Calgary mayor calls on PM Carney to champion energy sector

In a letter sent to Canada’s Prime Minister from Calgary’s mayor, Mark Carney is being encouraged to reconnect with his Alberta roots and champion the energy sector.

“I invite Prime Minister Carney to come and visit Calgary,” said Gondek on Thursday. “We need to be strong advocates for what is driving our economy.”

In the letter, Gondek highlighted the need for investment in critical infrastructure, faster credentials for construction and energy workers, and for Carney to be a champion of Canadian energy.

“Your platform spoke of the importance of partnership between all orders of government,” the letter reads. “In that spirit, I extend a personal invitation to meet with me and the Calgarians who are driving innovation, growth, and resilience on the frontlines of our national economy.”

She urged the PM to consider four areas where “federal policy must align more closely with municipal realities.”

The four areas include protecting municipal fiscal tools, championing energy, building infrastructure, and investing in workers.

The letter from Gondek comes as 38 energy leaders from across the country signed a joint letter to the PM titled ‘Build Canada Now,’ calling for more production and simplified regulations in the sector.

It reads in part, “over the last decade, the layering and complexity of energy policies has resulted in a lack of investor confidence, and consequently, a barrier to investment,” adding that the U.S. is in the midst of simplifying its permitting process.

“We need to be stepping up and playing a role on the global stage and I think those conversations between producers and the government are going to be important to understand how we get there,” said Gondek.

The mayor says she hopes diplomacy prevails when figuring out Canada’s next steps forward.

“This is not a time that our nation needs to be at odds, this is a time that we have to be banding together,” she says.

Gondek adds she’s reached out to recently-elected Calgary MPs, including the city’s only Liberal MP Corey Hogan, to request a meeting.

Mount Royal University political science professor Lori Williams said this week that Hogan brings a lot to the table and expects he could be offered a cabinet position by Prime Minister Mark Carney as one of only two Liberal MPs in the province.