New faces at City Hall: Ward 8’s Courtney Walcott

From the halls of Western Canada High School to City Hall, Courtney Walcott is the new councillor for Ward 8.

Challenged by his students to make change in the city, Walcott says it was his anti-racism work at the Calgary Board of Education that started the ball rolling.

RELATED: A look at who was elected in each ward

“The biggest change with my thinking was actually from focusing specifically on anti-racism to really understanding the intersection of racism and all the other forms of discrimination that exist in our system as well.”

Walcott is the first Black man elected to Calgary City Council and at 31 years of age, is the youngest member on council.

He says he is excited to be part of a council with fresh faces, ideas, and experiences.

“Which is going to bring in so many new skills, perspectives, lived experiences. As we go through the same processes that guided us in the past, that’s where the change takes place.”

READ MORE:

• New faces at City Hall: Ward 6’s Richard Pootmans

• New faces at city council: Ward 11’s Kourtney Penner

• New faces at city council: Ward 3’s Jasmine Mian

His students may have been the ones encouraging him to run for council but Walcott says they will remain the inspiration for the work he does.

“It comes down those students, it comes back to that next generation and that idea of what we are leaving behind.”