Recall Gondek organizer meets with Calgary mayor, not happy she didn’t resign
Posted Mar 23, 2024 11:44 am.
Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek met with the head of the “Recall Gondek” petition, Landon Johnston, for the first time since it launched in January.
The face-to-face meeting was scheduled for 15 minutes, and according to Johnston, it was a cordial encounter, noting the mayor listened to everything he had to say.
“She was very polite, very friendly, but a lot of politicians aren’t to your face, right?” he told reporters Friday. “So I’m okay with the conversation the way it went.”
Gondek says that while Johnston and herself may disagree on politics, they share a “desire to do good things for Calgary.”
“That’s why I agreed to sit down with him today,” she said. “Good things can be achieved through collaboration and civil discourse, as opposed to polarizing rhetoric.”
In her prepared statement following the meeting, the mayor says she wants to recommit herself to listening to Calgarians and better explain the decisions of herself and city council.
“It’s easy for me to forge ahead without fully and plainly sharing the what and the why with those who elected me,” Gondek said.
She also noted Johnston’s concerns about housing and affordability, and his concerns with council decisions.
“I think we both agree that the city and its citizens are facing an affordability crunch and Landon’s compassion for people who are finding themselves in impossible situations — families that may be without housing and people that are in positions of homelessness. This is someone who’s compassionate and he genuinely started a petition to raise awareness of the issues that he thought council have not addressed,” she said.
“I had a good opportunity to explain to him the investments we’re making and the types of things we’re doing to not only address housing but address public safety. It was an important conversation to have with someone who is very frustrated.”
However, her words weren’t enough for Johnston, and he was looking for something more.
“I’m disappointed that she didn’t resign,” he said.
“I’m just not happy with the resolution. She’s still the mayor, she’s still got two years if we don’t get 500,000 signatures. That’s a long time to make a bigger mess, and for a lot of people, this is a messy city.”
Petition deadline on the horizon
Johnston initiated the campaign at the end of January to remove Gondek from office over several frustrations that include property tax increases, the single-use items bylaw, and the banning of fireworks on Canada Day.
Since then, he has been canvassing for signatures from 40 per cent of Calgary’s voting population, which is around 510,000 signatures.
He says the provincial government is to blame for the legislation, calling it more of an illusion of change.
“This legislation was designed for elected officials to give us a little crumb and say, ‘Hey, we’re trying to help you out,’” Johnston explained.
“This was never designed for them to ever lose power. Why would someone in power ever want to make it easier for them to not be in power?”
He says at this time, he has around 42,000 signatures counted but has more to sift through and collect in the next two weeks.
Group in the back co-opting Recall Gondek petition?
The meeting also comes after a document recently revealed claims of a link between the petition and Take Back Alberta (TBA) have sprung up.
It showed the campaign is backed by a group called Project YYC, which includes major players within the United Conservative Party and the right-wing group Take Back Alberta.
The document said the group’s mission is to create a large coalition to elect a “common-sense conservative” mayor and council in 2025, according to the document.
The thread with the document was deleted couldn’t be independently verified.
Mount Royal University political scientist Duane Bratt, who posted the document, decided to delete the thread, not because he no longer believed the alleged connection between Recall Gondek and TBA, but because he didn’t independently verify all the names on that document.
Meanwhile, Johnston has repeatedly said he’s leading a local, grassroots campaign, and denies any outside influence.
“Take Back Alberta has not contributed anything to this campaign, to this recall process,” he told CityNews before the meeting.
“They’ve done nothing for me, I don’t even know who Take Alberta is, other than the fact people keep throwing at me … I just don’t know who they are.”
However, following his meeting with the mayor, he posted on X, stating he did have some working relationship with Project YYC.
“The first few weeks of starting this petition campaign have been a whirlwind of names, emails, social media handles, and groups all of which seem to have different acronyms. I obviously did a poor job of connecting the two names listed above and I realize now that I should have taken the time to do more research before talking to the media about the document aired by a Political Science Prof,” his post reads.
“So, in hindsight, I DID come across that name Project YYC before Tuesday this week.”
Johnston says he did send money to a Project YYC email from personal finances and donations from the Recall Gondek website.
“Never have I felt the many volunteer canvassers were wrongfully using the personal data they are collecting in this petition,” he said.
This comes after Premier Danielle Smith recently said her government is considering new legislation, which would allow candidates to list a party affiliation with their name on the ballot in municipal elections.
Gondek has previously said people should be mindful of what they’re signing, so their data isn’t compromised.
The mayor has faced criticism for everything from property tax increases to a new NHL arena for the Flames, to her decision late last year not to attend the annual menorah lighting ceremony to mark the beginning of Hanukkah.
-With files from Tiffany Goodwein and Todd Kaufman
