From 1968 to 2013, provincial legislation required every municipality to hold elections every three years.[1] The 28th Alberta Legislature introduced the Election Accountability Amendment Act (Bill 7) which among other reforms to provincial and municipal elections, amended the Local Authorities Election Act to extend the terms of local authorities including municipalities and school boards from three years to four years.[2][3][4]
In addition, council members are now referred to as councillors, whereas they used the title "Alderman" prior to 2013. Advanced voting began on October 4 and ran through until October 11.[5]
The voter turnout was 58.1%, the highest the turnout had been in over four decades.[6]
According to a 2013 Calgary Herald article, campaign finance transparency had become a topic of interest with most candidates making their donor lists available before the election. One veteran candidate who raised $78,000 in contributions in the 2010 election preferred to file according to legal requirements by filing disclosure of donations with city hall at the end of the year.[8] By late summer 2017, campaign finance transparency was an issue again with the establishment of a political action committee (PAC), a third-party organization that is not required to reveal the identity of its donors.[9][10][11] PACS are commonly used in the United States to pool campaign contributions to target candidates.[12] Hadyn Place, Director of Alberta Can't Wait—one of Alberta's "unite the right" movement organizations—explained to CBC journalists that Save Calgary is targeting incumbents Mayor Naheed Nenshi, and councillors Druh Farrell, Evan Woolley, Gian-Carlo Carra, Diane Colley-Urquhart because "We feel that there are good candidates running against those current city councillors and we don't like their voting records, and their priorities, we feel, are out of step with everyday Calgarians' priorities."[9]
CBC News likened Calgary's "relatively lawless" finance rules for municipal elections, to the "wild west".[13] Municipal government election candidates can accept donations from corporations, unions and individuals and there is "no cap on how much candidates can spend".[13] This contrasts with federal and provincial elections where candidates are not allowed to accept corporate and union donations. At the federal level, candidates face a hard cap on campaign spending based on the size of their riding, and the laws are strictly enforced.[13] According to Alberta Municipal Affairs, the Alberta government of plans to add amendments to existing municipal elections laws, possibly in 2018. as early as next year.[13] Jack Lucas, a professor of political science at the University of Calgary told CBC News that Alberta will "likely curb donation limits and put a cap on campaign spending".[13] Lucas said, "Clearer disclosure rules for third-party advertising would make third-party campaigns like Save Calgary more transparent and less controversial."[13]
Referencesedit
^"1968 Bill 23". Legislative Assembly of Alberta. Retrieved December 9, 2012.[permanent dead link]
^"Election Accountability Amendment Act, 2012 - Section 105" (PDF). 2012 Bill 7, First Session, 28th Legislature. Legislative Assembly of Alberta. December 5, 2012. Retrieved December 9, 2012.
^"More disclosure of donors required under new election laws". CBC News. Edmonton. November 20, 2012. Retrieved March 16, 2021.
^"28th Legislature, 1st Session (2012)". Legislative Assembly of Alberta. Retrieved December 9, 2012.
^"Vote early Advance vote: Oct. 4–11, 2017 (except Oct. 9)" (PDF). Calgary elections. nd. Retrieved October 7, 2017.
^Anderson, Drew (October 16, 2017). "Nenshi wins 3rd term as Calgary's mayor in election marred by long voter lineups, ballot shortages". CBC News. Calgary. Retrieved March 20, 2021.
^"Official Results". calgary.ca. City of Calgary. Archived from the original on December 30, 2017. Retrieved March 20, 2021.
^Markusoff, Jason (May 24, 2013). "Council candidates embrace push to make donor lists public before vote". Calgary Herald. Archived from the original on September 14, 2015. Retrieved September 2, 2013.
^ abFletcher, Robson; Anderson, Drew (August 28, 2017). "Save Calgary's campaign against city councillors raises questions about 3rd-party electoral laws: What's Save Calgary? It's not easy to find out, and some say that's a problem for democracy". CBC News. Retrieved August 31, 2017.
^"About". Save Calgary. nd. Retrieved August 31, 2017.
^Julie, Alyssa (August 29, 2017). "Mayor Nenshi, Druh Farrell tell Save Calgary group to 'stop hiding behind anonymity'". Global News. Retrieved August 31, 2017.
^Janda, Kenneth; Berry, Jeffrey M.; Goldman, Jerry (December 19, 2008). The Challenge of Democracy: American Government in a Global World (10 ed.). Boston: Cengage Learning. p. 309. ISBN 978-0547204543. Retrieved August 31, 2017.
^ abcdefFletcher, Robson (October 5, 2017). "Calgary's 'wild west' of campaign finance law likely to change — after the election: Province plans to review relatively lax laws governing municipal elections sometime next year". CBC News. Calgary. Retrieved October 7, 2017.
Sourcesedit
"Official Results". calgary.ca. City of Calgary. Archived from the original on December 30, 2017. Retrieved March 20, 2021.
