Calgary city councillors will soon decide whether they should require a criminal record check for candidates in the 2025 municipal election.

That item will be a part of a package that’s planned to come to the Nov. 26 regular meeting of council. There, they will get a report from the Elections Calgary returning officer on the Elections Bylaw and the impact of Bill 20 amendments to the Local Authorities Election Act.

While the plan to include municipal political parties will take much of the spotlight, one of the changes, which will come into effect Oct. 31, 2024, is the ability of a municipality to require criminal record checks for potential Calgary city councillors.

Earlier this week, Edmonton city council voted against having the criminal record check for candidates. They cited objections like the impact on racial or marginalized people, the cost, young adult mistakes and the fact it’s not required for provincial or federal government candidates.

Ward 11 Coun. Kourtney Penner this has been an evolving conversation across the province. Some municipalities, unlike Edmonton, voted in favour of it.

“I believe that councillors are in a position where they are exposed to and are working with vulnerable populations, and so a criminal record check wouldn’t preclude you from running, it would just provide more information on part of who you are,” Penner said.

Penner said that at this point she leans toward having it. She’s open to listening to other viewpoints on the matter.

Many jobs and immigration streams, along with volunteer positions for things like childcare youth sports, require a criminal check. They often require a vulnerable sector check before one can participate in those activities.

It should go even further than a criminal record check for councillors: Coun. Sharp

Ward 1 Coun. Sonya Sharp said you need a criminal record check for a variety of positions. It should “definitely” be a requirement for elected officials, she said.

“It’s no different for elected officials, who are public servants, to also make sure they’re clear of any sort of crime, having a clean background when you’re dealing with citizens,” she said.

“I’ll take it one step further. I think elected official office members should also have those police checks, because they go to events on your behalf.”

Sharp doesn’t buy the argument that it’s not required by other levels of government, too.

“I think this should be set as an example. I think it should be required in all levels, as elected officials from city, provincial and federal,” she said.

“If you have a fundamental problem with getting a background police check to run, you should not be running.”

Stephen Carter, chief strategist for the newly formed municipal political party the Calgary Party, said there are so many constraints, that it won’t really have any utility for a municipal political party. He asked what’s the problem that’s being solved that the electorate can’t solve themselves.

Carter also points out that for things like a conditional discharge, or a summary conviction it only stays on a record for three to five years.  An indictable conviction stays on a record indefinitely unless a person applies for a suspension (aka pardon).

“If you do a criminal check, are you keeping people out of office that shouldn’t be there? Where’s the examples of this that are happening?” Carter said.

“Sean Chu would have been allowed to run. His transgressions were never criminal. I mean, they are criminal, but they weren’t criminal in terms of him being convicted. So, what is it? What is the ill that they’re trying to get rid of?

Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek said that it will be an interesting discussion next month. She said the one thing council should keep in mind is that in a democracy, if someone is accused of a crime and did their time, they’ve paid their due.

“I want to make sure that individuals who have done something in the past and are now wanting to contribute to society have that chance,” she said.

Mayor Gondek said she would be in favour of a vulnerable sector check (which digs deeper into charges, warrants, custody arrangement, restraining orders) as members of council are often dealing with vulnerable populations.

Calgary’s next municipal election is on October 20, 2024.