Listen: CJSW Ward 7 Coverage
Myke recently joined CJSW 90.9 FM for their 2025 Municipal Election Coverage series to talk about Ward 7: what makes our communities special, what we’re hearing at the doors, and the priorities that matter most to residents.
Read my portion of the conversation below.
On social services, what do you believe is the city's role in supporting vulnerable Calgarians through social services such as mental health support and harm reduction?
Myke: Obviously, in Calgary, we are dealing with a situation that we're not just seeing here in Calgary. We're seeing it all over the world, right? There are addiction problems, homelessness is rampant all over the world. This isn't just a Calgary thing. But we used to at least sort of feign the idea that we were going to do something about it, right? We had this 10 year plan to end homelessness, that we launched at almost the exact same time as Medicine Hat launched theirs. In Calgary, though, we kind of have dropped the whole idea. We've sort of thrown our hands up and said that this is too complex. We need to lean into the surfaces that have been starting to develop, like the Alpha House, the DOAP Team, the Bear Clan, and make sure that we bring these in to support these critical critical services to the mental health, to harm reduction in our community, to providing safety on our streets, and to changing the overall structures for those who are most vulnerable and m most at risk in our society.
On affordable housing, what specific policies or initiatives would you support to improve housing affordability and accessibility in Calgary?
Myke: Housing affordability has become a serious issue in this city. I've been speaking with a number of individuals at the doors, and people are honestly, I'm hearing some of the saddest stories about people being two months behind on rent, worried that they're gonna be evicted any moment. You know, housing is a human right. We need to make sure that people have a roof over their heads. To do that, we at city council need to make sure that there is obviously enough housing being built. We need to make sure that there is access to housing at various levels of affordability. And that includes, I think, really focussing back again on non-market housing. We haven't been building things like housing co-ops, and these other just sort of forms of non-market housing to support low income individuals in our city for over 50 years. We need to bring this kind of housing product back into the overall market, and it will help not just those folks who access those rentals, but also the folks that are accessing rentals in just the market space as well.
On transportation, what is your vision for improving traffic flow and public transit in your ward and across the city?
Myke: How we get around in the city is one of the most critical things that the city government takes care of, in my opinion. This, obviously, I've been a public transit advocate for many years trying to work on things like the low income transit pass, fair free transit for youth 12 and under getting more people to ride transit is good for the city. It's good for people. It's good for us living closer together. It answers so many problems throughout the whole scale. But that requires reliable quality and affordable public transportation. This means investing in things like the infrastructure, like the Green Line. This makes sure we need to take care of the many train stations, all throughout Ward 7 and across the city, and we need to make sure that even bus services and the supporting infrastructure in and around this are well maintained and we build up the reliability and the frequency, so that no matter where you want to go, there is a reliable route that gets you there frequently accessible and affordable for families living in the city.
On public safety, how would you balance community safety with calls for accountability and reform in our police, fire, and emergency services?
Myke: Community safety is a top priority in Ward 7. Obviously, that includes the downtown, which is a huge concern, an ongoing concern for all Calgarians across the city, but this also includes things like transit and just the inner city communities, which everyone wants to be able to safely move around and have a great experience in our city. But our emergency services are being tasked with things that they were not trained and set up to deal with. Mental health supports, addiction supports. These are not things that someone who has been trained as a police officer or as a firefighter is necessarily equipped to deal with, even EMS. EMS shows up and they're there to deal with physical harm. We need a new kind of emergency response in Calgary, and we're seeing it being provided by teams like the dope team, like Alpha House, where they're coming in and they're providing these kinds of services, social services, supports, but we have not formalized that and brought it into our emergency response systems. That's the next step that we need.
On environment: how would you approach environmental sustainability in Calgary, particularly around land development, waste management, and water conservation.
Myke: In Calgary, we've been sprawling for many, many years, and has created a very unsustainable city in many different ways, just running city services as far out as we have with the lack of density, especially in communities built in the '70s, '80s and '90s, has really created an unsustainable city. But we have to take that as an opportunity. We have to look at this from a Calgary lens and sort of say, "Oh, we have a chance here to actually fix some of the mistakes of the past." And bring some more density into these communities built in the '70s,'80s, '90s, 2000s. We've got train lines coming through, we need to best use our public transit systems. These kinds of resources that make us live more sustainable lives in the city. If we can make better use of them by bringing density and, especially in these communities in the outskirts of the inner city, we can make a much more sustainable city, both for ourselves and for the planet as a whole.
