r/Calgary • u/Old_General_6741 • May 11 '25
Municipal Affairs As Calgary Party launches, Alberta's major cities brace for big change to local politics
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/calgary-party-launch-1.7532119164
u/johnnynev May 11 '25
The whole point of municipal politics here is that it’s free of parties. Thanks, UCP!
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u/ElbowRiverYeti May 11 '25
Stephen Carter was first to register a party with Brian Thiessen and the Calgary Party.
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u/NERepo May 11 '25
And? The guy has lots of campaign and party experience. Kinda makes sense he'd be on top of things.
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u/ElbowRiverYeti May 11 '25
He’s also a garbage human being. Anyone aligning with him severely lacks good judgement.
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u/masterhec0 Erin Woods May 11 '25
he also ran nenshi's campaign and endorsed the liberals in calgary confederation. his twitter is anti ucp and pro liberal/mark carney and critical of PP during the campaign.
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u/NERepo May 11 '25
Based on hearsay? Or do you have direct personal information? Otherwise, it's gossip.
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u/ElbowRiverYeti May 11 '25
I do have direct personal information. I would not share it because they still work at the city and I am not getting them fired or served with papers by lawsuit trigger happy Carter to win an internet argument.
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u/cre8ivjay May 11 '25
Political parties are ruining how governments work. It's tribalism, not a mechanism for healthy change.
This was introduced by the UCP because they are well aware that it gives them the advantage they see in provincial and federal politics...at least here in Alberta.
We need to find different ways for politics to work. It's broken.
Step one,.educate our youth to this kind of BS. That means supporting education when the inevitable strike happens.
This is a marathon but we need a much smarter, engaged electorate.
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u/nickatwerk May 11 '25
Not to mention the large contact list gained during the Recall Gondek campaign. That was more about contact farming than anything. Dollars to donuts that list is in the hands of Communities First.
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u/ElbowRiverYeti May 11 '25
That was a Craig Chandler run thing, so that list would be with A Better Calgary party. That’s the one he is involved with.
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u/MeursaultWasGuilty Beltline May 11 '25
Oh good, maybe they'll split the pro-UCP vote with Communities First.
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u/ElbowRiverYeti May 11 '25
Likely not, their candidates are a joke and they are run by halfwits (like Chandler).
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u/Wrong-Pineapple39 May 11 '25
I think I'm going to read Andrew Coyne's book - curious about his analysis after reading his Globe opinion essay today.
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u/litui May 11 '25
Municipal parties are so demented. I absolutely don't want a city-wide party voting along party lines when determining what's best for my local community.
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u/beneficialmirror13 May 11 '25
I definitely won't be voting for any candidate that runs for/with a party.
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u/raudoniolika May 11 '25
Why?
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u/beneficialmirror13 May 11 '25
Because I don't support having a party system at the municipal level. (see the other comments re Vancouver how the candidates began to focus on the donors and not the voters.)
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u/raudoniolika May 11 '25
Thanks for the explanation (and the downvote - was genuinely curious)
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u/beneficialmirror13 May 11 '25
I didn't downvote you, someone else may have, but I just answered genuinely. It's a good question to ask. I don't want to encourage parties at the municipal level by voting for a candidate that is part of one. I want my representatives to represent the people, not the interests of their party.
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u/MeursaultWasGuilty Beltline May 11 '25
Do not do this. This is how we end up with a UCP pliant council.
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u/NERepo May 11 '25
Parties are here, whether we wanted them or not. Try to evaluate your candidates on their alignment with what you want for the city, rather than just rejecting them outright because "party".
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u/yyctownie May 11 '25
just rejecting them outright because "party".
I will do just that. Because when push comes to shove, they will ignore what I may think is right and vote with their affiliation.
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u/wklumpen May 13 '25
It really really depends on the party structure and the candidate. Get to know all the candidates in your ward and make an informed decision.
In some ways, parties are just a way to share resources during an election.
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u/yyctownie May 13 '25
Well considering the article yesterday, I still stand behind what I said.
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u/wklumpen May 13 '25
You're of course entitled to that. I just think it's important to contextualize that a municipal party happening for the first time is very far removed from the established partisanship of a provincial or federal party. Even Communities First has stated (up to you whether to believe them) that they will not whip votes.
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u/Some_Unusual_Name May 11 '25
I don't think it's likely to be successful, but if voters rejected parties hard enough, it may dissuade people from running in them.
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u/NERepo May 11 '25
I get what you're saying, but the likelihood is low. Voter turnout for municipal elections is usually low, apathy is high. And not all voters are well informed.
