It's September, school is back in session and municipal election season in Calgary is now in full swing.

Before I get into that, I want to encourage you to subscribe to The Sprawl's YouTube channel. This is where we've been livestreaming candidate forums (which you can view anytime)—and where we'll be streaming future ones in the coming weeks. So make sure to subscribe!

Okay, now let's get to it. On Wednesday, Ward 8 candidates faced off at the Killarney-Glengarry Community Hall. And on Thursday, mayoral candidates debated at the same place. The Sprawl livestreamed both.

Housing was a top issue at both forums. It's the eternal question of Calgary: Where do you put all the new people who are coming here? On the fringes or in existing neighbourhoods? And when it's the latter—how do you go about it?

Specifically, blanket rezoning came up. In May 2024, council voted 9 - 6 to make R-CG the default zoning in established neighbourhoods citywide. This allows for medium density like rowhouses without a city council public hearing, which was required previously.

"It will allow us to create more housing and more diversity of housing across our city," said Mayor Jyoti Gondek at the time. "This decision is important for ensuring that Calgarians can live in our city not only with choice, but with dignity."

At Thursday's mayoral debate, three of the four candidates present (Gondek was absent) pledged to reverse council's decision.

"When the average rowhouse starts at $700,000, that's not affordable," said independent candidate and former Ward 6 councillor Jeff Davison. "When we have 70,000 people moving to our city every single year, that's a great thing. But we can't manage growth building four houses at a time."

"We've got to think differently. We've got to manage growth better."

Davison, who arrived at the forum after pledging a four-year freeze on new bike lanes earlier in the day, is being endorsed by A Better Calgary Party (although party members still need to ratify the endorsement). The party is holding a fundraising dinner Tuesday featuring Stockwell Day, the former Canadian Alliance leader, who will speak on how to elect a conservative council here.

Independent candidate and former Ward 11 councillor Jeromy Farkas also pledged to reverse council's decision. "I'm absolutely committed to repealing blanket rezoning," said Farkas. "But it has to come alongside a plan to be able to build the homes where the services and infrastructure can support it." Farkas has suggested "a more targeted, community-informed strategy" for gentle density.

Sonya Sharp, the Ward 1 councillor running for mayor for the Communities First party, has been one of council's most outspoken critics of blanket rezoning. "It sounds good when you say it: 'Let's repeal blanket rezoning,'" said Sharp. "What does that mean? That means reinstating what was. And what has been missing is your voices back at the horseshoe. That's actually what was taken from you."

(The "horseshoe," for those who have not had the fortune to sit through innumerable city council meetings, is a reference to council chambers at city hall.)

Brian Thiessen, the employment lawyer running for mayor for The Calgary Party, was the only candidate who didn't promise repeal.

"I'm not going to cancel zoning on day one," said Thiessen, who spoke in favour of blanket rezoning at the 2024 public hearing. "I'm going to fix it, and that's way harder to do... What we need to do is listen to Calgarians. That's what we screwed up the first time around."

"This does not need to divide us. We can build housing and respect communities. It's absolutely doable."

At times, a few sparks flew.

"On the one hand, we have the mayor who represents building anything everywhere but ignoring the community," said Farkas. "And on the other hand, we have Councillor Sharp who represents building nothing anywhere in order for us to listen to the community. And the truth is we have to do both. We have to both build and we have to listen."

Sharp noted that Farkas wasn't at the marathon public hearing last year at which 736 Calgarians spoke to council on blanket rezoning.

"I'll give Brian credit," said Sharp. "He showed up and spoke on what his position was. Didn't see Jeff or Jeromy there, though."

On Friday, Gondek posted an apology to social media for not being at the debate, citing a scheduling conflict. She was hosting mayors who were in town for the World Energy Cities Partnership AGM (this year's theme: "innovation for a low carbon future").

There are many more forums to come—both mayoral and in the wards—and The Sprawl will be livestreaming as many as we can so that you can watch live or later. You can watch this week's mayoral forum above and the Ward 8 forum below. And feel free to pass them around!

The Sprawl's livestreams are a valuable community resource, useful to all Calgarians across the political spectrum. The same is true of our candidate tracker and election forum list, both of which we are updating continually.

Thanks for your support, which makes all of this work possible. And don't forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel!

Jeremy Klaszus is founder and editor of The Sprawl.