You might think the Calgary Party would be picking fights with candidates from other parties, or perhaps the independents. Nope, they want instead to go toe-to-toe with Premier Danielle Smith.

Since Sept. 22, the Calgary Party has sent out multiple media releases attacking the past actions of Alberta’s premier and her government.

They’ve fired missives regarding the failed Green Line, the interference in Calgary city hall, that the Premier can’t even do Donald Trump properly, and her government’s defunding of the Calgary Police Service (CPS).

On the Green Line, one media release has mayoral candidate Brian Thiessen saying the province stuck its nose where it doesn’t belong—dictating design and pushing unnecessary reviews.

“The Premier isn’t building the Green Line. She’s blowing it up,” said Brian Thiessen, Calgary Party mayoral candidate, in that release.

“If Danielle Smith wants to delay, design and play around with Calgary’s LRT, maybe she should pay for the damage she’s causing.”

Thiessen also accused Premier Smith of playing politics with police funding by “slashing” $28 million from the CPS budget by eliminating photo radar.

“This is not a budget issue; it’s a political choice,” said Thiessen in that release.

“Danielle Smith has taken money away from frontline policing to fund her photo-op politics. And Calgary city council let her do it without even demanding answers.”

Then, the Calgary Party’s mayoral candidate went after Smith for her $70 million botched deal for Turkish pain medication (Tylenol) for kids.

The party claimed most of it sits in warehouses, unopened and unusable. They even tied Smith’s government to President Donald Trump saying that Tylenol causes autism.

“If you’re going to try governing like Donald Trump, the least you can do is not waste $70 million dollars. Donald Trump’s comments are just dumb, not expensive.”

Provincial connection to Calgary challenges: Carter

The Calgary Party’s campaign strategist, Stephen Carter, said it would be easier not to target Premier Smith if she weren’t doing so many things impacting Calgary.

“Whether it’s bike lanes, the Green Line, any number of other intrusions that she’s made into civic politics, she’s basically demanded a reaction out of every municipal candidate,” Carter told LWC.

On public safety, Carter said cutting $28 million and then trying to add six Alberta sheriffs is pretending she’s helping Calgary’s public safety.

For infrastructure, Carter said a large portion comes from provincial grants that have been diminishing over time, removing a billion from city coffers.

“If they gave us the billion dollars, we’d be able to manage our own infrastructure requirements,” he said.

When asked if creating a conflict with the province is taking away from important municipal issues, Carter said it’s a necessary fight for citizens.

“There should be conflict with this provincial government,” he said.

“This provincial government is screwing Calgary. Whether it’s the investment that they’re making, whether it’s the green line that they’re interfering with, whether it’s public safety and the expectations that Calgarians have to have a well-funded police service, the City of Calgary should be in conflict with this provincial government.”

Carter said that when former Mayor Dave Bronconnier was in conflict with then Alberta Premier Ralph Klein, the city got more than ever before.

Mount Royal University political scientist Duane Bratt said if the strategy seems familiar, it is. He said Carter deployed the same tactic in Calgary’s last municipal election to buoy the campaign of then-candidate and eventual mayor Jyoti Gondek. Bratt said, however, that it hasn’t had the same impact this time around.

“It was very effective in 2021. If you watch the Gondek campaign in 2021, they weren’t running against Jeromy Farkas. They were running against Jason Kenney.  Who ran Gondek’s campaign? Stephen Carter. Who is running the Calgary Party? Stephen Carter,” Bratt said.

“He’s going to the same playbook, and it was very effective, but Kenney was much more unpopular in Calgary in 2021 than Smith is today.”

Bratt said that he’s surprised that more candidates aren’t using a similar political tactic, given the provincial meddling in Calgary’s civic affairs.

He said one of the reasons we have municipal political parties was to try to line municipal councils with UCP allies.

“What if that doesn’t work? How could things get worse? Do they simply annul the election? Do they simply fire everybody? Do they intervene more? Do they want to be responsible for potholes? I don’t know,” he said.

“They don’t want to govern Calgary. I think they just want to pull the strings.”