Calgary municipal election, 2007
Encyclopedia
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
trustee
s (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.
in the previous Calgary municipal election was 19.8%, while in the 2001 municipal elections it was 38%.
2007 in Canada
Events from the year 2007 in Canada.-January to March:*January 5 - The domed roof of BC Place Stadium in Vancouver collapses.*January 11 - A major blizzard rips through Central Saskatchewan....
. The citizens of Calgary
Calgary
Calgary is a city in the Province of Alberta, Canada. It is located in the south of the province, in an area of foothills and prairie, approximately east of the front ranges of the Canadian Rockies...
elected one mayor, 12 of their 14 aldermen (one from each of 14 wards) to the city council
Calgary City Council
The Calgary City Council is the legislative governing body that represents the citizens of Calgary. The Council consists of two offices; Office of the Mayor and Office of the Alderman. Naheed Nenshi was elected to the Office of the Mayor in October 2010 as the city's 36th chief executive...
, five of the seven Calgary School District
Calgary Board of Education
The Calgary Board of Education is the public school board in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. As a public system, the CBE is required to accept any students who meet age and residency requirements, regardless of religion.-Size:...
trustee
Trustee
Trustee is a legal term which, in its broadest sense, can refer to any person who holds property, authority, or a position of trust or responsibility for the benefit of another...
s (each representing 2 of 14 wards), and three of the seven Calgary Catholic School District
Calgary Catholic School District
The Calgary Catholic School District is the Roman Catholic separate school board in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. It also serves the neighboring communities of Airdrie, Chestermere, and Cochrane...
trustees (each representing 2 of 14 wards). All but one of the incumbent
Incumbent
The incumbent, in politics, is the existing holder of a political office. This term is usually used in reference to elections, in which races can often be defined as being between an incumbent and non-incumbent. For example, in the 2004 United States presidential election, George W...
councillors ran again in this election (Barry Erskine, of Ward 11), and two incumbents were returned by acclamation
Acclamation
An acclamation, in its most common sense, is a form of election that does not use a ballot. "Acclamation" or "acclamatio" can also signify a kind of ritual greeting and expression of approval in certain social contexts in ancient Rome.-Voting:...
. 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
Alberta municipal elections, 2007
Municipal elections were held in Alberta, Canada on Monday, October 15, 2007. Since 1968, provincial legislation has required every municipality to hold triennial elections...
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.
Mayor
| Candidate | Votes | % |
|---|---|---|
| Dave Bronconnier Dave Bronconnier David 'Dave' Thomas Bronconnier is a Canadian politician, who served as the 35th Mayor of Calgary, Alberta.- Biography :... |
128,112 | 61.08% |
| Alnoor Kassam | 35,442 | 16.90% |
| Sandy Jenkins | 16,531 | 7.88% |
| Jeremy Zhao | 8,025 | 3.83% |
| Allan Foster | 6,455 | 3.08% |
| David Bertram | 5,549 | 2.65% |
| Elizabeth Kaur Fielding | 4,010 | 1.91% |
| Harry Heck | 3,811 | 1.82% |
| J. J. Sunstrum | 1,813 | 0.86% |
Aldermen
| Ward 1 | |Ward 2 | |Ward 3 | |Ward 4 | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Votes | % | Candidate | Votes | % | Candidate | Votes | % | Candidate | Votes | % |
| Dale Hodges | 12,059 | 56.1% | Gord Lowe | 10,269 | 61.1% | Jim Stevenson | 5,452 | 36.86 | Bob Hawkesworth Bob Hawkesworth Robert "Bob" Andrew Hawkesworth is a Canadian politician and a former member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta.Hawkesworth attended the University of Alberta and the University of Calgary before being elected in 1980 to Calgary City Council as alderman for Ward 3... |
10,555 | 73.9% |
| Jennifer Banks | 8,579 | 39.9% | Biagio Magliocca | 3,979 | 23.7% | George Chahal | 5,419 | 36.64 | Richard Evans | 2,632 | 18.4% |
| Normand Perrault | 869 | 4.0% | Terry Avramenko | 2,242 | 13.3% | Helene Larocque | 3,919 | 26.50 | Alex Peterson | 1,088 | 7.6% |
| Ward 5 | Daniel M. Del Re | 312 | 1.9% | Ward 6 | |Ward 7 | ||||||
| Ray Jones | 7,590 | 79.6% | Joe Connelly | 9,068 | 46.6% | Druh Farrell | 8,998 | 68.9% | |||
| Mohamed El-Rafih | 1,945 | 20.4% | Craig Burrows | 6,594 | 33.9% | Barry Elridge | 2,249 | 17.2% | |||
| Ward 8 | |Ward 9 | James Donald Istvanffy | 2,732 | 14.0% | Merle Terlesky Merle Terlesky Merle Terlesky is a Canadian conservative activist and aspiring politician originally from Kamloops, British Columbia. Once affiliated with the Ontario Coalition for Abortion Clinics, a pro-choice organization based in Toronto, Ontario, Terlesky has since become pro-life... |
1,280 | 9.8% | ||||
