To promote greater transparency and gain clarity on key issues affecting community associations, the Federation has distributed a short survey to all mayoral candidates for the upcoming 2025 municipal election. Our goal is to help our members understand each candidate’s platforms, so that you can make the decisions that best support your community.
Disclaimer:
This survey was distributed to all mayoral candidates participating in the 2025 municipal election. The responses provided by the candidates have been reproduced exactly as submitted, without any alterations or editing on our part. Therefore, the views and positions expressed in each response are solely those of the individual mayoral candidate.
The Federation is non-partisan and does not support any candidate. We are sharing these responses for educational and informational purposes only.
Click the links or scroll down to see the Mayoral Candidates responses to our survey questions:
Brian Thiessen, The Calgary Party
Website: thecalgaryparty.ca
This candidate did not respond to our survey.
Grant Prior, Independent
Website: grantprior.ca
How will you strengthen the role of community associations in city planning and development decisions?
We are all in this together. The city needs feedback from its constituents. Like anyone, we all have blind spots and can’t know everything about every community. So we need feedback.
What steps will you take to ensure equitable engagement of all Calgarians — including marginalized or underrepresented groups — in civic decision-making?
Make a place at the table, and welcome them. I was brought up to help those who need it. I will never punch down.
How will you ensure that the voices of community volunteers — who provide tens of thousands of hours annually — are valued and supported by City administration?
Be their voices, if they let me. Talk about them when I’m in public, work with them any chance I get. Give them the props they deserve for making this City great. Any maybe some Tim’s gift cards!! 🙂
What is your vision for how neighbourhoods should evolve over the next decade, and how will you balance citywide growth goals with preserving and enhancing local character and wellbeing?
That’s tough, we need houses. We have to get our kids and grandkids into homes, for a safe an equitable future. We can push for growth but with community input, we can stem taking all the character away. I won’t lie and say there won’t be sacrifices to be made. But from one parent to another, that’s kind a what parenting is. (Sacrifice)
How will you support the revitalization and redevelopment of aging community infrastructure — such as community halls, parks, and recreational facilities — to enhance neighbourhood wellbeing and meet the evolving needs of Calgarians?
I’m all for helping those who have helped and sacrificed so much for us. I will make helping aging communities and people a priority. Fixing or replacing third spaces and making sure grandma can get her swim on!
Jeromy Farkas, Independent
Website: jeromy.ca
How will you strengthen the role of community associations in city planning and development decisions?
Community associations make this city work. As someone who has been a volunteer, non-profit CEO, a community association executive and a life long supporter of community associations I recognize their importance and also understand the barriers to success some associations have in dealing with the city.
Everyday as mayor, I will work to empower our social sector and our neighbourhood organizations. Through policies like the creation of tax receipts for donations to community organizations, inviting nonprofits to piggyback on City purchasing, and the appointment of a dedicated councillor to advocate for nonprofits and neighbourhood groups. As mayor, I will strengthen our community associations across the city and better enable them to do their vital work.
My full volunteer leadership plan is at https://www.jeromy.ca/policy-brief/stronger-together/.
What steps will you take to ensure equitable engagement of all Calgarians — including marginalized or underrepresented groups — in civic decision-making?
Everyone deserves a voice at the table. I will foster greater formal partnerships with the Federation of Calgary Communities and the Nonprofit Chamber, creating channels for consultation, joint planning, and policy input. This allows a consistent voice in policy making.
I will condemn discrimination against vulnerable communities by investing in community-led education, and actively championing broad representation across City boards and commissions. I also pledge to host regular town halls with interpretation services and direct connections to city departments. I will also establish a Mayor’s Settlement Services Roundtable, which will help coordinate, track and ensure lived experience informs civic policy. This embeds settlement services as a core part of municipal planning, funding, and coordination between city departments.
How will you ensure that the voices of community volunteers — who provide tens of thousands of hours annually — are valued and supported by City administration?
