Four current Calgary councillors make up latest municipal political party

Calgary has another political party at the municipal level, with four sitting councillors already signed up under its banner ahead of next year's election.

The group is called "Communities First" and councillors Sonya Sharp, Dan McLean, Terry Wong and Andre Chabot are among the first candidates to take part, alongside former Ward 8 representative John Mar.

"If you ask the average person, they're not looking for a municipal party to be under a banner. They just want their potholes filled, the roads fixed, taxes low and just be sensible," said Sharp, who is currently the councillor in Ward 1.

The group "seeks to restore confidence in Calgary city hall" and plans to run a full slate of 15 candidates next October. The party of "like-minded Calgarians" will seek to repair what the group refers to as a dysfunctional city hall by listening and speaking to residents.

"You can get a pretty good feel for what your community wants, and I know the councillors that I'm working with in this party do the same. And we're not always going to agree, but generally we do already vote pretty consistently together, and I expect that to keep happening," said McLean.

So far, two other political parties have launched in Calgary.

"A Better Calgary" and "The Calgary Party" each plan to run candidates in the next election.

Political parties at the civic level are allowed under the provincial government's recently passed Bill 20 in Calgary and Edmonton in what's being called a pilot project for next year.

Candidates will not be required to join a party in order to run.

Advantages, say the councillors running under Communities First, include recognition and fundraising rules.

Under the new rules, contributions to a single candidate are capped at $5,000 for an individual, corporation or union.

Similarly, the maximum contribution amount to a political party is $5,000.

"When you take a look at voting patterns, the independent councillors are going to have a little more difficulty getting name recognition simply because we are allowed to raise a certain amount of funds ourselves," said Wong.

"But under our party system, money could be raised and advertising could also be put up there."

The party did not release a platform and neither Sharp nor McLean would say yet whether they plan to run for mayor or as a candidate for councillor again.

Communities First says it has "shared values" that will guide voting at city hall, including being responsible and accountable and getting back to basics.

"I don't love the idea of being in a party," Mar said in a press release.

"But it almost feels like we have to do this. We don't have a party structure—there's no party whip. I'm going to stand up for my constituents, and I'm going to follow their directions."

The party says more candidates will be announced early in the new year.