Landon Johnston, the man responsible for launching a petition to remove Calgary’s mayor, says that 72,271 individuals signed, marking the end of the 60-day period he had to collect signatures.
The city of Calgary now has 45 days to count the signatures before they release the official count in a press release.
Johnston, who operates a home maintenance company in Calgary, launched the petition after speaking with families during his routine work day, realizing that the vast majority of the families he spoke to had one reason or another to want Gondek gone.
As per the city rules, Calgary would need a total of 514,284 signatures for the petition to successfully recall Mayor Gondek.
“72200 signatures in 60 days. – not enough to force the mayor to resign. But enough to start a conversation and a movement. The pressure is on council to shape up. This city belongs to us, and we deserve better from our elected officials,” Johnston posted on X.
Calgarians will be stuck with Gondek until at least 2025, unless she steps down herself. The mayor recently stated she isn’t sure if she’ll run for re-election.
Smith says bar too high
Premier Danielle Smith recently said the recall bar is too high given that only 390, 383 citizens voted in the 2021 mayoral election.
“If three times the number of people who voted for a person say that they want to reconsider it, then that seems to me to be a pretty strong expression of democracy, but it does give you an indication of just how high the bar actually is,” Smith said.
Smith further said the required amount should be closer to 40% of the electorate.
Johnston agrees, telling True North that it’s “statistically impossible” to reach over 500,00 signatures and that “it was never meant to be 40% of the population.”
MSM calls people who don’t like Gondek racist (and sexist!)
On Wednesday, the Calgary Herald published an Op-Ed from Catherine Ford, who said the recall Gondek drive was done “under the guise of criticizing her style and leadership,” but, in actuality, is due to racism and sexism.
“No one has uttered the “she’s not fit because she’s a woman” trope but I suspect that’s all part of it, too,” Ford said.
A recent survey conducted among 1,116 Calgarians revealed a mere 30% approval rating for Gondek’s performance, with a significant 61% expressing disapproval.
