One of the last remaining incumbent Calgary city councillors to decide upon running for re-election has done so, with Kourtney Penner set for another campaign.
Penner will vie for the Ward 11 seat once again, one of five first-time councillors elected in 2021, who will try to regain their seats. Couns. Jasmine Mian, Courtney Walcott, Evan Spencer, other first-timers elected in 2021, have opted not to continue their political careers in this election.
Penner said she held off on deciding on a re-election bid for several reasons, including family considerations. Her daughters are going into the important school years of Grades 7 and 10, Penner said.
“I wanted to work for as long as possible as a councillor, not as a candidate,” she told LWC.
“I needed to know that I could thrive and stay optimistic in an environment that continues to reward division and anger as motivation. But I also needed to ensure that any decision was made with my family in mind.”
Despite the often-performative nature of city politics and the anger and division that Penner said is driven by both the media and social media, thousands of Calgarians want to build a better city.
“The other side of that is a whole bunch of Calgarians who are doing amazing work for our city, and they need people who are willing to look past that performance and look past the self-gain or the self-popularity, and to really get down to business and get the work done,” she said.
“Whether it’s bringing more safety improvements into communities with more sidewalks and better crosswalks, because that’s what residents are asking for. None of that happens, you know, in a performative environment. That happens when you are connected, when you know how to get the work done, and when you bring a really balanced approach to the outcomes that you’re trying to deliver.”
Contentious rezoning issue
Penner has supported the City of Calgary’s citywide rezoning, something that, at times, has proven divisive in her ward. Her area covers large parts of the so-called donut communities in Calgary that were built out in the mid-20th Century and are going through some renewal.
One of the most contentious of those developments was Glenmore Landing, which was defeated at council.
She said it’s easy to just “beat the drum” that people are against it, and it takes more work “to pick up a new tool and say, ‘how are we going to move through it together.’”
Penner said that she’s heard from people that one of the big issues is that they don’t know how to be part of the process. To that end, she’s committed to staffing up her office with a person dedicated to handling questions on permits and land use changes.
The incumbent councillor said that another reason why she wants to continue is to ensure some continuity in the next city council. Penner said she’s heard from community, non-profit, and business leaders that stability is important.
So far, Penner will be vying for a seat against Communities First candidate Rob Ward, whom she defeated in the last election, and Calgary Party candidate Alex Williams.
Penner has been labelled in the past as a progressive, and the Calgary Party leans to the progressive side of the political spectrum. However, she doesn’t believe vote splitting will be an issue. She doesn’t buy into the narrative, she said.
“When we look at the balance of where people tend to align, they align themselves most often in the middle and in the center. Again, that’s the balance that I bring,” she said.
Her Communities First competitor, Rob Ward, has been, in many ways, campaigning since the end of the last election. He’s regularly chimed in on civic issues, often in contrast to Penner. While it’s taken some time for Penner to announce, she’s not worried about playing catch-up.
“I think democracy is about people putting their names forward when it works for them, and if it worked for Rob to put his name forward four years ago, and if it still works for him now, then it’s admirable,” she said.
Penner’s campaign will be managed by Lauren Herschel, a former Ward 11 candidate who finished third in the 2021 election.
Calgary’s municipal election is Oct. 20.
