Alberta election: find out where parties stand on Calgary’s issues

Calgarians wondering where each of the province’s major political parties stand on the issues most important to our city are now able to find out by visiting yycmatters.ca.

The website was created by The City of Calgary as a one-stop-shop for voters looking to learn more about which party’s views most closely align with their own.

Although the website was launched in mid-March, it wasn’t until Friday that the city released the answers provided by the major provincial political parties.

“We want Calgarians to have a clear picture of how those running to govern Alberta see Calgary-specific issues,” Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi said.

LISTEN: Mayor Nenshi joins Calgary Today to share his thoughts on the responses to Calgary’s election issues

The parties were asked to outline included their stances on everything from the construction of the Springbank Reservoir and the Green Line LRT, to cannabis revenue sharing and affordable housing.

Nenshi said he wasn’t impressed with party responses in respect to helping the city’s economy grow.

“None of them had a real plan for real economic growth rate in Calgary,” Nenshi said at a morning news conference. “Lowering the corporate tax rate doesn’t fill the downtown office buildings. Figuring out better ways to invest the carbon tax doesn’t fill those downtown office buildings.”

“Not one of the parties committed to doing anything for those business outside of the downtown that have been badly hurt by the downtown assessment drop. Not one of the parties committed to assisting us in our economic development fund to try and bring new business and new investment into downtown Calgary.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "Not one of the parties committed to doing anything for those business outside of the downtown that have been badly hurt by the downtown assessment drop. Not one of the parties committed to assisting us in our economic development fund to try and bring new business and new investment into downtown Calgary."

Nenshi said he hopes citizens will use the information on yycmatters.ca before they cast their ballots.

– With files from Jenna Freeman