| OK, so the seven men who've decided to challenge incumbent Mayor Dave Bronconnier in this municipal election aren't a serious threat. But that doesn't mean they aren't serious. It takes some chutzpah, at the very least, to run for the office of mayor and so the least we can do, before we mark our ballots on Monday, is hear them out. And these guys have some interesting ideas, too – from providing Calgary with hydrogen-fuelled power to making the city the "Paris of the Prairies."
Fast Forward asked all seven – Douglas Service, Mike Pal, Greg Lang, Al Foster, Antoni Grochowski, Oscar Fech and Harry Dillon – to answer a series of six questions. They are:
1.) Why are you running for mayor?
2.) What would you bring to the office of mayor that you feel is lacking right now?
3.) What do you think should be done to address urban sprawl?
4.) How would you deal with the city's traffic and public transportation issues?
5.) What is the other major issue in Calgary that you think needs to be dealt with?
6.) If you could give a Calgary white hat to anyone, alive or dead, who would it be?
Their answers (some edited for brevity) are below.
And don't forget on Monday, October 18 to vote for a mayoral candidate, as well as the candidates for alderman and school trustee in your ward. For information on wards and polling stations as well as lists of candidates, go to www.calgary.ca.
HARINDER (HARRY) DHILLON
Age: 33. Occupation: owner of a driving school.
1.) I am running for mayor for many reasons. I know that, as mayor of Calgary, I am an employee for all Calgarians, not just city hall. I will start work immediately on forming the strongest, most talented, impartial teams of people that will combine their efforts to produce feasible and strong solutions to all issues of Calgarians.
2.) As mayor I will represent all Calgarians in a fair and beneficial way. I will listen and respond to the voices of every citizen, no matter how big or small their concerns. We will do everything in full view of the voter, so that accountability and responsibility will not be an issue as it is today.
3.) I think that expansion is inevitable, however, it can be controlled better with more inner-city building. More apartment highrises can accommodate our fast-growing population.
4.) We are looking at extending bus services on main routes for late-night traffic and increasing the frequency. We will also offer incentive programs for companies for running their own car pooling programs.
5.) Health care (more hospitals); taxes (lower both residential and commercial business property taxes); education (look into building more secondary educational institutions); encouraging our youth (create funds for low-income and underprivileged children); a slaughterhouse policy and a clean energy policy.
6.) As there are so many deserving, I think that it would be impossible for me to choose someone.
OSCAR FECH
Age: 67. Occupation: general contractor.
1.) I have been watching city hall for more than 10 years and have seen the system go from bad to worse and I would like to change things.
2.) Accountability and accessibility.
3.) Create more high-density areas.
4.) We need to build a better road system as well as build and extend our bus and LRT systems. We also need to get rid of the massive potholes and receding manholes.
5.) The homeless, seniors, families in need, etc., all need to be addressed. These are the forgotten people that are being neglected. We need to educate, teach and counsel these people so they can become self-supporting, independent individuals.
6.) My parents, who taught me to be honest, truthful and trustworthy, who taught me the survival instincts during the Second World War in Europe.
AL FOSTER
Age: 52. Occupation: Retired.
1.) I believe in Calgary and the health, welfare and safety of all Calgarians.
2.) Accountable leadership. Common sense. No ego.
3.) We need to put money into redeveloping existing communities to bring people inward. Build up, not out.
4.) More focus needs to be put on the CTrain system. It should have been built underground to begin with and has been obsolete since day one.
5.) Pollution. One example: Lynnwood Ridge. This is a 75-year-old problem, caused by an oil company, we are just dealing with now. Here in 2004 there is talk about letting another oil company drill sour gas wells within our city. We need to learn a lesson from these costly mistakes. Risking the health of our children and grandchildren in this city to make a quick buck is not an option.
6.) Dr. William Edwards Deming, the creator of the total quality management and leadership program. He proved that companies need to treat workers as associates, not as hired hands.
ANTONI (TONY) GROCHOWSKI
Age: 58. Occupation: architect.
1.) We must change that small "cowtown" image, with a mayor who is proposing to patch up roads as his election platform. Let it be a great city, a modern city of vital culture. Let it be an art city, a "Paris of the Prairies."
