup!

With the 2025 municipal election underway, we'll be bringing you daily updates on all the policy proclamations, platform promises, and political point-scoring from the campaign trail.

As always, our work is entirely funded by donations from residents just like you, so if you appreciate the updates, please consider making a one-off donation or signing up as a supporter for just $10 a month - that's just 36 cents per email!

Campaign Roundup - Day 4:

• Calgary’s Green Line LRT is moving ahead in the southeast, but the downtown alignment remains unresolved. Mayoral candidates weighed in - Jyoti Gondek said she is awaiting results of the City’s functional study but continues to argue tunnelling is best. Jeromy Farkas wants consultations before deciding, Jeff Davison supports a cut-and-cover method over elevation, and Brian Thiessen backs an underground route, suggesting leverage in the 2027 provincial election. Sonya Sharp emphasized engagement with downtown businesses to ensure the project is done right.
  
  
• Mayoral candidate Sonya Sharp appeared on the Ryan Jespersen podcast. She positions herself as the “leader of the opposition on Council,” and says her experience gives her an advantage.
  
  
• Six of the nine Mayoral candidates debated Wednesday evening in a relatively cordial forum that focused on public safety and the challenge of keeping up with rapid growth and aging infrastructure. Candidates Sonya Sharp and Jeromy Farkas emphasized repairing existing infrastructure first, while others such as Jeff Davison and Jyoti Gondek highlighted partnerships, technology, and cost efficiency to manage long-term needs. A lighter moment came when most contenders said they would vote for Jaeger Gustafson if not themselves, praising his creative ideas despite his outsider status.
  
  
• Beyond the five perceived frontrunners, four other candidates are vying for the Mayor’s chair. Grant Prior, an oilfield worker, brands himself as a “regular guy” advocating for working-class voices with policies like taxing foreign speculators. Sarah Elder, founder of Madame Premier, is positioning herself as an independent alternative using digital campaigning to reach disillusioned voters. Jaeger Gustafson, an acupuncturist and educator, is running a no-donations campaign focused on bold ideas like a tuition-free university, while Larry Heather is once again running on a socially conservative platform.
  
  
• The Sprawl has compiled a calendar of upcoming municipal election forums and debates, many of which will be livestreamed on YouTube. Events include mayoral debates at Contemporary Calgary, Vivo, the Central Library, Knox United Church, and the Jack Singer Concert Hall, as well as numerous ward-level forums across the city. Past events have also been catalogued, and the list will continue to be updated as new details emerge.

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