Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has promised to look into perceived shortcomings of the province’s recall legislation, but said she could not take action while a petition campaign is in progress.
The premier’s declaration came during her weekly weekend radio appearance when the man spearheading the petition to recall Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek called in to express his frustration with the current legislation.
“I’ve been left out to dry for the past 55 days here,” Calgary businessman Landon Johnston told Ms. Smith during his call to the “Your Province. Your Premier” radio show.
He said the recall legislation is full of “loopholes” and “gaps” and described the petitioning process as “very, very stressful.” He said the Alberta government needs to offer more direction on how to navigate the process.
The premier noted the legislation cannot be amended while a petition is in play.
Problematic Recall Process
Mr. Johnston started the recall process in January when he filed a petition that, if successful, would end the mayor’s term in office 18 months before the next municipal election.
The City of Calgary announced it had officially received the notice on Jan. 30 and had deemed it compliant under the province’s Municipal Government Act. The act was updated by the province in 2022 to enable eligible voters to file petitions to recall politicians at both the provincial and municipal level.
Once the notice was filed and accepted, it was up to Mr. Johnston to obtain more than a half-million names within 60 days to remove Ms. Gondek from office. The 514,285 in-person signatures he must collect by April 4 represents roughly 40 percent of Calgary’s population during the last election.
The process hasn’t been an easy one, Mr. Johnston told the premier.
“I’ve been left to fend for myself against so many different groups using this as an opportunity for their own gain,” he said. “I’m talking about people who say they’re with [United Conservative Party], I’m talking about NDP people, I’m talking about mayor’s supporters using this as an opportunity to collect signatures and then destroy them and then collect donations, all under my name.”
He told the premier he tried to contact Municipal Affairs Minister Ric McIver to obtain direction on navigating the process, but has yet to hear from him or anyone from the province.
Ms. Smith said the recall process is not an easy one and promised to speak with Mr. Johnston once the current recall campaign is over.
“We know we need to make some modifications, but what I’ve said is I can’t modify the legislation while there’s an active petition going on,” she said.
“But once that’s over, I really would look forward to getting some input from someone who has gone through the process about what we need to do to change the legislation.”
Mayor’s Actions Criticized
Calgary’s mayor has been criticized for a number of public stances, from supporting a “Safe and Inclusive” bylaw that restricted public protests to her opting out of a Menorah lighting at city hall that she said had been politicized. But for Mr. Johnston, it was city council’s single-use items bylaw, which Ms. Gondek supported, that was the last straw.Mr. Johnston said he finally met with the mayor on March 22. He told reporters at the time she had been “very friendly” and “listened to everything I had to say.”
He said while the “dialogue has been opened” he was disappointed it took 50 days and “thousands and thousands of man-hours for her to hear my voice.”
“I’m happy it happened, but I’m disappointed she didn’t resign,” he added. “This is the power to the people. This is the one piece of legislation given to us to fight back against bad leadership.”
Ms. Gondek issued a statement following the meeting, saying she believed Mr. Johnston and others who signed the petition were “regular people concerned with the future of the city.”
Short on Signatures
Mr. Johnston said he had collected a little more than 51,000 signatures as of March 30. With the April 4 deadline to submit the signatures to the Elections Calgary office looming, he will need to collect upward of 450,000 signatures in the next few days to be successful.If Mr. Johnston was to collect the required signatures, the submitted petition would be evaluated over a 45-day period during which the city clerk would determine if the document is sufficient.
To be deemed sufficient, only individuals who are eligible to vote may sign the petition. Approximately 393,000 of 847,556 enumerated electors voted in 2021.
If sufficient, Ms. Gondek would be recalled and would no longer be a member of council or any council committee, the city said. A by-election would be held to fill her seat.
If the petition is deemed to be insufficient, Ms. Gondek will continue in her current role.
