Election 2025: Campaign Roundup - Day 5

Welcome to Day 5 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 5:

• For the first time, Calgarians will see political parties listed on municipal ballots, with three groups - A Better Calgary Party, Communities First, and the Calgary Party - competing alongside independents. A Better Calgary Party is openly focused on electing more conservatives but failed to reach a truce with Communities First, raising concerns about splitting the right-leaning vote. While A Better Calgary emphasizes ideological alignment, Communities First positions itself as centrist, leaving many voters still uncertain about what each party represents ahead of the October 20th election.
  
  
• Premier Danielle Smith issued a mandate letter to her Municipal Affairs Minister calling for reforms to local governance, including limits on property tax hikes. Some candidates blasted the move as provincial interference, with Brian Thiessen saying Smith should run for mayor if she wants direct influence, and incumbent Jyoti Gondek accusing the Province of withholding $437 million owed to the City. Others, like Jeromy Farkas and Jeff Davison, were more receptive, with Farkas saying the mandate could help if paired with more provincial funding and support and Davison noting it aligns with the concerns he has heard from voters.
  
  
• Mayoral candidate Brian Thiessen, a lawyer and former Police Commission Chair, spoke to Alberta Primetime about his campaign. He says it is centered on fiscal transparency, housing, and public safety. He proposes negotiating a new City Charter to keep more property tax revenue in Calgary, a “3-3-3-1” housing approval process - three days for a housing rental, three weeks for housing approval, three months for multi-family units, and a year for complex projects. Thiessen says the Calgary Party, which is running a full slate of candidates, offers a centrist, team-based approach to fixing what he calls the city’s most dysfunctional Council.
  
  
• Communities First is hosting a town hall on October 2nd from 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm at the Parkhill Community Association. The event offers an opportunity to meet their candidates and ask questions. Registration is available online.

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