The Women of Calgary City Council: 2001 Election
The Women of Calgary City Council
The first municipal election of the new millennium was a big one for women. While only five women would get seats on Council, one came incredibly close to being the first woman to serve as mayor of Calgary. Bev Longstaff, four-time Alderman from 1989-2001, ran for mayor against fellow Alderman Dave Bronconnier when Al Duerr chose not to run for a fifth term in the mayor’s office, after having been on Council since 1983.
Bev Longstaff. 2001. Photo provided by City of Calgary Archives.
One of the biggest issues facing the City in the 2001 election was the speed in which Calgary was growing; infrastructure had not been keeping up with growth in terms of population and sprawl. In 1980, the city had a population of 560,618. Twenty-one years later it had grown by 315,901 and had grown outwards a lot more than it had grown upwards to accommodate the growth. All major candidates recognized the issues at hand and had creative solutions. Richard Magnus wanted the City to start planning for 50-60 years ahead rather than react to growth. Ray Clark was a proponent of the Go Plan, which projected Calgary’s population to be 1.25 million by 2024, sought to design the city proactively with environmental quality, mobility, and affordability in mind. Dave Bronconnier proposed increasing budget allocation to transportation to build more roads and to expand the LRT, and to annex land east and west of the city. Finally, Bev Longstaff recognized that the city’s infrastructure had not been keeping up, but simply growing outward and building more roads was not a sustainable solution. She suggested improved public transit, encouraged carpooling, HOV lanes, and even cycling infrastructure. Longstaff even recognized well ahead of the discussion that Calgary needed more density.
The Calgary Herald. 2001.
Longstaff was well liked as a candidate. She won the “Candidate you’d most want to have a beer with” endorsement from Herald columnist Don Braid. She even won the endorsement of outgoing mayor, Al Duerr, which was the last time the outgoing mayor of Calgary has endorsed a candidate. She was seen by many as a preferred candidate or even the favourite.
In the end, though, the election went to Dave Bronconnier with Bev Longstaff a close second. Bronconnier won with 28.3 per cent of the vote to Longstaff’s 26.4 per cent: a margin of just over 4,200 votes.
The Calgary Herald coverage of the 2001 election results.
The 2001 election was also the first since the mid-‘70s to not feature Sue Higgins. The veteran “Alder-broad” had spent 21 of the past 24 years on Council, and in 1983 was herself the first woman to run for mayor in Calgary, defeated by Ralph Klein. She retired in 2001 rather than seek re-election. Much like her colleague Barb Scott, who retired six years prior, Higgins had an iconic comment when she realized it was time to retire: “F---, I’ve been here a long time.” Higgins went out on Council by stalling the non-smoking bylaw, which as a heavy smoker, she was staunchly against.
Higgins was later diagnosed with lung cancer and would sadly pass away in 2014. Upon news of her passing, Mayor Naheed Nenshi said of her “In an age of polished politics and spin, Sue was always straight-talking and blunt, using her own form of colourful language. But under that tough exterior, she had a deep love for this city and for everyone in it.” Higgins was heavily focused on the city’s operating and capital budgets, having sat on Council through multiple budget crises.
Sue Higgins salutes Ralph Klein after he soundly defeated her in the 1983 mayoral election. It's believed she was the first woman to ever run for the seat in Calgary. Image from the Calgary Herald.
Sue Higgins on the balcony of her Historic City Hall office. Calgary Herald.
Diane Danielson and Linda Fox-Mellway remained on Council for this election, and were joined by Diane Colley-Urquhart, who served on Council for six consecutive terms, only recently losing her long-held seat in the 2021 election. Colley-Urquhart had previously run in 1998, losing to Patti Grier. With Grier’s abrupt resignation in 2000, a by-election was held in July of that year with Colley-Urquhart defeating Ric McIver, who would join Council in another ward in the future. Colley-Urquhart worked as a nurse and had also held senior management and teaching positions at the Foothills Hospital and the University of Alberta Hospital, and was the director of the Alberta Kids’ Help Phone and Tory constituency president during the election. Colley-Urquhart beat McIver by less than 300 votes in 2000.