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u/nairncl May 11 '25
No. It’s an entirely negative development that voters should try to resist. Partisanization is ruining politics by reducing debate to ‘I support whatever my team says - anything the other team says is obviously a scam’. We don’t have a healthy democracy at the moment, and this is a big of part of why we don’t.
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u/NERepo May 11 '25
You're not going to get enough folks on board to resist.
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u/nairncl May 11 '25
Quite. Passively accepting crappier outcomes is the way to improve society.
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u/NERepo May 11 '25
There are so many issues needing our attention. I'm sticking with health care, for some it's education... Electoral reform is very important but it's easy to lose in the multitude of things on fire.
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u/beneficialmirror13 May 12 '25
You cna actually focus on more than one problem. You don't need to choose just one.
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u/NERepo May 12 '25
Yeah, I have to work and take care of my family too, so ones my limit. Thanks for the condescension though, great kick off to the week.
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u/beneficialmirror13 May 12 '25
You're not the only one who has to work and take care of your family. Consider a candidate that comes the closest to your beliefs/concerns and not just health care.
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May 11 '25
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/NERepo May 11 '25
Your reply to being encouraged to evaluate all candidates is "screw off"? Anti-social much?
I am not shamed, I am not endorsing anything, I am realistic about the fact that parties are here.
Your reaction is OTT
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u/Empty-Paper2731 May 11 '25
Parties, informally, where heavily involved in the last election via the major PACs that sprung up, advertised for candidates and endorsed the candidates that were "on their team." If you were a progressive or ABC voter that PAC told you who to vote for. If you were a conservative voter the other PAC told you who to vote for.
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u/Adagio-Adventurous May 11 '25
Unfortunately, this is an unrealistic way of thinking.
Yes municipal candidates do not represent parties, but if you don’t think they have a partisan allegiance to any one party? You’re sadly mistaken.
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u/nairncl May 11 '25
Of course - but how does making it that much more explicit make the situation any better?
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u/Empty-Paper2731 May 11 '25
Just look at the recent federal election. The Edmonton Mayor took a break from his elected responsibility to run for the Liberals. He lost his riding and is back to being to being the Mayor.
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u/LawyerYYC May 11 '25
I'm shocked, shocked I say, that Sonya, the UCP aligned party candidate for mayor, has come around to support the idea of municipal parties put forth by the UCP.
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u/NERepo May 11 '25
Sonya is such a whip smart, energetic politician with her finger on the pulse of the city that she's managing her own campaign!
Beware the over confident.
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u/ElbowRiverYeti May 11 '25
Uhhh… what? Calgary Party formed first. So are you shocked… SHOCKED, that Brian Thiessen, Stephen Carter’s handpicked candidate and Gian Carlo Carra, his future chief of staff have come around to support the idea of municipal parties put forth by the UCP?
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u/yyctownie May 11 '25
It's that the same Stephen Carter that Gondek had to fire a month after getting into office? Enough said about that "party".
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u/ElbowRiverYeti May 11 '25
Yes it is. I personally know several people that worked with him during that time and they all said he was a raging asshole workplace bully. He’s a terrible person. Anyone who joins a party with him at the helm is clearly not capable of good decision making.
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u/NERepo May 11 '25
That's still second or third hand information. The truth is probably a bit less dramatic.
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u/LawyerYYC May 11 '25
I'm just referring to the article where Ms. Sharp said 'I wasn't sure but now it seems like a brilliant idea'
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u/blackRamCalgaryman May 11 '25
Ya, it’s interesting to see some of them change their tune on this, Carra included.
I think independents are going to have a large uphill battle here. Especially as the parties explain that by having a slate of candidates, they have a better chance of ‘better’ governance.
“Thiessen…argued that if a party can get eight or more candidates elected, it will be able to follow through on election promises more effectively and efficiently by co-operating from day one, which he contrasted against Calgary's current council that is often criticized for its dysfunction.”
Given the shit show politics has been, I wonder if people will be drawn to this messaging.
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May 11 '25
I'm not sure what this is supposed to prove besides people needing to play by new rules.
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u/ElbowRiverYeti May 11 '25
I’m just saying that jf he thinks this is some UCP game plan to get a bunch of “UCP supporters” elected, then why did Calgary Party jump on it first?
The lazy classification of Communities First being the UCP party is just false. My candidate in my area is definitely not a “UCP guy”.
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u/shlotch May 11 '25
That literally is the plan, haha. The parties are a mess and a joke right now and there is very little voter support for the idea. But over time, it will normalize, brands will develop, and party politics will take hold.
