Ward 9 Coun. Gian-Carlo Carra offered not one, but two separate apologies fulfilling that part of the sanctions handed down by Calgary’s integrity commissioner.
Coun. Carra had indicated that he would be apologizing at the July 26 combined meeting of council, the final meeting before summer break.
Carra was sanctioned by the integrity commissioner after two complaints. One involved a failure to disclose an Inglewood property holding and the other was related to a social media post.
In his apology, Coun. Carra maintained this was a paperwork mistake. He said after a protracted contractual and very public seven-year per-development process on the 66 New Street SE property – and consultation with private counsel and two ethics commissioners – he tried to achieve the “highest possible ethical conduct with regards to my family’s evolving interest in 66 New Street SE.”
He admitted he should have listed the property in 2015 and then again in 2021.
“While this was a paperwork mistake, I take that seriously, and I’m grateful that this kind of records management and disclosure is important to how councillors are required to conduct themselves,” Carra said in council.
“I accept the commissioner’s ruling, and council’s sanction, and I apologize to council and all Calgarians.”
Carra’s second apology was with regard to a quote tweet on Twitter chastising fellow councillors for voting with Coun. Sean Chu.
“While I value disagreement and debate on matters of public interest between members of council, and I’ve used social media as an important venue for such discussions, I stepped over the line in how I engaged in some of those discussions,” Carra said.
Further debate on further investigation
Yet to come in Tuesday’s combined meeting of council is the Notice of Motion to forward Carra’s property investigation to both the province and the Calgary police.
Previously, Coun. Jennifer Wyness said that precedent had already been set with regards to financial matters on council. To that end, it warranted further review by police, she said.
Coun. Sonya Sharp had said that there are aspects of the investigation that could be governed by the Municipal Government Act. The city’s integrity commissioner has limited authority and can only investigate matters related to the council code of conduct.
They may get to this notice of motion Tuesday evening. If not, it will be discussed Wednesday.
Carra must still have ethics and records management training before his sanctions will be fulfilled.
