Danielle Smith says Calgary's rezoning law won't be repealed after Bill 20

Alberta Premier Daniel Smith says the provincial government won't intervene in a controversial rezoning law passed by Calgary city council earlier this week, despite a new bill that would give municipalities more power.

in an interview Calgary is an eye opener Asked Thursday if his government plans to intervene, Smith said the province will not reverse Calgary's cap change.

“I won't do it. “It's up to Calgarians to decide whether they're upset,” he said.

“Calgary has an election in 18 months. Calgarians will decide if they believe their council made the right decision.”

Smith's comments come after the introduction of the Alberta Legislature Account 20, Municipal Charter Amendment Act, late April. If approved, the bill would give the provincial cabinet the power to override bylaws, as well as firefighters, mayors and city councillors.

It's just one of three new bills the province has proposed over how much autonomy the province will give municipalities.

Smith's comments came after Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek said it may be difficult to predict what the UCP government might do in response to the city's redistricting.

“If a municipality oversteps their jurisdiction and tries to pass a bylaw that's effectively a provincial jurisdiction, they can repeal it. That (bylaw) is completely within our elected mandate, so it's going to be difficult for me. It's time they figure out how to repeal it,” he said. Gondek told CBC News on Wednesday.

“But they're the provincial government. We're the child in a parent-child relationship, so it wouldn't surprise me if they came from that government.”

Calgary City Council passed the rezoning ordinance Tuesday after the largest public hearing and longest meeting in council history.

16-day meeting of the city maslikhat

The original rezoning proposal was just one part of the city's 98-point housing strategy approved by the council. last yearbut this was the most important and controversial part of the plan.

The law specifies that residential areas zoned for single or semi-detached homes may be rezoned to allow townhouses and townhouses.

In a total of 16 days – most of which lasted 12 hours – the council heard from 736 speakers during public hearings, 458 of whom opposed the land use ordinance change.

More than 20 amendments were made to the bylaw during the meeting, many of which were prompted by what council heard from Calgarians throughout the public hearing, Gondek reports.

But Smith said he believes the federal government has gone too far when it comes to rezoning Calgary by offering adequate funding to the municipality. He said the provincial government's newly proposed legislation would address such “bilateral deals.”

“What concerns me in Calgary is that they seem to have made a zoning change because it was a requirement of the federal government,” the premier said.

“One condition of that is there are reports that this massive zoning change is needed. Now I think this is an interference with municipal jurisdiction.”

Late last year, the federal government announced it would give Calgary $228 million over four years to build 6,800 new homes. Housing Acceleration Fund (HAF), a federal government initiative to address the housing crisis.

Gondek after receiving a letter from federal housing minister Sean Fraser in September 2023 expressed concern on social networks the federal government will not fund the city's housing strategy unless its zoning laws are changed.

Whether it would affect federal funding was a key component of the rezoning debate, but at the council meeting the city administration announced Federal money will not be tied to rezoning.