On education: while education is largely a provincial responsibility, how do you see the city collaborating with school boards to support accessible and quality education in your board?
Myke: While what happens in schools is obviously mostly with the provincial government, students have to get to school and back home from school safely, and that that is largely on the city government to take care of. This is the pedestrian infrastructure, this is about walkability, bike-ability to school, making sure that kids can get there, preferably on their own. They shouldn't necessarily have to have a parent going with them, and the only way that we can actually make that happen is by making sure that the infrastructure is there to support kids getting to schools safely. So this is investment in pedestrian infrastructure. This is investment in biking infrastructure. I also think that we need to be exploring fair free transit. I was an advocate for raising the fair free transit age to 12 and under, and I think it actually should go to 18 and under. That's part of my platform. All students should be able to get to school easily, cheaply, and it should just be a a great experience to kick off your day and go and get your learning done at your local school.
On arts and culture: how will you support local arts and culture as a part of Calgary's identity?
Myke: Connecting with Calgary's vibrant arts and culture scene is what convinced me that Calgary is my forever city. It was my experiences as a young individual going to all ages shows. It was coming in, volunteering here at CJSW. It was getting to know the local bands and the quality of amazing artists in this city that made me realize that there is something special about what's happening in this city, and arts and culture is a huge, huge point of entrepreneurship. It's a way for people to express themselves. It's mental health support, it's things throughout. It's what makes Calgary a great place to live. And so making sure that we are there to provide, obviously funding, to support it, but also, I think a big part of it is also just showing up, encouraging, and focussing our attention, especially on those local artists that are doing great things every day to make our city a more vibrant and special place to live. That is the role of city council. Shine a light on the amazing things we have.
In what ways do you try to give back to your community?
Myke: Volunteerism has been a big part of my connection to the city. It has been a big way in which I feel that I have been able to support, but also gain a lot back for myself and being connected to this place. That is volunteering with my local community association in Banff Trail in Ward 7. That is volunteering with city communities and committees and boards, with things like the Established Areas's Growth and change Strategy Finance Committee. It's a mouthful. That is also things like volunteering with places like CJSW, art supporting organizations like Sled Island, and Music Calgary. There's so many ways in which you, as a person can get involved in this city, if you're willing to put some muscle in, and I've always found that when you put in, you get so much back. I've also worked in the public sector for the last five years. I worked at the Calgary Public Library, and I believe the public service is actually one of the best things that you can do with your time, whether that's the time you're getting paid for or the time that you have on the side.
We note that indigenous groups have their own bodies of governance, but as we are on shared land, we dedicated a question to decolonization. What is your understanding of Calgary's responsibilities under the truth and reconciliation calls to action?
Myke: After the Truth and Reconciliation Call to Action came out many years ago, Calgary commissioned the White Goose Flying Report, and this is a way to localize those broader calls to action for what needs to happen at the city. Now, this is a whole host of recommendations, both for the city of Calgary and the organization itself and partner organizations that it works with within the city, and just sort of broader ways in which we, as a city need to work on our reconciliation efforts with indigenous communities and nations that we are very much a part of. So the next step in this for me specifically, I think that we really need to focus on certain key elements within that report. The biggest one is housing. We have an unhoused population of indigenous people living in our urban environment that is way out of proportion with the number of indigenous individuals who are living in our city. We really need to rectify that. It is not right that so many indigenous people are living on our streets and suffering all of the ailments that come along with that, providing safe housing for indigenous people has to be the next focus point.
We gave each candidate a moment to share any closing remarks.
Myke: I'm running to be your local independent, progressive voice here in Ward Seven. I've lived in Ward 7 for over 20 years. This includes renting, purchasing my first house that I'm still living in today 15 years later in Bam Trail. I've raised my kids here, I went to school and got a business degree here at the University of Calgary. I've worked here at CGSW for over a decade, and then down at the Central Library, downtown in the Service Design and Innovation team over there. My life revolves around this place, Ward 7, and it really revolves around Calgary as a whole. I was born here, I will die here. This is my forever city. I found this city when I was younger and the people and the connections and just an amazing place. Obviously, sometimes in this city, we can have a hard time where we feel dissonance and maybe not as connected to this place in space. But once you find those people and that community, it is something so special, and that is what I am trying to build and support here in this city.