Former city councillor Farkas says he’s ‘ready to deliver for Calgarians’ if elected mayor

Calgary mayoral candidate Jeromy Farkas discusses his bid for the mayor’s chair with Alberta Primetime host Michael Higgins.

This interview has been edited for clarity and length.

Michael Higgins: Your thoughts on council sending that invoice to the Smith government. How necessary a gesture is that on the part of current city council?

Jeromy Farkas: We’ve seen from this mayor and council a lot of performative gestures. We’ve seen big swings for a Day 1 climate emergency. We’ve seen a lot of theatre on a lot of these other topics, but the core issue is that we need a mayor and council that’s willing to work across party lines.

Our next mayor is going to have to be somebody who can work with both a Conservative premier and a Liberal prime minister to be able to get things done for the city, and it’s that breakdown in relationship that’s not serving Calgarians very well.

This is not an abstract topic. It’s interprovincial relations. It’s safety, it’s affordability, it’s outcomes, it’s results for Calgarians, and it’s very clear that this breakdown in relationship is not serving any of us well. At the end of the day, it’s council that’s given up a lot of leverage.

For example, it was the multi-billion-dollar arena deal that was the stated primary ask from the municipality to the province not too long ago. It’s very clear that the city has lost a lot of leverage in terms of negotiations, but at the end of the day, you have to be able to work together in partnership with both the provincial and federal governments to get things done for the city.

MH: That says a lot about maybe what you think of the current city council. So for yourself, is that what’s drawing you back to municipal politics? Why take another crack at the mayor’s chair?

JF: It’s all about this moment. In under four years, Calgary is going to be home to two-million people, and it’s going to be our next mayor’s job to welcome them to a city that’s safe, affordable and full of opportunity.

That’s really what this election is coming down to, that one thing. Who is ready to meet that moment with a real plan? I’ve been able to build that plan. I haven’t done it alone. I’ve built it by listening to Calgarians, and by learning and growing along the way.

Coming from a proud Canadian newcomer family, serving as a city councilor and police commissioner, leading as a non-profit CEO and wilderness first responder, and most of all, as someone who knows how to bring people together to get things done.

This election is about the challenges of today, but more so about who has that plan to be able to deliver safe housing we can afford, safe streets for our kids, jobs we can count on. And I’m running for mayor because I am ready to deliver for Calgarians.

MH: In running for mayor, you’re doing this as an independent. Why not attach yourself to a municipal political party or even start one of your own?

JF: Political parties put people in a position where they have to vote against good ideas and support bad ideas. Most Calgarians just want their city hall to work, they want city council to work together, they want us to push in the same direction.

We’re always going to have differences of opinion in terms of how we get there, but look down east, or Ottawa, or even down south of the border, that partisanship is the last thing that we need at our local councils.

Calgarians are looking for practicality. They want pragmatism, and being able to run as an independent allows me to be able to work across party lines, to bring together this next council as a team, and to be able to work together with a Conservative premier and the Liberal prime minister.

That’s really how we’re going to be able to tackle a lot of these big scale issues around housing affordability, around taxes, around spending, around safety.

Your opinion on those issues doesn’t really matter unless you can actually work to build consensus, not just amongst the divided council, but with those other orders of government.

MH: We started on a contentious municipal-provincial issue, and you’ve pointed out a few already there. There have been many the past few years where Calgary council and the Smith government are concerned. As the next mayor, what approach would you take to those relations with the province?

JF: In my former role, I was very fortunate to serve as the CEO of Glenbow Ranch, and in that role, we had to work very closely together with the provincial government.

If you’re not aware, it’s about a 3,000- or 4,000-acre property between Calgary and Cochrane. It was gifted over by the Harvey family for it to be protected as a provincial park. The province was considering tearing up that agreement that allowed the park to be protected and instead to use it for a flood mitigation project for Calgary.

We weren’t very happy with that, but we knew that we needed to stand up for ourselves, and we needed to work together with the province to be able to find a solution, and that’s what we did. We stood up for ourselves. We found an alternative. We worked with the provincial government to be able to find a solution that served everybody well.

At the end of the day, a new, different flood mitigation project is proceeding. We were able to keep the park safe, and everyone at the end got what they wanted. It’s all about knowing when to push back, and knowing when to partner and not having so much of the emotion or the theatrics influence how you work together with those other orders government.

MH: What do you see the outcome of this mayoral race hinging on, and how will that shape your approach to how you hit the campaign trail?

JF: I think a lot of folks are going to be talking about a lot of the same issues. We’re going to be talking about the rising affordability challenges that families are facing. We’re going to be talking a lot about public safety. I think that we need to move away from some of the very divisive approaches we’ve seen, for example, in public safety.

I very strongly believe that we need to address the immediate safety challenges that Calgarians have through increased investment in the police service, but more than being tough on crime, we have to also be tough on the causes of crime by funding prevention upstream work.

I think this election is going to have a lot of the same issues. A lot of the candidates talking about public safety, talking about affordability, but it’s really going to hinge on who has learned, who has grown, and who is ready with that plan to be able to deliver, especially with a divided Council.

We’re looking at probably two or three municipal political parties operating at Calgary city council after the next election, none of them with an outright majority. So it’s going to have to be an independent mayor who can bring Calgarians together, bring this mayor and council together to be able to deliver on what I’ve always known the city to be, what my father knew the city to be, as a refugee and a newcomer, one of the best places on earth to be able to make a living, make a life. A city that’s safe, affordable and full of opportunity.