Ward 9 Coun. Gian-Carlo Carra has stepped away from his role on Calgary Police Commission pending an investigation into a recent incident.
The Calgary Police Commission confirmed the news Monday afternoon.
“Councilllor Gian-Carlo Carra has voluntarily stepped back from his role on the Calgary Police Commission while he addresses a personal matter,” read a statement from the commission.
“His position is currently being held for him, but he will not be participating in any meetings or able to access any confidential Commission information until the matter is resolved.”
Both the Calgary and Edmonton police confirmed they were made aware of an incident involving “an elected official.”
“In the interest of transparency and best practices, we have reached out to the Edmonton Police Service (EPS) to request they lead an independent investigation of the circumstances,” read a statement from the Calgary Police Service (CPS).
LiveWire Calgary has learned the matter involved an alleged road rage incident.
Neither the Calgary police nor Edmonton police would confirm any details. The Edmonton police did confirm they’d received a request to investigate an incident involving two members of the public, including an elected official.
“As the referral was just recently received and the investigation is in its infancy there is no additional information that can be shared at this time,” a statement from EPS read.
Coun. Carra, reached via text Monday afternoon said that he couldn’t confirm or comment on any part of the matter at this time.
Statement made on Tuesday by Carra
The Ward 9 councillor made a statement on social media on Tuesday. Writing on Twitter, he said “as this matter is under investigation, it is highly irregular to have information shared publicly at this point in time.”
He said that he was attempting to clarify the situation, “to the extent it’s prudent to do so.”
Coun. Carra said that he was walking his dog on April 2, alleging that a driver ran a stop sign trapping his dog underneath the vehicle.
“The driver then stopped, reversed back to me, and the two occupants left their vehicle and began verbally accosting me,” he wrote.
“The driver admitted that he did not see me but became increasingly verbally irate as I stood my ground, escalated to physically assaulting me. I defended myself from the assault as best I could in the moment.”
Coun. Carra said that a member the Calgary Police Service attended the incident.
He said that that he was aware that an investigation was underway, but learnt through the media that the Edmonton Police Service had been asked to take over the investigation.
“As an elected City Councillor and sitting member of the Calgary Police Commission, I support measures that maintain impartiality—for my protection and the driver and the passenger involved—and I believe it’s completely appropriate that I recuse myself from the Commission until this matter is resolved.”
Carra was appointed to the Calgary Commission after being re-elected in Ward 9 in October’s 2021 municipal election.
Mayor Jyoti Gondek said no comment while under investigation
Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek said that while police were investigating Carra’s situation, she didn’t want to comment.
She said according to the Police Act, they can appoint two people to the commission. With Carra’s temporary withdrawal, that leaves Ward 8 Coun. Courtney Walcott as the lone council representative.
“We will wait and see if that’s something that we need to take action on,” the mayor said.
Ward 10 Coun. Andre Chabot suggested a month is the most council should wait before ensuring another voice is on CPC.
“Being as there’s an active investigation underway, I think it would be the right thing to do to step aside and let somebody else take over those responsibilities until the matters resolved,” Chabot said.
Chabot wasn’t aware of any urgent notice of motion to address the matter.
