The City of Calgary has received a notice of petition for the recall of Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek, as per provincial rules.
The petition against Prabhjot Kaur “Jyoti” Gondek was received Jan. 30, 2024, according to Calgary’s City Clerk, Kate Martin. The recall is allowed under changes made in 2022 to the Municipal Government Act, defined by the Local Authorities Election Act, to file a petition to recall elected officials, including municipal ones.
“The role of the City Clerk is to administer the process set out in the Municipal Government Act. This includes receiving, verifying and publishing any compliant notices of recall petitions,” said Martin.
“This is the first notice of recall petition that has been received by the City Clerk’s Office since the legislation took effect.”
The representative for the recall is Landon Johnston. LWC has reached out to Mr. Johnston but hasn’t yet received a response.
It’s no secret that Calgary city council has faced its share of turmoil. That’s manifested itself in some of the poorest approval ratings of a mayor or council in recent history. This council has dealt with significant property tax hikes (7.8 per cent) due to $170 million in additional investments made in transit, public safety and affordable housing. But, they’ve also dealt with hot-button issues like city-wide rezoning, the recent single-use items bylaw, and myriad other issues – like fireworks for Canada Day.
The mayor herself has been the focal point of criticism on municipal issues and created substantial controversy prior in December after she opted to not attend the annual city hall menorah lighting, citing the political nature in which it was being promoted.
Mayor Gondek responded shortly after the recall was made public.
“In October 2021, Calgarians put their faith in me to be a mayor who could bring balance and stability to this city at a time when polarized ideologies stood to divide us,” the mayor said in a statement to the media.
“I remain steadfastly committed to the work of building a future that holds opportunity and prosperity for everyone who lives here. We have work to do. Onward.”
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Recall petition rules
With the recall petition now deemed compliant and posted online, the applicant now has 60 days to collect the required number of signatures. According to the City, the recall petition will be measured against a total population of 1,285,711, meaning that they will need 514,284 signatures in that time.
“For the petition to be successful, the representative recall petitioner must collect signatures from at least 40 per cent of the population within the city of Calgary,” Martin said.
“All signatures must be original signatures and a recall petition may not be signed in digital form.”
It's worth noting that in the 2021 municipal election, out of 847,556 registered voters, 393,090 cast a ballot, representing 46.38 per cent.
Once the petition is submitted, there is a 45-day period to determine the sufficiency of the petition. In that time, the following will happen:
- Elections Calgary will first count and verify that the signatures total 40 per cent of a Ward or Municipality.
- They will then use a random statistical sampling method with 95 per cent confidence level to determine the sufficiency of the petition. This includes:
- Confirmation that each page of the recall petition contains a notice of recall petition
- Confirmation ONLY original signatures have been collected
- A review of each signature line to ensure the required information was provided (name, address, contact information, data, signature)
- A confirmation that each signature has an accompanying signature from an adult witness, who, to the best of their knowledge is witnessing the signature of a person eligible to do so and signed the required affidavit.
"Incomplete or invalid signatures are screened out and are not included in the final count. If it becomes clear during any part of the verification process the final count will not meet the 40 per cent threshold, no further verification is done," read an email response from the City of Calgary to questions on the process.
If successful, the person named in the petition is recalled and they are no longer a member of council.
If there are 12 or more months before the next municipal general election, a by-election would be called to fill the seat.
The details of the recall petition can be found here.