I will ensure that the voices of community volunteers are valued and supported through codifying formal partnerships, continued presence and engagement, and the tangible actions laid out in my volunteer leadership plan: https://www.jeromy.ca/policy-brief/stronger-together/
Calgary’s volunteers are the heart of our city, contributing tens of thousands of hours each year to everything from rink flooding and park maintenance to festival organizing and community safety. As mayor, I will ensure their voices are heard and their efforts respected by cutting red tape, waiving unnecessary City fees that impede those doing public good, and establishing dedicated channels to support and streamline their work. I will also ensure that community volunteers have a seat at the table in planning decisions that affect them, including more formal recognition of outstanding service–especially from youth and seniors.
What is your vision for how neighbourhoods should evolve over the next decade, and how will you balance citywide growth goals with preserving and enhancing local character and wellbeing?
With Calgary growing to over 2 million by the end of the decade, we have to be prepared. I’ll empower communities to have greater influence in change and growth. I will work with Council to repeal the blanket rezoning bylaw and replace it with a targeted plan that builds homes faster, more cost effectively, and in the appropriate locations with community involvement.
We can welcome new Calgarians while also protecting what makes our communities work. I’ll work to implement an infrastructure alignment requirement to ensure that any major proposal has a plan for timing and funding of necessary infrastructure. This will allow the community to have an open and honest dialogue with the City. My full housing plan is available at https://www.jeromy.ca/policy-brief/restoring-certainty.
How will you support the revitalization and redevelopment of aging community infrastructure — such as community halls, parks, and recreational facilities — to enhance neighbourhood wellbeing and meet the evolving needs of Calgarians?
Revitalizing aging community infrastructure like halls, parks, and rec centres is key to neighbourhood wellbeing. I will champ There is a clear divide across the city on park maintenance. Some communities enjoy pristine, high-functioning parks while others are left to deal with worn-out equipment and overgrown trails. As Mayor, I will champion a citywide Parks Maintenance which ensures ever Calgarian has access to quality greenspace. I’ll advance a ban on the sale of public parks. I’ll also champion the inclusion of lifecycle and operations funding in every capital project from day one.
Going forward, we must modernize aging parks so that safety standards, environmental and social inclusion standards are met. Every Calgarian deserves access to parks and public spaces that work. The implementation of public feedback into the Connect: Calgary’s Parks Plan will allow greater opportunity for dialogue between users and the city itself. My full parks plan is available at https://www.jeromy.ca/policy-brief/parks-and-places-that-connect/.
Jyoti Gondek, Independent
Website: jyotigondek.ca
How will you strengthen the role of community associations in city planning and development decisions?
It was my own time volunteering with my local community association that inspired me to pursue a path of public service, leading me to roles on the Community Representation Framework Task Force, the CalgaryPlanning Commission, and eventually, to serving as your Mayor. This journey has rooted in me a profound appreciation for anyone who puts up their hand to volunteer for their community.Community Associations are a key figure in relaying information from Council and the City to theresidents. In order to strengthen that role, we need to make it easier for information to flowbetween the two bodies. Adding notification alerts to Development Permit Applications,establishing the Planning Liaison Program, and staying in direct contact with organizations likethe Federation of Calgary Communities, Neighbourhood Partnership Coordinators, andBusiness Improvement Areas are all ways I have supported enhancing and streamlining theCity’s relationship with Community Associations.We have worked to secure temporary funding for some of these programs through the Federalgovernment, and I will commit to working with other orders of government and CityAdministration to ensure we are able to permanently fund these initiatives.
What steps will you take to ensure equitable engagement of all Calgarians — including marginalized or underrepresented groups — in civic decision-making?
It is no secret that when interacting with the City, not all neighbourhoods or groups are beingheard. There are many barriers to advocacy in regards to civic decision making – access toreliable transportation, flexible working hours, childcare, physical or language abilities, and ofcourse the amount of time it takes to be an informed citizen and follow the decisions of Council.Groups like community associations, BIAs, or even informal community and cultural groups areoften much closer to residents than their elected officials. Leveraging those communityrelationships to execute more fulsome engagement would help ensure the exchangedinformation is relevant and contextual to the specific community members of a given area. BothCity Administration and elected officials utilizing these community groups as liaisons to thegeneral public will help us achieve more fair and equitable engagement outcomes.
How will you ensure that the voices of community volunteers — who provide tens of thousands of hours annually — are valued and supported by City administration?
