Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek might be ousted after a petition was submitted

The Canadian Press

Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek could soon be ousted from her position after a new petition was submitted and then received by the City of Calgary.

In a statement sent on Monday, the City said it received a notice of recall petition against Prabhjot Kaur “Jyoti” Gondek.

“The notice of recall petition has been officially reviewed using the criteria outlined in the Municipal Government Act (MGA) and deemed compliant,” the statement reads.

A copy of the notice can be found here.

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In a statement sent to Daily Hive Urbanized, Gondek said she remains committed to the work of building a future for everyone who lives in Calgary.

“In October 2021, Calgarians put their faith in me to be a mayor who could bring balance and stability to this city at a time when polarized ideologies stood to divide us,” she said in the statement.

“We have work to do. Onward.”

How the recall petition works

In 2022, the Government of Alberta amended the MGA to include provisions related to the recall of an elected official.

The recall legislation allows eligible electors, defined by the Local Authorities Election Act, to file petitions to recall elected officials during the term they are currently serving in that role — this includes Calgary’s municipal officials: the mayor and councillors.

The notice of recall petition has been deemed compliant and posted online, the City said.

The representative recall petitioner, Landon Johnston, has 60 days — from February 5, 2024, to April 4, 2024, — to collect signatures and submit their recall petition to the City.

Daily Hive Urbanized has reached out to Johnston for comment.

For the petition to be successful, the representative recall petitioner (Johnston) must collect signatures from at least 40% of the population within the City of Calgary, with all signatures required to be original signatures.

A total of 514,284 signatures are needed for the recall petition to be considered.

A recall petition may not be signed in digital form and only people who are eligible to vote for the elected official named in the notice of recall petition, in this case, Mayor Jyoti Gondek, may sign the recall petition.

What happens next

If a petition is submitted, there is a 45-day period when the sufficiency of the petition will be assessed.

At that time, the City clerk must — at the first council meeting after determining whether the recall petition is sufficient or insufficient — make a declaration to City Council as to whether the recall petition is sufficient or insufficient.

If the petition is declared sufficient, then the individual named (Gondek) in the notice of recall petition is recalled, and will no longer be a member of Council or of any Council committee.

The position (in this case, the mayor of Calgary) which the individual was elected for will become vacant.

If there are 12 months or more before the next general election, which is set for October 20, 2025, a byelection will then be called to fill the vacant seat.

If there are less than 12 months before the next general election, the vacant seat will be filled either through a byelection or through council appointment.

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