Ward 12 Candidate CERT Questionnaire Responses and 1-on-1 with Sarah Ferguson
Learn about your candidates for Ward 12 in the City of Calgary
WATCH your Ward 12 Candidates: Sarah Ferguson 👇
The Calgary Environmental Roundtable (CERT) municipal election podcast series is hosted by The Gravity Well. CERT is a nonpartisan coalition focused on elevating environmental priorities in the municipal election and beyond. This campaign connects you with your Calgary municipal election candidates through an automatic email requesting them to emphasizing the importance of clean water, biodiversity, and climate action for a sustainable future.
This episode features a discussion with your candidates for Ward 12, Sarah Ferguson, highlighting their visions and strategies for addressing environmental challenges. Key topics include the implementation of Calgary’s climate strategy, community development that protects natural ecosystems, budget allocation for biodiversity, and the role of ENMAX in achieving the city’s clean electricity goals. The discussions also cover sustainable water use, affordable housing, and the importance of engaging with community groups and residents to shape council decisions. The roundtable encourages ongoing participation and relationship-building to foster a resilient and healthy city for all Calgarians. Learn all about this campaign and CERT here!
Your Ward 12 Candidates’ Answers
1️⃣Calgary’s Climate Strategy outlines 5-year goals to reduce energy poverty and utility costs, create clean economy jobs, improve public health, and build more equitable, climate-resilient communities. If elected, how will you work to achieve these outcomes for Calgarians?
Sarah Ferguson | The Calgary Party
We will ensure Calgary’s Climate Strategy moves from aspirational to actionable. That means better accountability on existing climate targets and ties back to KPIs in infrastructure, land use and transit decisions.
Link housing and infrastructure planning to ensure greater efficiency of use in new communities.
Accelerate retrofits of City-owned buildings and work with the federal and provincial governments to fund this
Expand rapid transit and active mobility networks to cut emissions while giving Calgarians better, more affordable ways to move around.
Support clean economy job creation by tying procurement to local low-carbon industries.
We need to be more efficient with our resources and focus on how the current climate affects our standard of living, such as colder winters and smokier, hotter summers.
2️⃣ How will you ensure that new community development and redevelopment in Calgary protects our watersheds, river and creek valleys, wetlands, and the wildlife and urban biodiversity that depend on these ecosystems?
Sarah Ferguson | The Calgary Party
We will make protection of rivers, wetlands, and natural corridors a non-negotiable part of Calgary’s growth. Our commitments include:
Strengthening watershed and riparian protection in development processes
Encouraging all redevelopment projects include stormwater management, tree cover, and habitat protection.Encourage development inside Calgary’s existing footprint to limit Calgary’s impact on the surrounding habitat and biodiversity.
Calgarians love their green spaces! Recognizing our affordability issues, these free spaces are more crucial to protect right now more than ever.
3️⃣ Will you commit to dedicating budget dollars toward protecting Calgary’s biodiversity and improving wildlife safety in our urban environment, including through measures such as enforcing bird-friendly building standards, retrofitting existing structures, and supporting safe wildlife corridors?
Sarah Ferguson | The Calgary Party
We commit to investing in biodiversity and wildlife safety, through ensuring a portion of retrofit funds can go to meeting standards where appropriate. We will work to prioritize wildlife corridors in community design, with safe crossings and connected park systems.
I will focus efforts in supporting local groups that are already doing this work and engaging with them to lift their voices.
4️⃣ What steps will you take to ensure housing, rent, and transit in Calgary are affordable and accessible so that more Calgarians can access services with dignity, and live and work in a healthy city?
Sarah Ferguson | The Calgary Party
We commit to investing in biodiversity and wildlife safety, through ensuring a portion of retrofit funds can go to meeting standards where appropriate. We will work to prioritize wildlife corridors in community design, with safe crossings and connected park systems.
Ward 12 in particular has terrible transit access, increasing the need for vehicles. We need to enhance the availability for folks to take transit as an option to help alleviate the traffic congestion for folks who don’t.
5️⃣ENMAX is wholly owned by the City of Calgary. What role do you see for ENMAX in helping the city achieve its 2035 clean electricity goals?
Sarah Ferguson | The Calgary Party
ENMAX should be a cornerstone of Calgary’s clean energy transition. We will:
Push ENMAX to adopt a transparent 2035 decarbonization roadmap with clear milestones regarding supply and procurement of clean electricity.
Ensure ENMAX supports low-income Calgarians through expanded energy efficiency programs and equitable rate structures.
Treat ENMAX not just as a revenue source, but as a public asset accountable for delivering affordable, clean power.
I’m excited to learn more about this possibility and how council can support ENMAX in this endeavour.
6️⃣How will you advance sustainable water use and watershed protection in Calgary’s growth and development decisions?
Sarah Ferguson | The Calgary Party
We know Calgary’s water system is already under strain. Last year’s Bearspaw South Feeder Main failure was a wake-up call — and with over 22% of our treated water lost to leakage (compared to less than 5% in Edmonton), the status quo is unsustainable
That’s why we are calling for the creation of a modern, publicly owned water utility — independent, accountable, and run by experts. This model, proven in cities like Edmonton (EPCOR) and even with ENMAX here in Calgary, would:
Protect long-term water security: Invest in preventative maintenance and monitor risks to avoid catastrophic failures.
Advance sustainable growth: Integrate water infrastructure planning with housing, transit, and community development to avoid overloading our rivers and aquifers.
Reduce hidden costs: Replace today’s site levies — a $12,000+ “hidden water tax” on each new home — with fair, utility-based financing that spreads costs across decades.
Ensure transparency and accountability: Require the utility to publish clear performance benchmarks and capital plans, overseen by regulators and open to the public.
As Calgary adds more than 100,000 new residents each year, collaboration with regional partners will be critical. We will lead joint watershed protection, risk-mapping, and investment planning across the Bow and Elbow Rivers, ensuring Calgary’s growth never undermines our shared water resources.
We will need to work with experts and partners to find ways to continue this advocacy.
7️⃣How will you ensure recommendations from Calgarians including residents, frontline communities, environmental groups, and city staff are meaningfully considered in Council decisions?
Sarah Ferguson | The Calgary Party
We will rebuild trust in City Hall by ensuring engagement is real and transparent. That means:
Expanding proactive engagement with residents, frontline groups, and experts at the start of planning processes.
Requiring Council to publicly report on how community recommendations were incorporated (or why they weren’t).
Strengthening two-way communication with community associations and advisory panels so input shapes decisions, not just checkboxes.
I commit to meeting with groups and lifting the voices of folks doing this work.