Calgary’s mayor says the province’s decision to overturn some Edmonton infill 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.
Edmonton Mayor Andrew Knack reposted a video shared on social media by Farkas on Friday, in which he expressed his concerns.
His comments come a day after Smith directed the City of Edmonton to abandon rules allowing for 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 said 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.
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“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, saying it was ill-considered and rash. Knack 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.
Edmonton political analyst John Brennan said there’s irony in the province stepping into municipal affairs, when it has spent so much time calling on Ottawa politicians to stay in their lane.
“Danielle Smith is always complaining about the federal government intervening in areas of provincial jurisdiction,” Brennan told Global News on Thursday.
“In fact, you could argue a number of our questions on the October 19 referendum are about this — but it doesn’t seem to stop her from intervening with municipalities.”
The Alberta government does have the legal right to force changes that many Edmonton residents have been asking for.
In 2024, Smith’s government gave itself the power to rescind municipal bylaws deemed to be at odds with provincial policies.
Her government also granted itself 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.
Brennan said it’s still heavy-handed and reeks of overreach, especially as the province has already forced changes at the local level with bike lanes and photo radar enforcement.
“In all my years in politics in Edmonton — and I’ve spent a lot of time in municipal government and politics — I’ve never seen anything like this, where a provincial government literally tells a municipal council that they’ve got to repeal their zoning bylaw and they’ve got three months to do it.”
Infill ended up being a contentious topic during the 2025 fall municipal election campaign after residents of established communities expressed concerns about property values, not enough parking, predatory developers, quality of builds and housing affordability.
“At the end of the day, people don’t like change,” Brennan said. “They don’t like the changes they’re seeing in their neighbourhood.”
Infill advocates suggest the province’s move is undemocratic.
“Edmontonians had their chance to have their say in this matter — it was called the 2025 municipal election,” said Jacob Dawang with Grow Together Edmonton, a volunteer organization that advocates for more housing choices.
“They chose, in great numbers, to return pro-infill councillors to council.”
With files from Karen Bartko, Global News and Jack Farrell, The Canadian Press
© 2026 The Canadian Press