Each community group across Calgary is made up of volunteers. Calgary proudly boasts thehighest volunteer rate per capita in Canada, and our community associations alone engage over20,000 volunteers each year. While it is an incredible privilege that we have a communityfeedback model so strong, the hard work of the volunteer sector and the high rate of burnoutmust also be acknowledged and addressed.Volunteers feel best when they have a space to gather, a clear goal, and are heard by theirpartners at the City in their pursuit of said goal. Drastically reduced provincial funding and agingcommunity facilities are top of mind in terms of keeping volunteers engaged – fundingcommunity groups and their spaces is not optional, but essential.Throughout my community group and elected positions in Calgary, I have supported each callfor funding, each request to the Provincial and Federal governments for support, and initiatedthe work to preserve amenity space and fund partnership programs between volunteers and theCity. I have always voted in favour of funding programs that address these needs, like thePlanning Liaison program, the Community Spaces Investment Program, and the revised CapitalConservation Grants. When volunteers see their Council is working to help them, when theyhave spaces to meet and host from, and when they know they have dedicated guides within thecity system, morale is higher. I will continue to pursue permanent funding, meet directly withcommunity groups of all varieties, and help make sure the thousands of hours of volunteer work pay off.
What is your vision for how neighbourhoods should evolve over the next decade, and how will you balance city wide growth goals with preserving and enhancing local character and wellbeing?
I recognize how deeply personal and important our neighbourhoods and homes are to us. I’vetalked with Calgarians who proudly reflect on multiple generations of their family having lived inthe same neighbourhood – a very special privilege. We all fall in love with the character of theplaces we choose to call home. At the same time, our city is growing, and housing prices areskyrocketing – I fear the next generation won’t be able to afford a home nearby, if at all. Or thatour seniors cannot age in the area of their choice.This is why part of the solution is to increase housing choices in a variety of neighbourhoods sothat our children and our aging parents alike have options they can afford. Housing choice doesnot mean only rowhouses, or apartments, or single family – it means a bit of each.During the development process, engaging residents must also remain a priority. This ensuresthat growth and development are not only aligned with the needs and desires of currentresidents but also preserve the unique character and heritage of each neighborhood.Infrastructure upgrades, access to amenities, and preservation of historical sites must always befactored into decision making so that every development is considered within the context of itsNeighbourhood.After the rezoning hearing, roughly two dozen amendments were made before the motionpassed. The amendments were directly influenced by community feedback, addressing aspectrum of concerns related to access to transit, parking, and the allowance of secondary andbackyard suites. Community feedback mattered then, and it will continue to be incorporated moving forward.
How will you support the revitalization and redevelopment of aging community infrastructure — such as community halls, parks, and recreational facilities — to enhance neighbourhood wellbeing and meet the evolving needs of Calgarians?
As Calgary continues to grow at a rapid pace, we have to strike a balance between building newamenities, bringing older ones up to date, and ensuring both inner-city and suburban areashave access to community spaces, parks, and recreation.I initiated some of this work in April of this year. I proposed and successfully passed a motion totake $20 million from the 2024 Enmax dividend to support capital upgrades at eight different cityfacilities, including Prairie Winds Park, Shouldice Park and the Bowness pool. At the time, Irecognized the need and saw the opportunity before me to make a small dent in Calgary’sinfrastructure deficit.But that deficit is ballooning and one-time funding here and there will not be able to meetCalgarians’ expectations of what we should provide at the City. I will continue to search for newavenues of funding, particularly from other levels of government. As an example, in the past theAlberta government provided per capita funding for recreation. That has decreased dramaticallysince Calgary hosted the 1988 Olympics but that’s an example of how we can, and should,receive financial support from our provincial partners. As they City movies forward with ourrecreation strategy, GamePlan, to address these gaps, it is vital we receive ongoing supportfrom other jurisdictions to meet the evolving needs of Calgarians.
Larry R. Heather, Independent
Website: democracyattwilight.org
This candidate did not respond to our survey.
Sonya Sharp, Communities First
Website: sharpformayor.ca
How will you strengthen the role of community associations in city planning and development decisions?
