Two Calgary city councillors want to ensure anyone running for municipal office in the 2017 election campaign get a fair shot at the job.
They are asking the city’s ethics advisor to come up with a code of conduct for incumbent candidates.
The request stems from a move by Mayor Naheed Nenshi in the 2013 campaign when he offered an endorsement to all sitting members of council; some new candidates said that gave incumbents an unfair advantage.
Ward three councillor Jim Stevenson was the only councillor not to accept Nenshi‘s endorsement in 2013 because he wants to avoid parties or slates in Calgary politics.
"Last time around, he asked people not to vote for me because I wouldn't disclose my donations beforehand,” says Stevenson. “I think there were two of us, and he said don't vote for anybody that doesn't disclose it, so that's saying don't vote for me, and I'm not sure that's proper."
The mayor says there is no need for any new rules.
“Why should one person be restricted versus any other,” says Nenshi. “People often ask for references from people that they work with and certainly I'm not going to say ooh -I can't talk about that."
Michelle Robinson is a new candidate running in Ward 10 says a new code of conduct is not necessary.
“Do we need it? I don't know if we need it,” says Robinson. “Politics is the name of the game and we have a lot of people who do endorsements on a regular basis because that's the nature of politics."
“Perhaps there are concerns that would give incumbents or those the mayor endorsed an advantage,” says Mount Royal University political scientist Lori Williams. “He's basically saying who he can work with even though he disagrees with them sometimes.”
We are just under a year away from the municipal election and so far the mayor has not endorsed anyone.
(With files from Shaun Frenette)