Diane Colley-Urquhart. 2001. Photo provided by City of Calgary Archives.
Diane Danielson won her seat again in 2001, defeating Andre Chabot 5,330 to 3,744. Her election platform focused on community image and pride, which was a key issue she had identified while serving on Council. She created the Image Team, a group of neighbourhood representatives who worked towards beautifying the ward.
Danielson would run again in 2004 but lose to Margot Aftergood, which would become one of the biggest political scandals in local history. Danielson’s second term on Council had its ups and downs; including favouring rate hikes on transit for seniors – though still in favour of low-income senior exemptions. One of the more interesting issues Danielson tackled was a controversial dance bylaw that had been initially implemented in 2000. Two years after being written, the bylaw was reviewed by Danielson, chair of the community and protective services committee, after a court case that suggested the bylaw potentially violated the Charter Right to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly.
Diane Danielson. Photo provided by The City of Calgary Archives.
Also joining Council this year was Druh Farrell, who ran in Ward 7 to replace Bev Longstaff as she ran for the Mayor’s office. Madeleine King joined too, representing Ward 8.
King, born in 1947 in England, moved to Calgary after earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in History and in Law. When she moved to Calgary, she became heavily involved in community service, serving with school boards, community associations and other local service organizations. King worked as a mediator, lawyer, businesswoman and fundraiser. She also served on the Board of Directors of the Calgary Airport Authority, as well as UNICEF. Her first full foray as a politician came in 1993, when she was the Alberta Liberal candidate running against Ralph Klein in Calgary-Elbow, which was followed by an unsuccessful municipal run in 1995.
Madeline King. 2001. Photo provided by City of Calgary Archives.
While in municipal office, King served on the Standing Policy Committees on Community and Protective Services and Land Use, along with Planning & Transportation Audit Committee, Intergovernmental Affairs, the Calgary Homeless Foundation, Calgary Exhibition and Stampede Board, Calgary Arts Development Authority, Affordable Housing Committee, Imagine Calgary Roundtable. The Calgary Committee to End Homelessness and finally the Calgary Heritage Authority, our very own predecessor.
King announced her candidacy early, with a story appearing in the Calgary Herald on May 4, 2001. One other person, Mary Rosza de Coquet, had also announced her candidacy already at that point, though she had dropped out before election day. By the time ballots were cast, the race for Ward 8 was crowded; 11 people vying for the office, including a close friend of Premier Ralph Klein and part-owner of a Calgary Hooters franchise, Al Browne. Because of just how many candidates there were, it was an incredibly close race, with King coming out ahead of runner-up Robert Lang by less than 400 votes and less than 18 per cent of the vote share in the ward.
Calgary Herald.
Madeleine King would run again in 2004 and win with 44 per cent of the vote share. She was narrowly defeated in 2007 by John Mar by less than 200 votes.
Druh Farrell won Ward 7 to replace Bev Longstaff in a moderately less busy race than Madeleine King’s in Ward 8, with only six other candidates. The outcomes were also less close, with Druh winning 44 per cent of the vote; doubling up the next closest candidate. In third was Margot Aftergood, who will come into play in a much bigger way in 2004.
Before entering politics, Druh Farrell was a business owner and a fashion designer, and served as a board member of the Hillhurst-Sunnyside Community Association and chair of the Hillhurst Sunnyside Planning and Development committee, along with founding the Inner-City Coalition and manager of the Kensington Business Revitalization Zone Association. Farrell’s time on Council was marked with community-building and placemaking, having finally tackled the East Village revitalization, the Peace Bridge and others. She was vital in the development of the Blue Bin program, improving accessibility and working to create pedestrian and active transportation infrastructure. She is also well known as a major proponent of urban beauty, walkability, and sustainable quality of life improvements. This could be seen in her work with Transit-Oriented Development, the 7th Avenue LRT upgrade, and the East Village and Centre City plans.
Druh Farrell. 2001. Photo provided by City of Calgary Archives.