Calgary mayor says Alberta interfering in Edmonton housing sets disturbing precedent

CALGARY – Calgary’s mayor says the province’s decision to overturn some Edmonton housing rules is threatening the process for local democracy.

While the order from Premier Danielle Smith’s government will largely leave Calgary unaffected, Mayor Jeromy Farkas says it sets a dangerous precedent for the province working to influence city councillors in the future. 

“Just because the premier agrees with how I voted yesterday, does not mean that she gets to decide how I vote tomorrow,” Farkas told reporters outside of Calgary city council chambers on Friday.

Farkas says city council has an obligation to listen to citizens on important issues in public hearings as evidence for their decisions, but being forced to follow directions from a higher government undermines that process.

He also put the decision in the context of Smith’s government making legal changes giving it the right to call a vote on whether a local elected official should be removed from their post if the province believes the official is unwilling or unable to do their job.

“You can’t order me to vote a certain way at city council and if I don’t adhere to your order, are you actually going to fire me as the mayor of the city of Calgary?” Farkas added. 

His comments come a day after Smith directed the City of Edmonton to abandon rules that made it easier to build multi-unit complexes in older, established neighbourhoods. 

The city has three months to comply.

Edmonton implemented the zoning change in 2024 in order to build higher-density neighbourhoods and make room for intense population growth. 

Smith says she does not want to intervene but is hearing concerns about parking and whether the multi-unit complexes are a good fit in older neighbourhoods.

“There’s great places that you can put eight-plexes … but not in the middle of a single-family home street,” the premier said on the Real Talk with Ryan Jespersen podcast on Friday.

“There’s just a basic sense that something went wrong here and we’ve got to get them back to where they were in 2024. Let’s try a reset and find the right place for these kinds of developments.”

Calgary already rolled back similar rules earlier this year following a public hearing over a span of two weeks, with more than 400 public speakers and nearly 3,300 written submissions. Smith directed Calgary keep those rules in place.

Rob Anderson, Smith’s chief of staff, responded to Farkas with a statement on social media saying the mayor was being “a bit melodramatic.”

Anderson said the multi-unit policies reduced property values for homeowners and provided no compensation. 

“That is a breach of property rights,” he wrote. “The (United Conservative Party) government will continue to stand up for regular homeowners and property rights.”

Edmonton Mayor Andrew Knack has also pushed back on Smith’s announcement.

He said Thursday it was ill-considered and rash and called on the premier to reverse course.

There’s also been pushback from the president of Alberta Municipalities and the Opposition NDP, who say the government’s decision is another step in the erosion of Alberta’s local democracy.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 9, 2026.

— With files from Jack Farrell in Edmonton