2.) I will reserve a certain time every day to have personal contact with the people of Calgary, in person or by phone. I will speak with them in their language – English, French, German, Polish, Russian – and listen to them in Ukrainian, Yiddish or even Finnish. I am, like most of them, a "displaced person" and I am looking for something better, more modern and efficient than in the old country.
3.) Calgary should be a model city for other centres. Others should follow our example and learn from us.
4.) We need an efficient, fast train or monorail inside the city and further north to Edmonton, as well as east, west and south (of the city).
5.) We need to create centres for fine and performing arts, new museums, schools, sport centres and tourist attractions to bring people here that will stay here and contribute to the city of Calgary.
6.) To my wife, who passed away in Calgary in 1987, 10 years after coming here from Europe.
GREG LANG
Age: 45. Occupation: consultant for non-profit agencies.
1.) Because (my campaign slogan) I believe that "Calgary needs a social agenda, not just a business one."
2.) Greater transparency in decision-making. There is also too much of a "my way or the highway" mentality still present under the current mayor. There is too much of a focus on business-related issues, with respect to a single-issue agenda of transportation.
3.) I would ensure that a minimum percentage of newer development was mandated for high-density housing, including specifically for rental usage. As well, I think that proper housing development – coupled with increased public transit and suburban business centres – could and should drive transportation planning, instead of limiting it to roads.
4.) Make sure that older roads as part of infrastructure are caught up in their maintenance, and that expansion mandated to date on existing roads is similarly executed.
5.) Police service accountability. This problem has been occurring for the past few years with the current police chief. The only way to handle police complaints would be for Alberta municipalities such as Calgary to pressure the provincial government to establish civic police oversight bodies to ensure complete objectivity, which would include representation by ordinary citizens in their panels. The police are unable to police themselves.
6.) The Dalai Lama. I'm a Buddhist, and we're trying to bring him here.
MIKE PAL
Age: 21. Occupation: University of Calgary student (political science and philosophy).
1.) I am running because Calgary needs a new mayor. Bronconnier has shown utter contempt for the people of this city by being completely irresponsible with our money. Money allocated for the city was wasted on redecorating the zoo and science centre, while traffic remains in chaos, and overall taxes and fees continue to rise.
2.) The willingness to make hard choices over feel-good choices. City politics all boils down to the decision-making process in the office of the mayor. We are proposing changing the way government does business by empowering the citizens.
3.) Further expansion of the public transit system through both the revitalization of the current light rail transit network, and the extension of light rail transit and bus service.
4.) The city needs a new plan. Mr. Bronconnier's current transportation and infrastructure investment plan is unacceptable to Calgarians, and if he is elected we will see a 47.2 per cent decrease in spending from 2003 levels. We need to move forward, not backwards.
5.) An important issue to our campaign, although we have yet to hear policies from any other candidate, is multiculturalism. Calgarians want to live in a city that allows all citizens to preserve their traditions and culture. The city should encourage respect for and integration of all cultures. It
should also ensure every citizen has the same opportunities to achieve without
racial or cultural prejudice.
6.) Conservative statesman and champion of grassroots democracy Preston Manning.
DOUGLAS SERVICE
Age: 49. Occupation: owner of an electrical company.
1.) I am running for the mayor's chair to make a change with the environment, civic relations and communities.
2.) To bring in new revenue streams so that we will not be dependent on provincial and federal handouts. To build a hydrogen-fuelled jet engine turbine generator so as to generate cheap, environmentally safe electrical power. I want to remove the inflated billing costs on your electrical bills, and negotiate a better price for electrical consumption through the Alberta Energy and Utilities Board to bring power bills down.
3.) This city was built on urban sprawl. As long as we build within our guidelines and do not break our own rules we should be able to build and keep peace with the environment.
4.) We pay planners to plan the city and, when we override them and do not take their advice, we suffer the consequences.
5.) I want to incorporate a fraudulent, abuse and waste hotline to catch the ones who are abusing the system and environment. Put more control on civic government and less control on the worker, thus instilling a smooth relationship with the general public. Build more affordable housing by partnering with the businessmen of Calgary.
6.) To the one who is lonely, hungry, in need of a friend and has never seen a Calgary Stampede. |
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