| John Mar | 4,014 | 31.6% | Joe Ceci Joe Ceci Joe Ceci has been the alderman in Ward 9 in Calgary, Alberta since 1995.In his 2004-2007 term he has been a founding member community safety councils in Inglewood-Ramsay and Forest Lawn... |
7,213 | 56.6% | James Kohut | 852 | 4.4% | Jag Aithal | 532 | 4.1% |
| Madeline King | 3,847 | 30.3% | Al Koenig | 4,962 | 38.9% | Rosemary Berglund | 205 | 1.1% | |||
| Steve Chapman | 3,430 | 27.0% | Stan Waciak | 572 | 4.5% | Ward 10 | |Ward 11 | ||||
| Lindsay Luhnau | 1,412 | 11.1% | Andre Chabot Andre Chabot André Chabot is a municipal level politician in Calgary, Alberta, Canada who currently serves as the Alderman for Ward 10 of the Calgary City Council... |
8,263 | 88.6% | Brian Pincott | 6,037 | 34.2% | |||
| Nargis Dossa | 1,064 | 11.4% | Evonne Whelan | 4,490 | 25.4% | ||||||
| Ward 12 | |Ward 13 | |Ward 14 | James M. Murray | 3,353 | 19.0% | ||||||
| Richard William McIver Ric McIver Ric McIver is municipal politician and businessman from Calgary, Alberta, Canada. He is a former alderman for Ward 12 on the Calgary City Council. McIver held his post from his election in October 2001 until his run for mayor in October 2010... |
16,700 | 91.1% | Diane Colley-Urquhart Diane Colley-Urquhart Diane Marie Colley-Urquhart is municipal politician and Calgary Police Commissioner from Calgary, Alberta, Canada. She is currently a member of Calgary City Council and serves as the representative for Ward 13.-Registered Nurse:... |
Acclaimed | Linda Fox-Mellway Linda Fox-Mellway Linda Fox-Mellway is a municipal politician from Alberta, Canada. She served as Alderman for ward 14 of Calgary City Council from 1995. On October 18, 2010, Fox-Mellway was voted out of office... |
Acclaimed | Dave Matthews | 2,241 | 12.7% | ||
| Nick Halfyard | 1,634 | 8.9% | Jim Rockwell | 1,539 | 8.7% | ||||||
Public School Trustees
| Ward 1/2 | |Ward 3/4 | |Ward 5/10 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Votes | % | Candidate | Votes | % | Candidate | Votes | % |
| Gordon Dirks | Acclaimed | Lynn C. Ferguson | 14,326 | 73.6% | Pamela King | 8,927 | 73.2% | |
| Jadine Kohut | 5,136 | 26.4% | Michael P. Stefanyshyn | 3,273 | 26.8% | |||
| Ward 6/7 | |Ward 8/9 | |Ward 11/13 | ||||||
| George S. Lane | 9,039 | 45.8% | Pat Cochrane | Acclaimed | Karen Kryczka Karen Kryczka Karen Kryczka is a former politician from Alberta, Canada.Karen was first elected to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta in the 1997 Alberta general election. She served as a back bench member for the Progressive Conservatives. In 2001 she was re-elected for a second term... |
7,990 | 38.2% | |
| Greg Scott | 6,707 | 34.0% | Ward 12/14 | Deborah Duncan | 5,778 | 27.6% | ||
| Drake Hammill | 3,976 | 20.2% | Carol Bazinet | 13,720 | 69.6% | Neil Mackie | 3,752 | 17.9% |
| Gregory C. Humphreys | 5,998 | 30.4% | Kathy Power | 3,383 | 16.2% | |||
Separate School Trustees
| Ward 1/2/Cochrane | |Ward 3/5/Airdrie | |Ward 4/7 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Serafino Scarpino | Acclaimed | Linda Wellman | Acclaimed | Margaret Belcourt | Acclaimed | |||
| Ward 6/8 | |Ward 9/10/Chestermere | |Ward 11/12 | ||||||
| Candidate | Votes | % | Candidate | Votes | % | Candidate | Votes | % |
| Lois H. Burke-Gaffney | 4,564 | 66.4% | Rosemarie Goerlitz | 3,691 | 62.7% | Michael V. Annuik | 6,033 | 82.4% |
| Antoni (Tony) Grochowski | 2,313 | 33.6% | Gerald A.J. Heighes | 1,673 | 28.4% | Cathie Williams | 1,287 | 17.6% |
| Ward 13/14 | Michael O'Malley | 520 | 8.8% | |||||
| Mary Martin | Acclaimed | |||||||
Key Issues
Some of the prominent issues receiving public attention include the following (listed in alphabetical order):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 turnoutVoter turnout
Voter turnout is the percentage of eligible voters who cast a ballot in an election . After increasing for many decades, there has been a trend of decreasing voter turnout in most established democracies since the 1960s...
in the previous Calgary municipal election was 19.8%, while in the 2001 municipal elections it was 38%.
Regarding specific candidates
- Sandy Jenkins was forcibly ejected from the University of CalgaryUniversity of CalgaryThe University of Calgary is a public research university located in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Founded in 1966 the U of C is composed of 14 faculties and more than 85 research institutes and centres.More than 25,000 undergraduate and 5,500 graduate students are currently...
MacEwan Hall Ballroom by security during a WeakerthansThe WeakerthansThe Weakerthans are a four-piece Canadian indie rock band.-History:The band was formed in 1997 in Winnipeg, Manitoba by John K. Samson, after he left the punk band Propagandhi to start a publishing company. Samson joined forces with bassist John P...
concert which he sneaked in after not having paid for a ticket. - Dave Bronconnier’s fundraising has raised concerns about the impact of funding on the campaign.
- 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.
- 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.