Trevor Cavanaugh

Shaukat Chaudhry

John Garden - A Better Calgary Party

Candy Lam - The Calgary Party

Jennifer Wyness

Candy Lam

John Garden

Jennifer Wyness

John Garden: Yes - John would like to improve mentorship opportunities for entry-level staff to help them better understand a career path with the City.

Candy Lam: Yes - Candy believes the City has an opportunity to act as a leader in career development. It can be difficult for newcomers and young people to find entry-level positions with room to develop new skills. These investments not only support workers but also benefit the City long-term. Some employees will stay and advance, while others will bring their skills into Calgary’s wider workforce—strengthening the city overall.

Candy would develop a strategy that includes mentorship and job rotation programs within City departments, and ensuring entry-level roles come with training and skill development. She believes that we need to limit contracting entry-level positions and leave contracting for highly specialized expertise or for temporary, short-term projects.

Jennifer Wyness: Yes - Cllr Wyness says the City has identified an interest and is pursuing the development of career-path jobs in some departments. These include landscaping and swimming pool staff. These departments offer a range of jobs with opportunities for skill development.
The City’s ability to open jobs for youth and equity-seeking groups is complicated by federal policies that incentivize employment by subsidizing wages, often for entry-level jobs, for specific periods of time. When the subsidy ends, so does the job. While the City doesn’t hire through the TFW program, Cllr Wyness says they are forced to compete with the lower and subsidized wages some TFW earn for entry-level work.

Trevor Cavanaugh: Uncertain - I recognize the importance of creating fair and accessible employment pathways, especially for youth and equity-seeking groups. I would like to take a closer look at how current City contracting and hiring practices impact these opportunities before identifying specific steps. At the same time, I see value in exploring ways the City can strengthen early career pathways through partnerships with schools, local organizations, and community programs while balancing fiscal responsibility and ensuring opportunities lead to meaningful, long-term skill development.

John Garden: Yes John would like to see more effort to develop sustainable community associations/facilities so that people of all ages would have access to recreational opportunities and be able access a variety of services, including mental health support, closer to where they live.

Candy Lam: No Community-based, preventative mental health strategies should begin with a “listening” approach, especially when developing programs that meet the language and cultural realities of a diverse population. Candy believes the City does not yet know the mental health needs of the city’s different demographic groups. Candy believes the City must prioritize a deep understanding of the unique mental health needs across Calgary’s diverse communities to ensure the strategy is responsive and effective.

Jennifer Wyness: Yes: Cllr Wyness has served on the Calgary Police Commission since 2022. She says that City departments, including police and transit workers, often find themselves on the front lines of the mental health crisis. She argues that municipal governments need help if the City is to be part of an effort to deliver long-term preventative mental health strategies. As a City Councilor, she advocates for the Province to develop a new centralized approach to the delivery of mental health support. A mental health hospital would support mental health care, regardless of the level of crisis. In addition to in-patient care, this facility could offer a range of out-patient services, including some that are specific to gender and culture.

Trevor Cavanaugh: Yes - Mental health affects every family and neighbourhood in Calgary. I support strengthening community-based prevention and awareness efforts, especially when done in partnership with organizations already doing great work on the ground. I would like to ensure City support complements, not duplicates provincial health services, and that programs reflect the diversity of our communities.

Candy Lam: Yes - Candy is a fan of the City’s Fair Entry program. She agrees that programs like that, as well as rent supports, should be easier to access for people in need. She believes that the current system would benefit from better coordination so people in crisis can get help quickly without having to navigate a complicated system. Land that the City makes available for affordable housing development should be appropriately zoned prior to its release. Overall, Calgary needs to take a longer-term approach to community planning. The current approach seems to focus on building a certain number of homes in certain areas. A more ideal system would look at the bigger picture of what it takes to build sustainable communities. This requires a simultaneous look at other infrastructure, including transit. This would provide a more holistic approach to community development

She also believes these supports must be designed to serve Calgary’s diverse populations. This includes making programs accessible across language and cultural barriers, so that newcomers and equity-seeking groups can receive help without added obstacles.

John Garden: Yes - John supports a Hand Up vs. a Hand Out approach to social supports. He sees a bigger role for not-for-profits (versus City) working in this space. John supports making affordable housing unit construction a condition of sale of City lands. He agrees that appropriate zoning should in place before the land is released.
He is concerned with the current focus on multi-family home development. John says Sage Hill is an example of a community plan that sacrificed green space for density.

Jennifer Wyness: Yes - Cllr Wyness says she will meet with the CACG to identify paths forward. She says the City of Calgary is serious about the need for more affordable housing. The City’s ability to do this is hampered by recent changes enacted by the Government of Alberta and Federal policy changes. The Province wants more oversight over the City and any funds it gets from the federal government. This complicates, and slows down, any housing strategy the City puts in place.

