New parties test Calgary voters with run-up to municipal election underway

Parties are being tested in Alberta's two biggest cities for October's municipal election, and three are registered in Calgary.

Candidate names aren’t the only thing Calgary voters will see on ballots in next month’s civic election—political parties are being tested in Alberta’s two biggest cities.

The change, which the province says was made to improve transparency and increase accountability when it comes to candidates, also comes with financial advantages.

“We know that the majority of people in Calgary and Edmonton and around the province don’t want political parties,” said Lori Williams, a political scientist at Mount Royal University.

Yet, here they are.

Three parties have registered in Calgary, vying for votes in October.

A Better Calgary is running seven council candidates across wards.

“We find it easier going to the door,” said Craig Chandler with A Better Calgary.

“‘Do you normally vote conservative?’ ‘Yes.’ We put a lawn sign on it. It makes the door knocking go really quick, too. It’s a little different than just selling yourself. You’re selling a philosophy as well.”

Communities First is running 10 council candidates and mayoral candidate Sonya Sharp.

“We are pragmatic in a sense that we know some investments are required that may not necessarily follow traditional, progressive conservative sort of party lines,” said Andre Chabot, a Communities First candidate in Ward 10.

“I wouldn’t call us progressive, so I would say we’re more of a centrist party than any of them and right-leaning.”

The Calgary Party has candidates in all but one ward, plus mayoral candidate Brian Thiessen.

“We saw the opportunity to create something really positive, so we formed a centrist political party,” said Thiessen.

“We have people with master’s (degrees) in urban planning, and we have people who’ve run small businesses and are deeply involved in their communities.”

Candidates within the parties share priorities but also resources.

Rules allow donations to individual candidates as well as to political parties, effectively doubling contribution limits.

“It allows us to raise money and purchase signs and brochures, etc., as a team. So, we get to pool our resources a little bit,” Thiessen said.

Chabot noted the financial advantage it provides to parties versus independents and said it helps “to give people an idea of what their candidates are all about.”

Parties say it also provides accountability, with voters knowing what the candidates stand for.

“Last election, for example, people were voting for individuals thinking they were conservative because they said so at the door, but they really were not conservative. They campaigned from the right and govern from the left,” Chandler said.

Candidates do not need to belong to a party, and the vast majority of people running for mayor and council are independent.

Advance voting in Calgary runs Oct. 6-11, with election day on Oct. 20.