When the United Conservative Party introduced party politics into municipal elections, it instantly became a polarizing issue for Calgary municipal candidates.

The 2024 decision has continued into the 2025 election with candidates taking strong stances on the party system—or their parties—with sometimes equally strong opinions at the doors of Calgarians.

Whether belonging to a party is helpful or a hindrance to political aspirations is being seen very differently across the board by candidates.

Top among concerns, and something quick to be refuted depending on a candidate’s connection to a municipal party, however, is whether, once elected, candidates would remain amenable to persuasion as is required under the Alberta Municipal Government Act, and whether candidates would be whipped into voting blocks. That means they must listen to a debate and be open to changing their minds.

The province said the introduction of municipal parties doesn’t change the fundamental responsibilities of elected councillors.

“The introduction of local political parties and slates in Edmonton and Calgary creates options to encourage candidates to be transparent and upfront about their priorities and political leanings so voters can make an informed decision on election day,” said Kevin Lee, Press Secretary for Dan Williams, Minister of Municipal Affairs.

“This does not change the fundamental responsibilities of municipal councillors. All municipal councillors—whether affiliated with a party, a slate, or independent—should work to represent the best interests of the constituents and communities they serve.”

That expectation of councillors working for their constituents has drawn different interpretations and concerns from candidates across the political spectrum.

Independent of party politics

Ward 8 candidate Nathaniel Schmidt said that his decision to run as an independent candidate came about as a long-standing expectation from Calgarians that candidates not belong to a party or a slate.

“You vote for somebody who is representing your ward and representing you, and then the parties bring in an extra layer of distraction and maybe confuse an expectation because of the fact that they are essentially working together as a slate. But city council doesn’t function as a slate,” he said.

“I’ve had thousands of conversations at the doors with people now that they feel uneasy about the idea, and they feel like it wasn’t completely thought out, and they’re not even clear on how this is going to work.”

He said that unease comes from voters telling him that they don’t know if they’re voting for someone who will represent their interests in council, or vote along the same lines as other members of their party.

Schmidt said that extends to having councillors outside of a party having the ability to advocate for their ward’s interests if councillors vote as slates.

“They don’t know if their representative is somebody who, if they come into city council with a party that has a majority of members from a particular part of the city or a particular political leaning, that the person they voted for would have a more difficult time advocating for the principles they presented to them in discussion and the concerns that were raised to them as concerns,” he said.

For Ward 8, which has its own set of unique challenges and development differences from other areas of Calgary, Schmidt said that running as an independent was a conscious choice to better represent those communities.

“In Ward 8, we’re not building multi-million dollar overpasses. We’re not dealing with issues that affect other wards,” he said.

“I can focus on what matters to people in Ward 8 and focus on the particular needs and unique opportunities of a ward that has a really high level of diversity when it comes to cultural diversity, political diversity, economic diversity, and also has one of the highest population densities of any ward in the city, which brings a unique set of opportunities and challenges. As an independent candidate, I would be best placed to bring those things together.”

Parties only make sense during the election

Ward 7 candidate Terry Wong, who is running for re-election as a member of the Communities First party, said that the party system will only be applicable during the election period.

“The one fundamental thing people need to understand is the party system applies only to the election. It does not apply once you get sworn in. Once you get sworn in, you are independent councillors, open to persuasion,” he said.

“Now, having said that, during the election process, people have a choice of being an independent or running with a party. I’ll say I’m against parties. The fact that the problem is put upon us puts us in a situation. You have to make a choice.”

He said that what the party system has done is put into the forefront an issue that has already existed, that being informal slates of candidates voting together.

“If you think this last council wasn’t politicized and appointing certain council members on certain boards, commissions and committees, and it wasn’t done before we even got to nomination, you’re fooling yourself. The reason why we had that nine-six voting block was the imprint was already set,” said Wong.

He said running for Communities First is a signal to voters that he has similar values and similar goals to the other candidates running for the party, both incumbents and new members.

“There’s 10 candidates out there, all subscribing to the same values, same principles, all subscribing to the same things that people are telling us that is important. Why not gravitate to them because the most important thing in an election is not just to get elected, but to ensure you got elected with people that you can work with and ultimately get that 8–7, 9–6 vote,” Wong said.

