| The upcoming Calgary municipal election won’t be the horse race it was last time around, with far fewer contestants for the mayor’s job and a dearth of competition for many council spots.
Four aldermen, Druh Farrell (Ward 7), Barry Erskine (Ward 11), Ric McIver (Ward 12) and Bob Hawkesworth (Ward 4), have all been acclaimed because no one is running against them. Meanwhile, there’s only one person running against the incumbent aldermen in Wards 1, 2, 6 and 14.
There are a total of eight candidates running for mayor, including the current mayor, Dave Bronconnier. Driving-school owner Harinder Dhillon, long-time City Hall observer Oscar Fetch, film industry employee Allan Foster, architect Antoni Grochowski, non-profit organization consultant Greg Lang, University of Calgary political studies and philosophy student Mike Pal and electrical contractor Doug Service are all battling for the mayor’s chair. In the last election, in 2001, there were 18 mayoral candidates.
Keith Brownsey, a professor of policy studies at Mount Royal College, says none of this election’s candidates for mayor have high profiles and he predicts Bronconnier will win without much of a fight.
"It’s very difficult in civil elections to beat incumbents. We get such low voter turnout," says Brownsey. "People aren’t interested. They forget how important the local level is…. It’s name recognition that counts for everything."
In the last municipal election, only 38.3 per cent of eligible voters bothered to cast a ballot.
Brownsey predicts that the only serious race in the upcoming municipal election will be in Ward 3, where Ald. John Schmal is retiring. Eleven candidates are vying for his spot, including University of Calgary professor Naheed Nenshi, journalist David Heyman, Helene Larocque, wh is president of the Federation of Calgary Communities, and small-business owner and longtime Reform and Conservative supporter Jim Stevenson. Stevenson is also president of the Coral Springs Residents’ Association.
Brownsey says candidates hoping to knock out incumbents on council also have to spend a substantial amount of money on their campaign to be successful, which he says is a barrier for many aspiring politicians. Mayor Bronconnier, for example, spent over $800,000 during the last election campaign. As well, in a Calgary municipal election there’s no cap on how much an individual can donate to a candidate and there’s no limit to how much a candidate can spend on his or her campaign. |
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