Based on new Alberta provincial legislation, mayoral and council candidates now have the option to run under a party in municipal elections, including the Calgary election concluding in a few days.
The changes only apply to Calgary and Edmonton mayoral or council seats.
Political science professor Duane Bratt at Mount Royal University notes how the change, introduced by the United Conservative Party (UCP), hasn’t come without its controversy.
Restrictions to the rule don’t allow municipal parties to replicate federal or provincial parties –they must be new. Bratt says the restrictions are meant to create more local brand recognition, but that has led to some confusion for Calgary voters.
The party system also raises some questions. Who is the leader of a municipal party? If a party is unsuccessful in electing a mayoral candidate, then councillors could begin to vote in the interest of their party, not their ward, says Bratt.
“You’ll often see councillors vote together who you may not think would do so,” he says. “That’s one of the dangers of going down the party system, is they think it’s going to replicate what occurs at a provincial level.”
Municipal parties
In Calgary, there are three parties running candidates for mayor and councillor seats. The mayoral candidates are Sonya Sharp with the Communities First Party and The Calgary Party, led by Brian Thiessen. A Better Calgary Party does not have an official mayoral candidate, however, they’ve endorsed Jeff Davison.
According to their website, Sharp and Communities First describes themselves as “a unique caucus in Calgary made up of like-minded individuals committed to independently representing our constituents.” Their priorities include emphasizing community interests while “distinguishing [themselves] from traditional political parties.”
Other candidates and groups, including Thiessen and advocacy group Project Calgary, have accused Sharp and Communities First of being closely aligned with Danielle Smith and the UCP, although neither the party nor Sharp has publicly expressed this sentiment.
On the contrary, The Calgary Party and Brian Thiessen state their clear mission to “protect Calgary from Danielle Smith” as they aim to restore leadership at City Hall by “putting Calgarians first.”
Endorsing Jeff Davison, The Better Calgary is Calgary’s “conservative choice” focused on “principled, grounded, and focused on the needs of everyday Calgarians.”
Confusion and controversy
Some voters find themselves confused by the changes.
According to numbers from Albertan pollster Janet Brown, Calgarians do not support the implementation of municipal parties.
Bratt says those numbers are reflected in the number of undecided voters and the low voter turnout during the advanced polls.
As of Oct. 11, a total of 96,549 advanced ballots were cast. When compared to the 141,329 advance votes in 2021, Bratt says that’s a “significant drop off,” one we won’t recover from before election night.
Online political commentator and Edmonton local Cole Bennett emphasized Albertan’s aversion to party implementation.
“They don’t want a party system, they want an independent candidate to represent their specific area. We know when the party system comes in, people are forced to vote along party lines… and I think that’s made some people angry.”
Bennett says he wouldn’t be surprised if party candidates are regretting their choice at this point in the campaign.
“I wouldn’t say [parties] are putting other issues in the background, I think people are still really focused on affordability and infill in certain areas but in the back of everyone’s mind they’re [thinking] ‘I’m going to vote for an independent candidate.'”
Why the pushback against parties?
Bratt explained that while there is precedent, like the 1930 and 1954 implementation in Vancouver and Montreal respectively, many Calgary voters feel “distaste” over voting for parties.
“What makes it harder is there’s no party discipline once they get elected. So they may run on a similar slate of ideas, but once elected, you can’t enforce that. You don’t have those tools and levers at a municipal level as you [would at] a provincial level.”
Duane Bratt
Despite the controversy, Bratt believes there are benefits to implementing the change now, both locally and provincially. Aside from the financial advantage of running with a party, there are also political benefits of running a conservative candidate over an independent in Calgary.
“Frankly, the United Conservative Party wants more conservatives on council, and they believe that what has hindered this is the lack of parties,” he says. “That may work, except there’s two conservative parties, and it’s going to lead to some confusion.”
Calgarian’s can cast their vote on October 20. For more information about where and how to vote visit www.electionscalgary.ca/home.
