Ward 4 Coun. DJ Kelly said he was surprised how much time he and Mayor Jeromy Farkas got with Canada’s Prime Minister in a call this week.

The pair chatted with Prime Minister Mark Carney earlier this week, with the PM offering congratulations to the new council and mayor before getting into discussion about shared goals for Calgary and Canada.

Kelly, who was there are the vice-chair of the Executive Committee, alongside Mayor Farkas, said that they were in a unique position in that the call came the day after Canada’s Budget 2025 was released.

“From that point of view, the prime minister had an opportunity to sort of highlight some of the key things where municipalities aligned with his goals for the federal government,” Kelly said.

“So, he talked about, for example, the Strong Communities Fund, which he actually referred to as Strong Calgary Fund, jokingly. We then had a little bit of a conversation about those kinds of items.”

Kelly said that both he and Mayor Farkas had a lot of questions about some items in the budget, including measures for public safety and infrastructure. Also, Kelly said they talked about national energy infrastructure and how it might impact Calgary.

“We had a brief conversation, high-level conversation about those particular items,” Kelly said.  

“It definitely gave us an opportunity for him to hear what’s most important to Calgary.”

While there was nothing specific to Calgary in the federal budget, money has been earmarked over the next several years for municipal infrastructure, and larger public infrastructure like water and wastewater systems and for public transit.

There’s also more cash available for a nationwide homebuilding effort that could benefit Calgary.

Prior to this new council, Calgary city council had been lobbying the federal government for more infrastructure cash and funds for more housing.

Importance of collaboration: Mayor Farkas

Mayor Farkas said the 30-minute call was broad reaching, with the sides digging into the federal budget submission.

“We talked about the importance of collaboration with local municipalities in terms of services and infrastructure delivery,” the mayor said.

“We talked a lot about public safety, energy access and infrastructure. We’re very pleased with the time that the Prime Minister spent with us, listening, learning about the issues that Calgary is facing.”

Farkas said while Calgary didn’t really get a mention in the budget, he got the sense from PM Carney that there was a desire to “lean in” to support municipalities with much needed help.

“Despite the fact that Calgary is not named explicitly many times in the federal budget submission, we’re cautiously optimistic. We see the availability of $51 billion for local capital improvements for major municipalities. We see a continued reinvestment for the major infrastructure commitments,” he said.

“We’re very pleased to see the federal government lean in in such a partnership role with municipalities and the provincial governments to be able to get all of this done for Canadians from coast to coast to coast.”

Of course, there was an invitation for the Prime Minister to make a visit to Calgary, perhaps by the 2026 Calgary Stampede, but hopefully sooner, said Mayor Farkas.