Calgary city councillors want investigations into approval of upzoning plan

Three members of Calgary city council are calling for investigations into the way a contentious upzoning plan was handled.

Council voted 9-6 last week in favour of the upzoning plan, which will change the zoning on more than 300,000 single-family house properties in the established areas of Calgary.

The change will allow for greater housing density in those communities. 

But councillors Andre Chabot, Dan McLean and Sonya Sharp say inconsistent answers were given to key questions that were asked, such as whether federal housing money for Calgary was really at risk if council rejected the plan.

During a marathon public hearing held across 16 days in April and May, council heard that federal dollars were not contingent on the rezoning plan being approved.

Late in the hearing, a city official told council that only the last quarterly payment of the federal dollars could be at risk if upzoning was defeated. That payment was said to be worth $57 million.

The councillors also say secret meetings were held between some members of council and city officials to discuss the upzoning plan.

Chabot said he and his colleagues are planning to file a complaint with the city's integrity commissioner, who investigates complaints involving the actions of members of council.

"We've had a mixed bag of answers from administration, that it was/was not tied to the approval of the blanket zoning and we want to get to the bottom of it," said Chabot.

"We want to know how it came to pass, what the communications have been between administration and members of council, as well as communications between our administration, members of council and the federal government." 

If the integrity commissioner finds there have been violations of the council code of conduct, sanctions can be recommended. 

But that ethics complaint may not be the only one filed.

Coun. Sharp signalled that the group is also looking at lodging a complaint through the city's whistleblower program about the actions of administration.

She said council members had the responsibility to keep an open mind about the upzoning plan, but she questions if the outcome of the vote was pre-determined.