As councillor, I have consistently stood up for communities. Most notably, by opposing blanket rezoning that ignored the majority local input, including most Community Associations, and pushed change onto neighbourhoods without real consultation. As mayor, I will lead with a clear principle: communities come first. I will restore the role of Community Associations and Calgarians as essential partners in planning and development decisions. More often than not, it was Community Association board members or volunteers coming to speak at Public Hearing Meetings of Council to give us the insight of the people who actually live in these streets on how their communities should or should not grow. As Mayor, City Hall will listen to residents early on, respect the character of established neighbourhoods, and ensure feedback is managed and reflected realistically and responsibly. That’s how we build a city that is not only growing, but safe, welcoming, and grounded in the voices of its people.
What steps will you take to ensure equitable engagement of all Calgarians — including marginalized or underrepresented groups — in civic decision-making?
As Councillor, myself and my other Communities First councillors successfully passed a motion to strengthen transparency and improve how the City engages with residents. Calgary is growing and we are fortunate to have diverse communities and this initiative is designed to make community feedback a more meaningful and consistent part of Council’s decision-making, ensuring that the voices of Calgarians are not only heard but clearly reflected in the City’s work. I know that engagement is about more than process, it’s about truly listening and incorporating what residents share to make better decisions. The motion directs Administration to adopt best practices, report back to Council by Q2 2025, and align resources during budget deliberations to support these improvements, marking a significant step toward more accountable and transparent governance. As mayor, I will continue this type of work and champion the role of Community Associations in every decision. A safe and thriving city is one where everyone feels heard and included. On Council, I’ve pushed Administration to improve transparency and put people over politics. As mayor, I’ll expand engagement so it truly reaches every Calgarian. That means accessible formats, multiple languages, and outreach in neighbourhoods, not just City Hall boardrooms. I’ll work with trusted community leaders to make sure marginalized voices are part of the conversation. My commitment is simple: City government must reflect the diversity of the people it serves, and under my leadership, it will.
How will you ensure that the voices of community volunteers — who provide tens of thousands of hours annually — are valued and supported by City administration?
Volunteers are the foundation of safe and strong neighbourhoods. In Ward 1, I’ve seen how tens of thousands of hours from community members sustain our community amenities, events, and programs. On Council, I’ve worked to cut red tape through these processes and give volunteers the support they deserve. I’ve written countless letters of support, provided funding for many community events, and attended and promoted events, too. As mayor, I will go further. I’ll ensure that this Council actively supports community-led initiatives, prioritizes reliable funding for local programs, and treats volunteers as valued partners in building a strong sense of community. A city that values its volunteers is a city that thrives and that’s the kind of leadership I will bring.
What is your vision for how neighbourhoods should evolve over the next decade, and how will you balance citywide growth goals with preserving and enhancing local character and wellbeing?
My vision is clear: safe streets, vibrant communities, and smart growth that respects local character. On Council, I opposed rushed political gestures like the Climate Strategy, plastic bag bylaw, and blanket rezoning because they ignored practical realities the communities are facing. As mayor, I’ll lead with common sense. I’ll ensure growth is paired with the infrastructure and services families need; reliable water services, parks, transit, and policing, without taking away the voices of the community who live and know their communities best. I will implement a fix-it-first mentality and not throw good money after bad, so that families don’t have to second guess where they should invest and put down their roots. I will advocate to the upper levels of government on seniors housing, affordable housing, and the right tools to address the mental health and drug addiction crisis that every community is feeling the impacts of. My term as mayor will be about balance: a city that grows responsibly while keeping residents safe, connected, and proud of where they live.
How will you support the revitalization and redevelopment of aging community infrastructure — such as community halls, parks, and recreational facilities — to enhance neighbourhood wellbeing and meet the evolving needs of Calgarians?
Community halls, parks, and recreation centres are where neighbours come together, and they are central to both safety and belonging. As councillor, I’ve pushed for budgets that refocus spending on core responsibilities, not pet projects. As mayor, I’ll lead a sensible government that prioritizes reinvestment in community infrastructure. That means ensuring our facilities are modern, safe, and accessible, while putting tax dollars where Calgarians actually see value. Strong infrastructure builds strong communities. Under my leadership, City Hall will finally get its priorities straight