Mayor Jyoti Gondek talks protests, EMS dispatch and the relationship with the province

It's been a whirlwind few months for Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek, who made history last fall in becoming the city's first woman to hold the role.

There's been no shortage of challenges since: the collapse of the new arena deal, a tough budget that led to a near four per cent property tax hike, and the ongoing challenges of the pandemic.

She's also received national attention for her campaign pledge to declare a climate emergency, which city council voted to do in November. 

On Monday, Gondek held a virtual meeting with CBC Calgary's editorial board to talk about some of the issues the city is facing.

The discussion included her concerns with the protests that targeted the homes of politicians.

She also spoke about the Alberta government's announcement Monday that it will begin the process of reviewing the province-wide ambulance dispatch system next month. 

Several municipalities, including the City of Calgary, have opposed the move to consolidate EMS dispatch, which happened nearly a year ago, concerned it would cause delays in coordinated responses to 911 calls.

Some councils welcomed the news of a review, but Gondek expressed disappointment with how it's being handled. 

The following question-and-answer includes excerpts from that discussion, which has been edited for length and clarity. 

Question: Today's announcement on EMS from the provincial government, they mentioned they're going to put out an RFP [a request for proposals] to conduct a third-party review of Alberta's province-wide EMS dispatch system. What's your initial response to today's news release from the government? 

Answer: "I would say probably within the last half hour or so, when all of you saw the release from the provincial government is when I saw it. Certainly would have been nice to have been part of the conversation leading up to this. But as we learn at 3:30 on various days what it is that's happening in our province when it comes to our public safety and public health, I guess that's how we're going to find out about EMS service." 

"I'm disappointed that instead of engaging with cities and professionals that deliver frontline service, they're taking it to a third-party review. We had long warned this government that getting rid of the dispatch system we had that was globally recognized for its ability to integrate service and provide great service that it would be devastating to Albertans and it has been. And so now to go to a third party instead of coming back and talking to the stakeholders who could have told them what was wrong? Disappointing. Don't feel like a partner at the table on this. I'm happy to see that there are so many great quotes from people representing municipalities [in the press release]. But as one of the largest metropolitan centres, I would have thought that there would be more engagement."

Q: With protests outside of the homes of politicians, do we need specific measures that can be enforced by the Calgary Police Service to address this? It's happening over and over and over again. So, it's reasonable to conclude that the right tools don't exist currently to deal with it.

A: "There is the opportunity for the provincial government to include the homes of elected officials. But then where does it stop because this seems to be spreading everywhere. We know that health care workers were targeted as well. And so where does it stop? I think not being able to hold a protest outside anyone's personal residence is probably the ideal solution. And working with Calgary Police Service, they're incredibly responsive to situations like this. But, you know, if we have the ability to show them on a camera that this is who was at my home and there's any kind of a link toward something that's more dangerous then, you know, I think we're doing ourselves a better service than just turning away from it."