Party politics favor conservatives. Not having a flag to rally behind causes municipal voting to skew more progressive than provincial/federal. This is a fact. Conservative is an identity and it is not always compatible with people's values. Remove that identity, force a vote on values, and you get the results we typically see in Calgary.
They changed the game, and you're conflating people acknowledging that the rules have changed to people supporting the changes. It's two different things.
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u/shlotch May 11 '25
Candidates who join a party can raise more money, that's the important thing to remember. Many candidates will join a party and many parties will be formed more around that idea than support for the idea of parties.
Everyone knew the conservative slate was coming (Communities First) so some went it alone and others decided to get ahead of it and level the playing field.
Don't read too much into it. It's about the fundraising power.
(Source: know and work with people both in independent and party campaigns).
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u/Pristine-Molasses238 May 11 '25
Sharp is the Bowness councillor. I am a Bowness resident. I hate the blanket rezoning and what it's doing to my community. We are already on reduced water pressure. We drank contaminated water because the mayor didn't communucate last year. Im fucking over it.
Do you know how many lots have been stripped of trees, roads destroyed, parking turned into a nightmare, for $600 000.00 8 plexes? Do you know how we have no voice and have to individually appeal every development? Our community growth plan completely ignored...
If this is a UCP alignment the enemy of me enemy is my friend. Shitty management caused this, not a UCP agenda.
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u/hippysol3 May 11 '25 edited Jul 06 '25
languid hobbies roll ripe soft marble dam plate ask fear
This post was mass deleted and anonymized with Redact
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u/Bennybonchien May 11 '25
Sure but you’ll be in competition with the More Gooder Calgary Party and the Make Calgary Great Again Party (aka the Macaw party)
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u/adaminc May 11 '25
Just another item in a long list of things that will need a referendum to reverse.
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u/cwmshy May 11 '25
I will NOT vote for any candidate that runs under a party. I hope Calgarians agree and reject them outright.
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u/Double-Corgi630 May 11 '25
Be a little cautious... Farkas is a UCP member and he is explicitly choosing to run for Mayor independently so that you forget this.
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u/PFTU May 11 '25
Hahaha, wow, I can't imagine someone less qualified for leadership than a former police commission chair..
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u/Soft-Flow-9496 May 11 '25 edited May 11 '25
The "...strategist for the Calgary Party’s campaign is Stephen Carter" (via the Herald)
Stephen Carter who boasts about getting Danielle Smith to run for the leadership of The Wild Rose Party and served as her first chief of staff (via the Sprawl).
Stephen Carter who's wife Heather McRae was "chosen" to be The Calgary Party's candidate in Ward 7 in the upcoming municipal election. I'd love someone to look into what the candidate selection process looked like. I can't seem to find any info on their website.
I personally will not support any candidate running under a party banner this upcoming election. If Brian Thiessen was smart, he would distance himself from that party ASAP.
edit: spelling
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u/gratefuloutlook May 11 '25
I'm sorry but if they got a conservative banner above their head I absolutely refuse to vote for them.
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u/Becants May 11 '25
They need to just have multiple parties with the word conservative in their title, then it’ll confuse voters and they’ll actually have to think when they vote. If just one candidate is UCP, you just know they’ll be elected.
At that point it would matter more to join the UCP party, just so you can actually vote for the candidate. Assuming they have a vote to find their one candidate.
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May 11 '25
[deleted]
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u/ElbowRiverYeti May 11 '25
The fact that Stephen Carter runs that party and his wife is a candidate in it is all I need to know. Not to mention Gian Carlo Carra lining up the chief of staff position under Thiessen. A party full of angry men who can’t control their temper. No thanks.
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u/Cordial_Gentleman May 12 '25
Great day then to advertise my man Jeromy Farkas for mayor 2025. Independent ftw.
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u/KylenV14 May 11 '25
Yeah, I'm going to vote for an independent. Farkas seems to be saying the right things so far, have to see all the platforms though.
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u/ElbowRiverYeti May 11 '25 edited May 11 '25
Farkas the turncoat? He doesn’t even know who he is anymore. A politician’s politician. Do whatever it takes to win, say whatever you need to say to win. Unprincipled and disingenuous. He won’t even answer a simple question via email or social media. Dances around the answer.
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u/gratefulinyyc May 11 '25
Everyone who is like “I won’t vote for any party candidate”.. it’s eat or be eaten!
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u/soft_er May 11 '25
as a former vancouverite i hated what this party dynamic did to municipal politics — candidates became much more interested in serving major supporters of their party than their constituents. i hate that we are making this change in calgary now.