It’s just under two weeks until election day in Calgary and following Wednesday evening’s mayoral debate, hosted by the Calgary Chamber of Commerce, the battle lines are becoming clearer.
The five candidates chosen to participate in the debate, based on their popularity in recent polls, were Sonya Sharp, Jyoti Gondek, Jeff Davison, Brian Thiessen and Jeromy Farkas.
The debate was moderated by chamber president and CEO Deborah Yedlin and held at the Werklund Centre in downtown Calgary.
Each candidate was given two minutes to outline their vision for the city, followed by an opportunity to rebut some of the comments made by their opponents, then an opportunity to discuss more specific issues such as public safety, the importance of the arts and the future of small businesses in Calgary.
The debate featured the five candidates who appear to be the front-runners to be the next mayor of Calgary, according to recent polls.
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The debate was at times a bit spicy, with the candidates engaging in some pointed attacks on each other, many of them taking specific aim at Farkas, who was a member of council from 2017 to 2021 and finished second to incumbent Gondek in the 2021 mayoral election.
Farkas, who is the front-runner in recent polls, promised a two-pronged approach to improving public safety in Calgary.
“We’ve seen a bit of a competition of two different ideologies, pitting compassion versus enforcement,” Farkas said.
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“My safety plan marries the two. My plan calls for reopening the major downtown police station, which was closed about seven years ago. It calls for significant increases to police presence as well as transit officers.”
Farkas also promises to push for improvements to sentencing and bail reform.
Sharp, who is running for mayor under the Communities First party banner and at times appeared nervous, took aim at Farkas, saying the issues he claims to support now are very different than what he would have voted for four years ago.
“I think it’s really important for you to come clean tonight on some of these things,” Sharp said.
“Your safety plan talks a lot about stuff that I don’t think you would have brought forward four years ago.
“You’re talking about hiring more police officers. You’re talking about the downtown police station that was closed during your tenure.
“It seems very different than it was four years ago.”
Sharp, who criticized the impact construction has been having on small businesses in areas like Marda Loop or Stephen Avenue, was herself attacked by former councillor Davison, who is running as an independent.
“It’s funny because when we talk about Bridgeland, when we talk about Marta Loop, when we talk about what’s going on Steven Avenue, remember these are all small businesses. Sonya used to head up the small business committee, but then she got elected and stopped listening,” Davison said.
Sharp, despite being an incumbent member of council, tried to paint herself as “the change Calgary needs.”
At one point, she reacted to a comment shouted from the audience, calling it “rude” and suggesting it came from supporters of Davison, to which Davison replied, “Don’t drag me into this.”
He also took a shot at Farkas — calling him “flip-flop Farkas.”
“Everything Jeromy said, I remember him voting against when we were on council together,” said Davison, to cheers from his supporters in the audience.
Gondek, who is also running as an independent, spent much of the evening defending her record, saying that she has demonstrated she can “lead this city with determination and purpose.”
She pointed to such projects as the construction of the new events centre, the Green Line LRT and the city’s housing strategy as examples of her ability to provide leadership and “vision” and that she’s not someone who is “simply bringing you sound bites.”
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Judging by the amount of cheers from his supporters, it may have been Calgary Party candidate Thiessen who provided the audience with some of the best sound bites.
He sharply criticized Gondek for not standing up to Premier Danielle Smith, whom he accused of “treating Calgary like her personal ATM.”
“Who failed to fight when Danielle Smith gave away a billion dollars on an arena deal, who failed to fight when Danielle Smith defunded our police, when she removed photo radar, who failed to fight when Danielle Smith eliminated and redrew the Green Line with a crayon on a cocktail napkin,” Thiessen said.
Aside from a few comments during their opening and closing statements, the one hot-button issue that was not a focus of the candidates’ debate was blanket rezoning.
Calgarians go to the polls to elect a new mayor, council and public and separate school board trustees on Oct. 20.
Advance voting is taking place this week, with polls open from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. each day until Oct. 11.
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