Calgary municipal election, 2007

Calgary municipal election, 2007
October 15, 2007
Mayor and 12 of 14 aldermen to Calgary City Council

Leader Dave Bronconnier Alnoor Kassam
Popular vote 128,112 35,442
Percentage 61.08% 16.90%
Mayor before election

Dave Bronconnier

 Elected Mayor

Dave Bronconnier

The 2007 Calgary municipal election was held Monday, October 15, 2007. The citizens of Calgary elected one mayor, 12 of their 14 aldermen (one from each of 14 wards) to the city council, five of the seven Calgary School District trustees (each representing 2 of 14 wards), and three of the seven Calgary Catholic School District trustees (each representing 2 of 14 wards). All but one of the incumbent councillors ran again in this election (Barry Erskine, of Ward 11), and two incumbents were returned by acclamation. Five of the incumbent public school trustees ran again, two were acclaimed, and four separate school incumbent trustees ran, three were acclaimed, while Ward 13/14 had only one new candidate. Since 1968, provincial legislation has required every municipality to hold triennial elections.

The percent of eligible voters who voted was 33% — putting turnout at a higher level than the previous election in 2004.[1]

Results

Bold indicates elected, italics indicates incumbent.

Mayor

Mayor[2]
CandidateVotes%
Dave Bronconnier128,11261.08%
Alnoor Kassam35,44216.90%
Sandy Jenkins16,5317.88%
Jeremy Zhao8,0253.83%
Allan Foster6,4553.08%
David Bertram5,5492.65%
Elizabeth Kaur Fielding4,0101.91%
Harry Heck3,8111.82%
J. J. Sunstrum1,8130.86%

Aldermen

Aldermen[2]
Ward 1Ward 2Ward 3Ward 4
CandidateVotes%CandidateVotes%CandidateVotes%CandidateVotes%
Dale Hodges12,05956.1%Gord Lowe10,26961.1%Jim Stevenson5,45236.86Bob Hawkesworth10,55573.9%
Jennifer Banks8,57939.9%Biagio Magliocca3,97923.7%George Chahal5,41936.64Richard Evans2,63218.4%
Normand Perrault8694.0%Terry Avramenko2,24213.3%Helene Larocque3,91926.50Alex Peterson1,0887.6%
Ward 5 Daniel M. Del Re3121.9% Ward 6Ward 7
Ray Jones7,59079.6%Joe Connelly9,06846.6%Druh Farrell8,99868.9%
Mohamed El-Rafih1,94520.4%Craig Burrows6,59433.9%Barry Elridge2,24917.2%
Ward 8Ward 9 James Donald Istvanffy2,73214.0%Merle Terlesky1,2809.8%
John Mar4,01431.6%Joe Ceci7,21356.6%James Kohut8524.4%Jag Aithal5324.1%
Madeline King3,84730.3%Al Koenig4,96238.9%Rosemary Berglund2051.1%
Steve Chapman3,43027.0%Stan Waciak5724.5% Ward 10Ward 11
Lindsay Luhnau1,41211.1%Andre Chabot8,26388.6%Brian Pincott6,03734.2%
Nargis Dossa1,06411.4%Evonne Whelan4,49025.4%
Ward 12Ward 13Ward 14 James M. Murray3,35319.0%
Richard William McIver16,70091.1%Diane Colley-UrquhartAcclaimedLinda Fox-Mellway AcclaimedDave Matthews2,24112.7%
Nick Halfyard1,6348.9%Jim Rockwell1,5398.7%

Public School Trustees

Calgary School District[2]
Ward 1/2Ward 3/4Ward 5/10
CandidateVotes%CandidateVotes%CandidateVotes%
Gordon DirksAcclaimedLynn C. Ferguson14,32673.6%Pamela King8,92773.2%
Jadine Kohut5,13626.4%Michael P. Stefanyshyn3,27326.8%
Ward 6/7Ward 8/9Ward 11/13
George S. Lane9,03945.8%Pat CochraneAcclaimedKaren Kryczka7,99038.2%
Greg Scott6,70734.0% Ward 12/14 Deborah Duncan5,77827.6%
Drake Hammill3,97620.2%Carol Bazinet13,72069.6%Neil Mackie3,75217.9%
Gregory C. Humphreys5,99830.4%Kathy Power3,38316.2%

