https://open.substack.com/pub/junonews/p/why-calgary-cant-survive-another?
“Calgary isn’t in decline, it’s being managed into decay.
With the Calgary mayoral election approaching, the mood across the city is unmistakable: frustration. After three terms of Naheed Nenshi and one chaotic term of Jyoti Gondek, Calgary feels stalled. The downtown core is unsafe, construction projects never end, services have slipped, and City Hall seems more interested in social experiments than city management.
Calgarians don’t want slogans. They want a functioning city again.”

“Farkas’ Flip
Jeromy Farkas once built a reputation as a blunt, law-and-order councillor who rejected trendy causes like defunding the police. That version of Farkas is gone. His 2025 platform is packed with bureaucratic language about “Sector Social Surges” and “empowering prevention partners.” He even highlights “defending 2SLGBTQ+ and BIPOC Calgarians” as a policing priority.
His “Housing Equity Roadmap” is more of the same, promising that Calgary’s housing system will “work for racialized, Indigenous, disabled, newcomer, and 2SLGBTQIA+ residents.” It reads like a federal grant proposal from Mark Carney, not a city policy.”

“Sharp’s Approach
Sonya Sharp isn’t perfect, but she’s at least offering direct answers to immediate problems. Her plan is simple: restore visible policing, close the supervised injection site at the Sheldon Chumir Health Centre that turned Central Memorial Park into a public safety issue, and let the Calgary Police Service and Transit Police do their jobs without political interference, and increase their budget while making sure money goes to frontline officers and not rear-line DEI enforcement.
She also promises to clean up the city’s infrastructure chaos. Every major artery seems to be under construction, often without a clear explanation or deadlines. Sharp wants public reporting on project timelines and costs, and she’s calling out the bureaucratic “technical reviews” that stall council oversight. That’s the sort of accountability Calgarians haven’t seen in years.”

“Jeff Davison doesn’t have the support to win. Jeromy Farkas has abandoned the principles that once made him credible. That leaves Sonya Sharp as the only serious candidate with the consistency, pragmatism, and backbone to pull Calgary out of its managed decay.
On October 20, Calgarians get to decide whether they want more slogans or a functioning city.
Choose the latter.
Keean Bexte”