Calgary mayor’s downtown police station motion getting some pushback
Posted May 5, 2026 7:07 pm.
Last Updated May 5, 2026 7:53 pm.
Mayor Jeromy Farkas’s notice of motion to bring a police station to downtown Calgary is receiving some pushback.
Coun. Jennifer Wyness, who also sits on the Police Commission, raised the concern Tuesday that the mayor’s notice of motion is overstepping council’s area of jurisdiction by telling the police what to do.
“That is why we have a commission, if we look at the history, the city stood up a police commission because we did not want the mayor’s office directing the police, and yet here we find ourselves today in a grey area where it was campaign promise into a notice of motion, into a grey area of what the outcome is going to be for Calgarians,” says Wyness.
The province’s police act states that while municipalities fund police services, it’s up to police commissions to decide how that funding is used.
Administration says since the notice of motion asks for a feasibility report, it is legally sound.
“With respect to the legal aspect of the notice of motion, it does come close to the line; it does for sure, but it does not direct a particular outcome,” says Jill Floen, City Solicitor and General Counsel with the City of Calgary.
In a statement, the Calgary Police Commission says while they are open to conversations, they add that “any proposal for a new police facility, including a downtown station, would be an additional operational and financial cost beyond what our Commission and the CPS have already determined to be the most efficient and effective ways to address Calgarians’ public safety priorities.”
Farkas says public safety is a priority and responsibility of city hall.
“So we need to continue to challenge our police commission to be able to show us that work, and if they think they could provide for public safety without a downtown police station, I’m all ears,” he says.
Currently, there is a police community counter on 6 Avenue SW downtown, but it’s not open 24/7, has no patrol deployment, and no arrest-processing function.
Farkas has long advocated for the reopening of a downtown police station. When he was a councillor in 2018, he advocated for the Victoria Park Police station to reopen after it was shut down in November 2017.
The notice of motion will now go to the May 26 regular meeting of council after a 9-3 vote in support of it at the Executive Committee.
