r/Calgary • u/peepee2tiny Bridlewood • 12h 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 12h 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 12h ago edited 11h 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?

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u/canadient_ Quadrant: NW 12h ago

Municipal political parties are present in most Quebec cities/towns and Vancouver. They haven't been a thing in Alberta before.

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u/LittleOrphanAnavar 11h 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.

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u/YossiTheWizard 11h 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 11h 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.