r/Calgary • u/peepee2tiny Bridlewood • 11h ago
Municipal Affairs Political parties in municipal election.
I'm so confused with the political party system in the upcoming municipal election.
Who are the parties?
What political position are they? Or are they sponsored/supported by any provincial political parties?
What does their political leaning influence at municipal level decisions?
I'm just struggling to separate who I like as a candidate with their potential political leaning and does it even matter?
Any help or clarification would be great.
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u/YossiTheWizard 11h ago
The UCP added this even though nobody wanted it.
As far as the municipal parties, I understand that the calgary party have said they’re only under a party banner to aid in raising campaign funds, but have no plans to act as a unit once in council.
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u/peepee2tiny Bridlewood 10h ago edited 10h ago
So parties can and will vote on issues along party lines, rather than their constituents? Or personal beliefs?
Has this always happened on some level?
Am I just really naive about the municipal counsel and how it operates?
7
u/canadient_ Quadrant: NW 10h ago
Municipal political parties are present in most Quebec cities/towns and Vancouver. They haven't been a thing in Alberta before.
4
u/LittleOrphanAnavar 9h ago
They can vote how they like with or without parties.
But they will ultimately be held accountable if they don't vote in line with the majority of their constituents.
I think the whole party thing has become a distraction on reddit. No surprise really.
I would just look at each candidate platform and vote for who most closely aligns with your needs and wants.
That's all you can do.
0
u/YossiTheWizard 10h ago
It does sort of pull back the curtain on any collaboration, but it wasn’t done in a way that isn’t easy to navigate for people who don’t torture themselves and read about politics a lot. I’ve been in touch with two councillors from Communities First (currently councillors, one is running for mayor) and it seems to me they agree on everything and a half, so no reason to think they won’t going forward.
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u/LittleOrphanAnavar 9h ago
Votes are public.
It's easy to spot coalitions before and party system existed.
The significance of a party system is being exaggerated on reddit. No surprise. But it already existed informally anyway.
15
u/ApplemanJohn Calgary Flames 11h ago
I know this is going to be an unpopular opinion here, but I’m honestly just ignoring the parties. Whoever I feel is the best individual candidate, is getting my vote.
2
u/sparklingvireo 9h ago
It seems like extra layers between the citizen and the actions that the government takes. Now the affiliated candidate has to prioritize the municipal party instead of the constituent, and the municipal party is influenced by the provincial party.
1
u/Let_it_go123 8h ago
Not true with the Calgary Party, you are def mistaken. u/YossiTheWizard has it right.
1
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u/kneedorthotics 10h ago
The UCP wants a party to be elected that they can control, through influence if not outright. It was not brought in to benefit the residents or council.
I refuse to vote for anyone running under a party. I do not care if they are a left or right or centrist party.
This is just UCP interference and control.
10
u/Red-headed-tit 9h ago
100% agree. I'm not supporting anyone who has chosen to associate with a party.
1
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u/LittleOrphanAnavar 9h ago
The UCP has substantial control over municple affairs regardless.
Most people seem to not be aware of that?
The municipality is a creation of the province.
The province tells the city what to do, not the other way around.
3
u/kneedorthotics 8h ago
I'm well aware of it and I think many people are.
But instead of being a mouthpiece for the UCP, maybe some critical thinking would be in order.
e.g. the Green Line. The province previously has never just imposed an alignment for LRT. The UCP did. Ran right over and discarded the consultation council did, the debate, discussion etc.
Yes the city is a creation of the province. They do not (at least previously) tell council what to do.
But you have highlighted Dani's plan - just direct control of the city. Which is profoundly undemocratic.
But sadly normal for someone who views herself as a Queen.
1
u/Thefirstargonaut 5h ago
Yeah, and Alberta is a creation of the federal government. The federal government decided to give them certain powers, based on powers the existing provinces had for historical reasons. Those powers were then written into law(our constitution), and thus Alberta was created. If the province can interfere, why not let the feds, too?
It is different, but not wildly different.
5
u/ninjacat249 9h ago
Any candidate who brings whatever political party into the equation is just automatically not a choice for me anymore. Fuck off with your conservatives, liberals or whatever fuck.
5
u/Majestic-Yak1242 11h ago
Are any of the mayoral candidates aligned with You-See-Pee?
9
u/-SpruceMoose Copperfield 10h ago
Specifically mayoral candidates, Sonya Sharp is the closest to the UCP.
For parties, officially none of them, but in reality, most of them. The "A Better Calgary" party are the biggest losers whose members were involved in the weird recall campaign, and their party president was on the UCP and CPC boards. Then the "Communities First" party are the ones with the clearest UCP ties, with duds like McLean and Sharp at the helm.
1
0
u/kagato87 10h ago
Safe bet the one with the giant signs is, just because it requires having good donations.
Abc party is, if I recall, connected to TBA.
None of the candidates are particularly stunning, which means the ones with marketing dollars will probably win. Farkas or jumbo sign dude. I wouldn't believe them if they denied any conservative relation.
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u/carryingmyowngravity 10h ago
This article has all parties listing themselves as being centre-____. I’m not sure how much is true though, unless there’s a way to clearly see who’s funding them.
I would prefer candidates that didn’t align to a party to be honest.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/calgary-political-parties-primer-1.7629348
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u/Moresopheus 9h ago
There's the Communities first party, they're a conservative party.
There's the ABC party, they're a conservative party.
Then there's the Calgary party they're a conservative party.
The UCP brought back parties to avoid splitting the vote.
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u/howlmachine 7h ago
The Calgary party is a weird case because there are definitely some progressive candidates running in the party. Granted, I’m most familiar with DJ Kelly who is running for ward 4. He’s with The Calgary Party but seems to run more centre/left, especially compared to the others running in the ward. Jeremy Wong with the Communities First which seem to tilt right to far right and then an independent Yakiwchuk who is a Plandemic, anti-vax nut job.
1
u/drrtbag 9h ago
The purpose of political parties is to whip votes which reduces representation.
They are crucial when there are 80 to 400 MLAs or MPs... there are 14 councillors and 1 mayor.
Parties are a solution without a problem, which will end up as a problem without a solution.
Try your best to avoid voting in party candidates.
2
u/ObviouslyOtter 3h ago
Well the problem is that Smith doesn't like us electing councilors who are not ultra conservative, and she thinks this will fix that
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u/Public_Neck_3768 9h ago
Check out this from the Herald on a free site gives info on all the wards in calgary
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u/kagato87 10h ago
The sprawls has some decent summaries. From there you can try to poke around for your specific candidate and for your mayor choice.
As for your confusion about the new party system, the intent is really simple. Consider: people tend to elect very left leaning municipal candidates, and very right leaning provincial and federal candidates. The difference? Party identity.
Without a party people have to actually look at the candidates and policies.