Jeff Davison grew up in Calgary and has been a city councillor representing Ward 11 for the last four years. Prior to this, Davison worked in the energy and technology sector and has since served on several Calgary boards, including the Calgary Municipal Land Corporation, Calgary Economic Development, and the Opportunity Calgary Investment Funds.
Recent polls have suggested Davison is in third place going into the campaign’s final weekend. He has faced harassment for his stances on the COVID-19 pandemic ーvoting in favour of restrictions as cases riseー which has resulted in some of his signs being vandalized, including one outside his daughter’s school. He has also faced allegations over his relationship with third-party advertisers.
More about Jeff Davison
Web: Jeffdavisonyyc.com
Twitter: Jeffdavisonyyc
Facebook: Jeffdavisonyyc
Instagram: @Jeffdavisonyyc
Davison’s main goals in his mayoral campaign include attracting and maintaining talent in the city, stabilizing the economy, creating a culture of continuous learning, and authentic collaboration and leadership. In terms of economic diversification, Davison plans to better promote the city around the world.
He is also putting emphasis on getting the green line on track, implementing a Banff-Calgary airport rail, and revitalizing downtown. Revitalizing downtown would include funding an expansion of both the BMO Centre and Arts Commons, as well as a new events centre and entertainment district.
5 QUESTIONS WITH JEFF DAVISON
Hadya Azeem: What is the issue that’s most important to you in your campaign, and how will you solve it?
Jeff Davison: Honestly, I think it’s the economy. I think it’s jobs, you know, in particular here, as we move towards a post COVID world, hopefully soon, or we deal with COVID for much longer, it’s the job factor, right? It’s ensuring that people have employment that we’re moving in the right direction to bring the right companies here and really think about, you know, how do we scale up opportunities here in Calgary? I think opportunity is that word that’s always synonymous with Calgary and it doesn’t matter whether you came from China or the middle east or Saskatchewan people come here because of that. And so making sure that when people do, because of our great quality of life here, because we are affordable because it’s a safe and diverse city, we want to make sure that, you know, it’s that job end of things that people can do because that’s ultimately really what unlocks everybody to live and eat indoors.
Why should young people specifically vote for you?
You know, in every election it’s funny, I always hear how, you know, we’ve got to encourage young people to get out and vote. We tell young people, “you should go vote. It’s your civic duty” but we forget to give people the reason to vote. At a time when we’re seeing so many young people leave our city, you know, they’re going to places like Toronto and Vancouver, not because it’s cheaper, but because there’s different jobs there. There’s more excitement in the air. For me, it’s about bringing that excitement back to Calgary. We used to have that here and I want to get people reinvested in re excited about our city. Part of that is going to be bringing those job opportunities here. Part of it’s going to be just having things to do. And so talking to young people about what do you value in this city? What do you want to see in the city in the next decade? Is really important to me because, you know, I want to engage people in that opportunity for discussion because ultimately all the city’s problems that we face in the next, you know, two years. Yeah. We’ll get through those. I’m worried about the next generation. I’m worried about my kids wanting an opportunity and having that opportunity here.
Okay hypothetically, let’s say you have some downtime from your campaign, which local bar, restaurant or coffee shop are you going to?
The greatest thing about my community is the walkability of my community. So, you know, great pubs like 722 or Ferguson Bixs are my traditional go-tos. The nice thing is they allow kids up until a certain point. And when you have three of them, that’s an important thing to have.
Okay hypothetically, let’s say you have some downtime from your campaign, which local bar, restaurant or coffee shop are you going to?
Oh, you know, I don’t think anyone can deny watching tiger king at the beginning of the pandemic. And now, you know, 20 months later, we all deny watching tiger king, but you know, you watched it
What would you do to help the city of Calgary prosper and emerge from this pandemic?
You know, I think it’s investing in a number of things and I think I call it the four pillars. I think, you know, you’ve got to have the right business environment so that we’re bringing new companies here and scaling up the ones that are here. I think it’s about place and making sure that we build a place where people want to be, not need to be. I think in a world where our capital and talent are extremely mobile, you have to ensure people want to be here. And that’s a critical piece of the equation. And then focusing a lot on innovation and talent are the other two pieces of really what I think are pillars, you know, thinking about what do the new job opportunities look like in a world where we’re seeing transition happen in our local economy. And then how are we going to fill those job positions by attracting the right amount of talent here?
I think that’s all I have for you. So thank you so much again for taking the time to talk to us. We really appreciate it. Do you have any last things to say?
I’m happy to do it, You know, I would just say check out all the candidates. My platform is all on JeffDavisonyyc.com and get out, early voting starts October 4th and the election day is October 18th. So, you know, I want people to have a reason to vote. So please check out a platform and support where you can.