Councillor to promote candidates for election
Outgoing Keating forming political action committee ahead of municipal vote
An outgoing city councillor is working on a political action committee that will promote councillor candidates ahead of the Oct. 18 municipal vote.
Shane Keating, who announced last summer that he wouldn't seek re-election after three terms in Ward 12, rolled out details Wednesday of a new third-party advertiser, Responsible Representation Political Action Committee. The group will assess and endorse candidates over the coming weeks, with the election less than three months away.
“Even though I'm not running in the next election, it doesn't mean that I and many others are not concerned about the abilities of Calgary's next council,” Keating said.
The group's membership includes urban planner Lourdes Juan, non-profit executive Sally Mansour and former Mckenzie Towne Community Association president Jaydel Gluckie. Keating said the group will be collectively assessing candidates in each ward based on their financial acumen, plus their ability to solve problems and build relationships.
Keating, who remains a sitting councillor until the election is over, said his participation in the third-party advertiser was cleared by council's ethics adviser.
He added the group won't be looking to endorse people based on whether they lean to the political left or right. The goal will be to raise enough money to do three mail-out campaigns for the candidates they endorse — that could cost about $40,000 per candidate. For now, they're planning to stay away from any endorsements in the mayoral race, and they'll operate entirely separately from any councillor campaigns.
Third-party advertisers, also sometimes called political action committees (PACS), can have a lot of power because they're allowed to take much more donation money than individual candidates.
In Alberta, corporations and unions cannot give money directly to municipal candidates, and individuals are allowed to donate a maximum of $5,000 per candidate.
But for third-party advertisers, the maximum per donor is much higher, at $30,000.
Last year, Mayor Naheed Nenshi criticized that cap as “arbitrary,” saying it's a recipe for “opening local democracy to unlimited dark money.”
Any third-party advertisers that plan to accept more than $1,000 for election advertising are required to register with Elections Calgary and, as of Wednesday, there are five third-party advertisers that have done so. The group Keating is involved with plans to register, but hasn't yet.
The others are Calgarians for a Progressive Future, Prosper Calgary Initiative, Look Forward Calgary, and Lead Calgary. A group advocating to return fluoridation to Calgary's water supply — an issue that will be on the ballot as a plebiscite — is also registered as “Fluoride Yes!”
The number of open councillor seats this year recently grew to nine, as both Coun. Ward Sutherland and Coun. George Chahal announced this month they'd withdraw their nominations. With the mayor's chair also open, there will be more turnover on city council than Calgary has seen in decades.
There's still one question mark — Ward 2 Coun. Joe Magliocca hasn't said whether he plans to run for re-election. If he doesn't, there will be open races for 11 of the 15 seats on Calgary city council.
Keating said that in the upcoming campaign season he's worried about the potential for what he called “hand-grenade politics,” and that's part of what fuelled his interest in working on a PAC.
“You throw something out there, it goes off and you're not too concerned who it hurts. And it hurts everybody, even the person who lobs the hand grenade, if you want to use that analogy.”
He said he doesn't want to see “outside forces” becoming a factor that could “influence decisions that aren't in touch with reality” on council.
“I'm hoping that by selecting excellent candidates, that may not be the future.”
`Hand-grenade politics' ... hurts everybody, even the person who lobs the hand grenade, if you want to use that analogy.