Under the current system, land is not pre-zoned before it’s released. Cllr Wyness says there are two reasons for this: fairness and the inability to predict market changes. Releasing land that is not pre-zoned ensures that developers/Non Profits can pursue the projects they want. Cllr Wyness says this promotes competition and fairness. Pre-zoning land for affordable or below-market housing use would effectively privilege some developers/Non Profits.
The City also knows that markets change. Developers/Non Profits could not be forced into completing projects that did not make economic sense.
Those concerns aside, Cllr Wyness believes the City could better protect its interest in building more affordable and below-market housing. She would like to see the administration look for opportunities to retain ownership of some of the land that’s released. The land could be leased to developers under terms that stipulate affordable housing.

Trevor Cavanaugh: Yes - 

I support exploring ways to improve coordination between all levels of government and nonprofit housing providers. The City can play a role in helping residents navigate available supports and ensuring emergency rental aid gets to people before they reach crisis.

It is important that the City take a strategic approach to land use, identifying parcels near transit, services, and jobs for affordable housing, while maintaining transparency in how land is prioritized. I would also like to ensure communities are engaged early in the process.

John Garden: Yes - John is concerned that a focus on densification leads to environmental degradation in communities. He noted that a focus on architectural standards for climate resiliency and energy efficiency impacts the cost of housing.

Candy Lam: Yes - Candy supports a development strategy that promotes climate resilience, energy efficiency, and climate adaptations. As an engineer, she knows that it is cheaper to fix infrastructure than replace it. She wants the City to do a better job of explaining the decisions it makes regarding the climate strategy. An energy-efficient transit system, for example, reduces the system’s climate footprint, saves money, and improves quality of life by reducing emissions. Money saved also means money available for other line items, including transit investments. She thinks this information would help answer calls for greater transparency. Instead of seeing climate investments in terms of money spent, people could understand the investments in terms of asset benefits.

Jennifer Wyness: Yes - Wyness says her support for climate initiatives has been largely misinterpreted since she was elected in 2021. The focus should be on a reduction of consumption and spending in ways that improve our communities. She cites her opposition to the purchase of electric vehicles (EV) as an example. Cllr Wyness prefers City investment in compressed natural gas vehicles for transit. These vehicles also reduce greenhouse gases, and the manufacturers are not facing bankruptcy, recalls, or procurement and maintenance issues. Even with billions of Federal dollars supporting the EV bus industry, they are still going bankrupt, leading to delays in contract fulfillment. It is more important to improve bus service standards and have Calgarians make the switch to riding transit.
Her opposition to the Single-Use Plastics Bylaw, which was repealed, was also based on efficacy. While reducing waste is important, she objects to initiatives that increase corporate profits, and attract attention without delivering results. She cites a recent report from Metro Vancouver that has mandates for single-use pricing and has seen single-use waste double despite plastic bans.

Trevor Cavanaugh: Yes - With my background in environmental advising, I recognize how important it is to plan for climate resilience in ways that make financial and environmental sense. I would focus on supporting efficient building standards, encouraging innovation in energy use, and integrating resiliency planning into new infrastructure, all while keeping affordability in mind for residents.

John Garden: Uncertain - John says he does not have enough information on the issue to comment. He needs more information on the barriers to setting up an indigenous led, indigenous gathering place in Calgary.

Candy Lam: Yes - Candy believes Indigenous-led spaces are an important part of reconciliation. She is committed to learning more about the current roadblocks and engaging directly with the Indigenous Gathering Place Board. Her priority would be to listen first, understand where the City can be a constructive partner, and use her role to help move the project forward collaboratively.

Jennifer Wyness: Yes - Cllr Wyness believes that the City of Calgary has reneged on its promise to provide land for an indigenous gathering place. She blames administration and some Council colleagues for allowing the project, as promised, to be derailed.

Trevor Cavanaugh: Uncertain - I believe reconciliation must involve listening and collaboration. I would like to learn more from Indigenous partners about the challenges the project has faced and explore realistic next steps for moving it forward respectfully.

John Garden: Yes - John says he is open to future meetings with CACG. 

Candy Lam: Yes - Candy is committed to meeting with the Calgary Alliance for the Common Good within three months of being elected to identify how to work together on these issues. Candy is interested in being an active, collaborative councilor that works to improve the quality of life for all Calgarians. Candy, who immigrated to Calgary with her family as a young child, wants to ensure that all Calgarians, no matter their background, can be proud to call this city home and have the opportunity to build a good life in here.

Jennifer Wyness: Yes - Cllr Wyness would like to maintain communications with the Calgary Alliance for the Common Good. She is open to future meetings to discuss particular issues.
She also encourages Ward 2 residents to attend her quarterly Town Hall meetings. Past Town Halls have been held at the Ranchlands Community Association.

Trevor Cavanaugh: Yes - I value collaboration and open dialogue. If elected, I would welcome the opportunity to meet early in the term to better understand your members’ perspectives and explore practical ways we can work together on shared community goals.