Separate School Trustees

Calgary Catholic School District[2]
Ward 1/2/CochraneWard 3/5/AirdrieWard 4/7
Serafino ScarpinoAcclaimedLinda WellmanAcclaimedMargaret BelcourtAcclaimed
Ward 6/8Ward 9/10/ChestermereWard 11/12
CandidateVotes%CandidateVotes%CandidateVotes%
Lois H. Burke-Gaffney4,56466.4%Rosemarie Goerlitz3,69162.7%Michael V. Annuik6,03382.4%
Antoni (Tony) Grochowski2,31333.6%Gerald A.J. Heighes1,67328.4%Cathie Williams1,28717.6%
Ward 13/14 Michael O'Malley5208.8%
Mary MartinAcclaimed

Key Issues

Some of the prominent issues receiving public attention include the following (listed in alphabetical order):[3]

Crime

Recent high-profile violent crimes in Calgary had generated public concern for safety in the city.

Environment

Calgary has the highest per capita ecological footprint amongst Canada's larger cities. The City has concentrated past efforts on increasing community water conservation and reducing its corporate GHG emissions. Community goals to reduce the community's ecological footprint were identified through the Imagine Calgary process. These were intended to form the basis for comprehensive community-based initiatives to reduce the per capita ecological footprint.

Housing

There was an ongoing shortage of housing in the city. That, combined with what was among the highest rates of growth in housing costs in Canada, had made housing a significant issue for the public.

Infrastructure

A week before the election, the provincial government agreed to provide $3.3 billion for infrastructure in Calgary over the next 10 years. It would be up to city council to allocate those funds.

Transportation

  • Disruption of roads, paths and sidewalks due to construction.
  • Public transit infrastructure.
  • Increasing motor-vehicle congestion.

Voter participation

Voter turnout in the previous Calgary municipal election was 19.8%, while in the 2001 municipal elections it was 38%.[4]

Controversies

  • Campaign finance.

Regarding specific candidates

  • Sandy Jenkins was forcibly ejected from the University of Calgary MacEwan Hall Ballroom by security during a Weakerthans concert which he sneaked in after not having paid for a ticket.[5]
  • Dave Bronconnier's fundraising has raised concerns about the impact of funding on the campaign.[6]
  • Craig Burrows (incumbent, Ward 6) was the Chair of the City Audit Committee. He was approved to take a University of Calgary business management course which would provide assistance to him in his role on the Audit Committee. He was later asked to repay the course fee, which he did indirectly through a reduction in his spending in the subsequent year.[7]
  • Mayoral candidate Alnoor Kassam was reported to have spent a million dollars of his own money on his campaign, which led to allegations that his money had been acquired in illegal or unethical manners. Columnist Don Braid attempted to connect him to a banking scandal in Kenya prior to moving to Canada. While Kassam did admit that the local political culture required regular bribes in order to do business, he noted that a Canadian immigration tribunal had completely exonerated him. He insisted that he did not take money when leaving Kenya, but had made his entire current fortune in Calgary. News articles also accused Kassam of attempting economic evictions in a Mount Royal apartment building, although he apparently also supported residents in finding other housing.[8][9]

References

  1. ↑ "Graphic: Voter turnout for municipal elections in Alberta". Calgary Herald. April 6, 2010. Retrieved September 19, 2010.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Official Results". City of Calgary. Archived from the original on November 8, 2001.
  3. ↑ Kim Guttormson; Colette Derworiz (September 18, 2007). "Mayor faces eight challengers". Calgary Herald. Retrieved September 19, 2010.
  4. ↑ Robert Remington (September 18, 2007). "Young Jeremy tackles apathy". Calgary Herald. Retrieved September 19, 2010.
  5. ↑ "Jenkins weak for the Weakerthans - Mayoral candidate gets kicked out of concert". Gauntlet News. October 11, 2007. Retrieved October 12, 2007.
  6. ↑ Derworiz, Colette (July 2, 2007). "Mayor's war chest scares off rivals". Calgary Herald. pp. B1.
  7. ↑ "Alderman told to repay city for business course". CBC News. February 16, 2007. Retrieved September 14, 2007.
  8. ↑ Don Braid (September 18, 2007). "Challenger takes on Bronconnier dollar for dollar in this campaign". Calgary Herald. Retrieved September 19, 2010.
  9. ↑ Guttormson, Kim; Derworiz, Colette (October 8, 2007). "Who is Alnoor Kassam?". Calgary Herald. Retrieved September 19, 2010.
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