A step toward studying the spread of false information in Calgary stirred controversy among council members, especially when the motion proposed elected officials themselves being part of the problem. 

During a meeting of the Calgary city council Executive Committee on May 13, Ward 8 Coun. Courtney Walcott presented his Notice of Motion, which sought to analyze the status of false information within Calgary’s public and government spaces. 

On technical merit, the motion was passed and is expected to be formally debated at a later date.

The motion requested that an entity separate from the municipal government investigate the extent to which false information exists in Calgary and, if so, who the main perpetrators are — whether that be members of the public, non-profit groups, or the media.

Walcott’s inspiration for the motion was not only the international increase in the spread of false information, but also how this has brought citizens to have little confidence in their government.

Citing a post-campaign survey conducted by Leger earlier this month, Walcott said that 77 per cent of Canadians believed that misinformation had a major impact on the federal election result. 

“It is a massive problem…especially as we get more and more polarized,” he said. 

What caused uproar from certain elected officials, however, was the motion’s main purpose: asking that a third-party consultation be employed to review the role that councillors and the administration play in spreading false information.

Ward 13 Coun. Dan McLean said that his primary problem with the motion was that it authorized requesting funding during the 2026 budget meeting.

If the motion were to be put into effect, McLean said that this would mean using taxpayer money to fund a form of censorship. He said that citizens should get to decide where and what their money funds, not the government. 

“The public, they’re smart — we don’t need to tell them what to think,” said McLean. 

What is false information, and who makes that call?

According to the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security, misinformation, disinformation, and malinformation (MDM) all refer to false information. The differences between them are that one does not intentionally inflict harm, the second does intend to inflict harm, and the third is an exaggeration of the truth. 

Calgary’s municipal representatives are bound to following The Code of Conduct for Elected Officials. The bylaw requires members of the council to act reasonably and in the best interest of the city without undermining the confidence the public has in another member. 

Walcott wrote in his motion that councillors spreading MDM is a violation of the code because “it actively undermines public trust in government, and is widely perceived as being a threat to our democratic institutions nationwide.”

The Integrity Commission is responsible for overseeing council conduct, including investigations that either externally or internally verify instances where members voiced MDM. 

However, with the Alberta Government’s proposal of Bill 50, the Municipal Affairs Statutes Amendment Act, this could mean the removal of local codes of conduct province-wide.

Especially concerning the construction of the Green Line LRT, Walcott said that he already considers false information a major threat to Calgary’s democracy. If Bill 50 passes, Walcott said he sees this worsening.

“There’s a gap between what people believe versus what they receive and what they report,” he said. 

“Some of our biggest projects have been really impacted by misinformation.”

However, McLean said that he feels that the motion should fail on technical merit because he figures it’s unlikely that the conversation will be relevant at the time of the next debate.

“In a couple of months, the province is going to wipe out the Integrity Commissioners for the possibility of using it as a weapon to silence certain views,” he said. 

Despite McLean’s political push-back, Walcott defended his motion and said that he’s not trying to censor fellow councillors, but rather ensure that Calgarians feel optimistic about the facts laid out by their municipal representatives. 

“I think what people want this to be is they want this to be something where someone tells them what the truth is,” he said. 

“Actually, I just want to make sure I give you good information.”

If the motion passes at council, the third-party consultant group will be instructed to present their findings on the health of Calgary’s public discourse by the end of 2025.