Calgary Coun. Carra apologizes for failing to disclose Inglewood property, tweet

Ward 9 Coun. Gian-Carlo Carra has apologized for failing to properly disclose his financial interest in a property in Inglewood and also said he "stepped over the line" with a post on Twitter.

The apologies were issued during a council meeting at city hall on Tuesday after a pair of investigations from the city's integrity commissioner. 

The first matter had to do with a 2021 complaint that Carra failed to add the Inglewood property to his disclosure form, despite having multiple opportunities to do so. 

"I should have disclosed my interest in 66 New Street on the Member of Council Disclosure Statement when we first became involved with the property in 2015," Carra said on Tuesday morning. 

"And I absolutely should have disclosed my interest when we registered that interest against the title in 2021."

Carra paid $300,000 towards the property in 2015, later adding another $36,000. Although he mentioned the property in council at the time, he did not officially add it to his public disclosures.

"While this was a paperwork mistake, I take that seriously and I'm grateful that this kind of records management and disclosure is important to how Councillors are required to conduct themselves," Carra said.

Council is still set to discuss a motion from Ward 1 Coun. Sonya Sharp and Ward 2 Coun. Jennifer Wyness to refer the issue to the Calgary Police Service and the provincial minister of municipal affairs. 

ANOTHER APOLOGY

The second complaint related to a tweet Carra retweeted suggesting several of his council colleagues were "unfit to serve" after they supported a motion from Ward 4 Coun. Sean Chu.

The retweet came after it was revealed Chu had been investigated years ago after he admitted to a sexual encounter with an underage girl while he was an on-duty police officer.

Wyness said the message retweeted by Carra made her feel intimidated and caused her to resign from a committee position.

"While I value disagreement and debate on matters of public interest between members of council, and I view social media as an important venue for such discussions, I stepped over the line in how I engaged in some of those discussions," Carra said in his apology.

"I accept the Integrity Commissioner’s ruling, council’s sanctions, and I apologize to councillors (Dan) McLean, (Andre) Chabot, Sharp, and Wyness."

Carra has since been removed from all leadership roles on council committees and has been ordered to attend ethics training.