{"id":733672,"date":"2026-06-13T06:47:13","date_gmt":"2026-06-13T06:47:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/733672\/"},"modified":"2026-06-13T06:47:13","modified_gmt":"2026-06-13T06:47:13","slug":"province-says-calgary-is-free-to-introduce-a-lobbyist-registry-in-wake-of-rcmp-probe-calgary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/733672\/","title":{"rendered":"Province says Calgary is \u2018free\u2019 to introduce a lobbyist registry in wake of RCMP probe – Calgary"},"content":{"rendered":"

A move proposed by Calgary\u2019s mayor to introduce a municipal lobbyist registry amid an RCMP investigation into allegations of corruption has been endorsed by the province, according to a government spokesperson.<\/p>\n

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Calgary Mayor Jeromy Farkas revealed Thursday he has been working with others on council to bring forward a motion to establish a registry of lobbyists at city hall.<\/p>\n

\u201cTransparency and accountability are core priorities for the Government of Alberta,\u201d a spokesperson for the Municipal Affairs Ministry said in a statement to Global News. \u201cThe City of Calgary is free to advance its own lobbying registry independently.\u201d<\/p>\n

The move comes amid an ongoing RCMP investigation into allegations that money<\/a> was offered in exchange for a council vote during a public meeting last summer.<\/p>\n

According to an affidavit from the lead investigator, the probe centres around allegations of municipal corruption, obstruction of justice and fabricating evidence.<\/p>\n

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The affidavit claims a development consultant allegedly \u201chad been offering campaign donations that exceeded the maximum allowed to councillors, in exchange for them tabling a reconsideration motion,\u201d after a land-use application in Bankview was defeated in a 6-6 tie during a July 2025 council meeting.<\/p>\n

None of the allegations have been proven in court and no charges have been laid.<\/p>\n

Farkas \u2014 who has refused to comment on the case \u2014 said the situation has raised questions about how influence is exercised at city hall.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWhen you have legitimate partners of the City of Calgary lobbying council, there\u2019s nothing nefarious about that,\u201d Farkas told Global News. \u201cBut actually having a legitimate process by which they can declare their interest and the public can understand what that interest is and how it may have influenced a decision, I think that makes things better for everybody.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bradley Lafortune with Public Interest Alberta said he agrees with Farkas, and that a \u201csimple\u201d process like a lobbyist registry could help with transparency and public trust at the municipal level.<\/p>\n

According to Lafortune, questions and concerns over influence are important considering the matters that are handled at city hall.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we look at development and lands and bylaws and zoning, it\u2019s a huge question about who has influence and how they\u2019re how they\u2019re applying it at city hall, he said.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIt\u2019s a little bit cliche, but sunlight is always the best disinfectant. And so it can be as simple as a public registry with public reporting that is publicly accessible.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ward 2 Coun. Jennifer Wyness, who has been critical of the move before the RCMP concludes its investigation, describes the influence on council as \u201ca pressure cooker.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have our voters and our constituents that have expectations and an approach to a problem that we\u2019re trying to solve at council, and you\u2019ll have industry and you\u2019ll have other councillors,\u201d she told Global News. \u201cIt\u2019s constantly working in that pressure cooker of influence.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Wyness said city councillors have been disclosing who they meet with in their offices, and added the registry is redundant.<\/p>\n

How city councillors talk about the investigation \u201cdoesn\u2019t help\u201d public trust in city hall, Wyness said, calling it a \u201cself-inflicted bruise.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ward 14 Coun Landon Johnston said there are gaps in accountability measures, with council being forced to \u201cpolice ourselves\u201d due to a lack of a code of conduct for municipally elected officials.<\/p>\n

Earlier this year, the Government of Alberta said it would be introducing a universal code of conduct for municipalities by the end of the year.<\/p>\n

Johnston said he is open to the framework proposed by Farkas, but isn\u2019t convinced it\u2019ll come with a solution.<\/p>\n

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\u201cNo amount of framework or legislation is going to stop corruption,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019ll still happen on personal devices and behind closed doors.\u201d<\/p>\n

Other groups, like Democracy Watch, pointed to campaign finance rules in Calgary and Alberta.<\/p>\n

Alberta residents can donate $5,000 in the aggregate to all council candidates, as well as school board trustee candidates and locally registered political parties.<\/p>\n

Corporations, trade unions and employee organizations can also contribute $5,000 in the aggregate.<\/p>\n

\u201cCalgary essentially has a political donation system that allows for legalized bribery,\u201d Democracy Watch co-founder Duff Conacher told Global News.<\/p>\n

\u201cAn average voter can\u2019t afford that; it violates the democratic principle of one person, one vote, because the donation limit is so high.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\t&copy 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A move proposed by Calgary\u2019s mayor to introduce a municipal lobbyist registry amid an RCMP investigation into allegations…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":733673,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194293],"tags":[49,2798,71388,177137,48,714,216199],"class_list":["post-733672","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-calgary","tag-ca","tag-calgary","tag-calgary-city-council","tag-calgary-city-hall","tag-canada","tag-politics","tag-rcmp-investigation"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/733672","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=733672"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/733672\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/733673"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=733672"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=733672"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=733672"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}