He said that collaboration was a key component to having a smooth-running council, and that is as applicable today as it was for Mayor Dave Bronconnier was in the early 2000s.

“You remember the council profile at that time, majority going with it, not every vote, but he got enough to get that vote. That’s the future I believe we’ve got to get back to, is that form of understanding, as a council, and perhaps a caucus of candidates that subscribe to the same values and principles, that can I get that 8–7 vote to get things done,” Wong said.

Wong said that collaboration had to happen long before council votes.

“We need to be able to build people with policies and bylaws together behind the scenes, debate them in front, and then have them vote accordingly, but not through a slate. That’s not what Communities First is all about,” he said.

“I can’t say that for the Calgary Party, they clearly have a different structure, and so does the [A Better Calgary] party. But for us, it’s a simple matter. Do you subscribe to these values, principles? Yes. Would you work together on an election campaign? Yes. Once you get in there, remember, you support your constituent community, as opposed to party.”

Wong used the example of a vote on cannabis sales earlier in 2025, which saw three of the four incumbent Communities First members vote against, and him for. He said he was representing the will of businesses and residents in his ward.

“The people I support now, the other three candidates, their constituents, maybe for political reasons, religious reasons, ideological, whatever, they voted according to their constituents, or perhaps even to themselves,” he said.

Parties are an outcome of the provincial campaign financing rules

Ward 4 candidate DJ Kelly, who previously ran in 2021 as an independent but joined the Calgary Party for this election, said that the party system as a whole doesn’t make a whole lot of sense for Calgary city council.

“I advocated against the creation of them. I just don’t think they’re required at city hall. Like, what’s the left-wing versus right-wing way to fill a pothole? It doesn’t make a huge amount of sense to me. City council is not primarily about public policy decisions; it’s about management of city services,” Kelly said.

He said the decision to join the party was due to how the legislation around municipal parties in Calgary and Edmonton created an uneven playing ground for candidates, particularly around fundraising.

“I was lucky enough to find a group of people who I agree with, who we have a similar take on a lot of the different things, happy to work with them directly, share some costs, like brochures with a councillor candidate on one side, the mayoral candidate on the other, trying to get those economies of scale in order to be able to get the prices down. That’s a real benefit of a party,” he said.

Kelly said the other benefit was that running a campaign is ultimately a very lonely experience.

“There’s not many people who understand what you’re actually going through while you’re going out. Your spouse doesn’t get it, your volunteers don’t get it, really. Until you’ve actually done it, that’s the only people who really understand what it’s like to be going door to door, having conversations, managing a whole bunch of things in life, all at the exact same time.”

Kelly said what Calgarians were likely to see from parties was that they would be temporary and formed around particular mayoral candidates.

He said that’s been the case in places like Vancouver or Montreal, where they only exist for as long as that mayor is running.

“So from that point of view, the idea of whipping a vote only works if you have the ability to kick someone out of the party. But because the parties change every election, what does it really mean if you end up getting kicked out of a party that may not exist in two elections from now?” said Kelly.

He said that from that perspective, people needed to understand local municipal parties as something different from the provincial and federal parties Albertans and Canadians are familiar with.

Like Wong, Kelly said that the party system helps voters identify like-minded candidates.

“I definitely think that it helps voters identify how people will work together. It has been absolutely a benefit to be able to develop policy together with other candidates. One of the biggest benefits of the party is that we’re learning how to work together now,” he said.

“So, if eight council members from the Calgary Party are elected, they will already have experience of how to work together, whereas with a normal council, it takes them a year to figure out how to work together. If a majority of the Calgary Party gets elected on October 20, we’ll be able to hit the ground running with our policies.”

No matter how many people from his party or otherwise are elected, he said he was prepared to work with anyone on council.

“Don’t get me wrong. I really am enjoying working with Brian Thiessen and all of the other Calgary party candidates. I certainly hope that as many of us get elected as possible. But I commit to working with anyone who’s elected, that is what we need more than anything else at this moment in time,” said Kelly.

“So, I hope, at least with the Calgary Party, we’ll see the benefits of the party system and the old independent system at the same time.”

Calgary’s municipal election is on Oct. 20.