Overwhelming support for the creation of a truly independent city auditor (87 per cent of respondents) and opposition of using tax dollars to build a replacement for the Saddledome (80 per cent of respondents)

Edmonton Survey Results 

EDMONTON: The Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) released today the results of a five question survey sent to each Calgary candidate running for civic office in the October 18^th municipal election.

The majority of candidates running for election responded, including all of the main contenders for the mayor’s seat.

Ric McIver and Naheed Nenshi both indicated their support for a truly independent city auditor, while Barb Higgins indicated she was undecided and awaiting the recommendations of the current review.

“With uncertainty still surrounding the procurement audit and the office of the city auditor, the opportunity to re-shape and re-establish the auditor position as a truly independent job is one that cannot be ignored,” said CTF-Alberta director Scott Hennig. “It’s great to see strong support from two leading contenders for mayor and openness from the other.”

Of the three main contenders, only Ric McIver indicated his full and immediate support for limiting property tax hikes to no more than the inflation rate. Barb Higgins indicated her support, but mentioned that given the current fiscal situation it would take a few years to achieve. Naheed Nenshi supported limiting the tax hike to the combined inflation and population growth rate.

“We know that wages tend to follow the inflation rate, and when inflation is near zero, tax hikes of four, five or six per cent a year means less money in the pockets of Calgarians at the end of the day,” said Hennig.

All three mayoral contenders indicated their opposition to using civic tax dollars to construct a replacement for the Saddledome.

“If the situation in Edmonton is anything to judge, this debate just around the corner in Calgary,” said Hennig. “Every new NHL arena built in Canada in the past two decades has been virtually 100 per cent privately funded. A new NHL rink in Calgary should be the same.”

Seventy-two per cent of candidates who responded indicated they would be voluntarily releasing details on their campaign contributions before the October 18^th vote. Many, including mayoral candidates McIver, Higgins, Nenshi, Hawksworth and Burrows, as well as aldermanic candidates Chris Harper (Ward 1), Gord Lowe (Ward 2), Kevin Taylor (Ward 7) and Diane Colley-Urquhart (Ward 13) have already disclosed some contributions on their website.

“What a difference from three years ago,” said Hennig. “We asked this question last election and only a handful of candidates were willing to be open and transparent with their financial backers. It’s great to see a significant increase in transparency this election.”

A chart of candidate responses can be found here: http://www.taxpayer.com/sites/default/files/Complete%20Results%20-%20Calgary.pdf

A selection of candidates’ full responses will be posted on our blog at: http://www.taxpayer.com/blog/12-10-2010/calgary-candidate-survey-responses.

Downloadable Version: 

Complete Results - Calgary.pdf

By: Scott Hennig
Posted: October 12, 2010
Topic: Alberta

Contact the regional director Scott Hennig for further information.

Type: News Releases

Join Us   |   Donate