Ward 9 Councillor Gian-Carlo Carra not running in Calgary election

Calgary Ward 9 councillor Gian-Carlo Carra announced he will not run for another term in the upcoming October election.

He made the announcement public in a statement on his ward website, leaving with “clear conviction and immense pride,” marking an end to his 15-year term in office.

First elected in 2010 during Naheed Nenshi’s term, Carra says areas of pride for him are stamping out conversion therapy and launching a public inquiry into systemic racism while Chair of Community Development. He also speaks of investments in transit, active modes, Main Streets, and industrial sector mobility improvements, which include parks, playgrounds, recreation facilities, and cultural institutions.

“I would confidently put Ward 9’s record of investment during my time in office alongside that of any Councillor in Calgary’s history,” he said.

However, Carra also took this time to express frustration with the United Conservative Party (UCP), believing Western democracy is under threat and is “undermined by external forces and overwhelmed by internal problems that our institutions seem unable to respond to.”

“The critical regional planning work I’ve nurtured across three provincial governments, building collaboration with neighbouring municipalities to ensure long-term, sustainable growth, has recently been wiped out by a cynical stroke of a UCP pen. Its loss is a stark reminder of the fragility of progress, and how vital the spirit of cooperation is to the health of our democracy,” he said.

He says his greatest disappointment is the failure of the 2026 Winter Olympics bid, which he says was driven by disinformation, marking that moment as the division between an era of “Politics in Full Sentences” and that of “anger, fear, and division.”

Carra also expressed disbelief in the endurance of trickle-down economics while Calgarians “struggle to meet their basic needs, and more people facing mental health and addiction challenges are left unhoused and desperate.”

“If I’ve learned anything in my fifteen years in politics, it’s what my colleague Jasmine Mian expressed a couple months ago as the core reason behind her decision to step away after just one term of service: it’s far easier to tear things down than to build them up; simple falsehoods spread far more easily than complex truths; and, increasingly, more and more of our elected officials are focused on playing internal political games rather than engaging in the demanding, often unglamorous work of real-world governance.”

Carra says he will focus the next six months on “dragging as many remaining open files across the finish line as possible,” while also helping the Calgary Party and Brian Thiessen in the election.

The Calgary Party was officially announced Saturday and has candidates running in almost every ward, focusing on public safety, housing, transit, and infrastructure. This includes DJ Kelly in Ward 4, who ran against Coun. Sean Chu in the 2021 election and lost by 100 votes.

It joins Communities First and A Better Calgary Party as new political parties running in the municipal election under recently approved provincial legislation.

He joins Ward 14 Coun. Peter Demong, Ward 12 Coun. Evan Spencer, Ward 3 Coun. Jasmine Mian, and Ward 8 Coun. Courtney Walcott in stepping away from municipal political office.

Calgary’s next election is on Oct. 20, 2025, the first one in Alberta to allow political parties due to Bill 20. Currently, Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek and several other candidates have announced a re-election run.