One major debate is already over and Calgary's mayoral candidates are getting ready for a second, but incumbent Naheed Nenshi has to deal with some flak about his campaign donors first.
Releasing donor lists was a big part of Nenshi's campaign right out of the box, but he's now being called out by his challengers who say he accepted money that he shouldn't have.
Andre Chabot said that he shouldn't have accepted a donation from John Rudd, the owner of the Ottawa Redblacks.
Rudd doesn't live in the city and therefore cannot donate to a mayoral campaign.
Nenshi's team says the donation is being reviewed and says it could end up being refunded.
Meanwhile, none of the other candidates have submitted their donor lists yet.
The candidates were questioned about their positions on the arena, spending as well as a number of student issues during Tuesday night's debate at Mount Royal University.
Bill Smith went on the offensive immediately against Nenshi, saying that he’s failed as a leader in the seven years he’s been in office.
Andre Chabot also called out Nenshi for his behaviour, accusing him of not respecting others.
“This issue around respect; I think council is no longer being respected. Our mayor is no longer being respected and why? Because he doesn’t respect others. If you don’t believe me, ask people who have presented at council; this guy is just too arrogant, he’s got to go.”
Nenshi, however, fired back at his competitors for not providing enough details in how they will deal with the myriad of problems facing the city.
“Tonight, there was so much waffling. At the end of the night, I’m not sure if anyone knows of a person will cancel the southwest BRT, what they’re going to do about secondary suites, how much money they’re planning to fork over to the Flames owners.”
The moderator and political scientist Duane Bratt said that only about half the candidates on stage were serious contenders and from those, Nenshi was the strongest on policy.
He sees that at the end of the campaign, it could likely be a face off at the polls between Smith and Nenshi.
Another debate will be taking place Wednesday night at 7:00 p.m. at MacEwan Hall at the University of Calgary.
