Dear Members and Friends of ABC,

As the Board of Directors of A Better Calgary Party (ABC), we are writing to inform you of a significant development regarding our strategy for the 2025 municipal election.

Previously, as you may know, the party had intended to only run council candidates in some wards, to help avoid a vote-split with Communities First.

Unfortunately, this past weekend, we learned that Communities First have decided to run candidates in wards already contested by nominated ABC candidates.

Despite repeated good-faith efforts to maintain unity among ‘common-sense conservative’ candidates and an unofficial understanding to avoid running like-minded candidates against each other to prevent vote-splitting, Communities First has chosen to rebuff this effort and instead compete in wards already represented by ABC-nominated candidates.

Today, therefore, we are announcing that - subject to membership approval - we now intend to run candidates in all wards, as well as for Mayor.

We did everything possible to avoid this outcome - we compromised, we cooperated, and we trusted. But unfortunately, that trust has now been broken.

Starting over a year ago, ABC sought collaboration. We were the first municipal political party to publicly launch following the 2024 legislation enabling civic parties in Alberta. Our founding committee brought together a diverse group of grassroots Calgarians - including individuals who had previously worked closely with well-known municipal figures such as Dan McLean, Andre Chabot, Jeromy Farkas, Jeff Davison, and others.

Despite claims by some, we have always been - and remain - a big-tent coalition grounded in shared principles and a common-sense vision for Calgary.

The ABC model - including voting members, empowered ward associations, and open nomination races to democratically choose candidates - provides the only viable mechanism for the centre-right to avoid vote-splitting on election day. These are not new or radical ideas; this is exactly how all political parties operate in a democracy.

Communities First (CF), as well as The Calgary Party, rejected the idea of functioning as real political parties and instead adopted the model of a private group appointing a slate of candidates - then disguising that slate by calling it a party.  Though we strongly disagree with their ‘private slate model,’ ABC, for the sake of electing a centre-right council, made a genuine effort to collaborate with CF.

To that end, ABC limited itself to select wards and asked members to approve bypassing nominations in three others to accommodate aligned incumbents. ABC members voted YES to offering endorsements to Councillors Wong (Ward 7), McLean (Ward 13), and Chabot (Ward 10), and to refrain from running challengers against them.

This good-faith gesture toward CF candidates was met, not with appreciation but with condescension from certain CF leadership. The response from a senior CF representative was to suggest that the ABC should shut down and become an advocacy group instead of a municipal party - this after we had already completed nomination contests in four wards.

Rather than finding a path to collaborate, CF chose to proceed with running candidates directly against ABC-nominated candidates. Their actions make it clear that their priority is their own political self-interest rather than what is best for Calgary and Calgarians.

Their choice to reject cooperation and run candidates who will split the vote reflects a broader failure to prioritize the interests of everyday, common-sense Calgarians who deserve a better outcome than what they’ve experienced in past elections.  Vote-splitting only helps union-led, left-wing candidates win - not because their ideas are better, but because the centre-right continues to find ways to divide against itself.

As a result, the ABC Board of Directors will be asking members to revisit previous bypass decisions and support the nomination of candidates in all remaining wards. We believe the contrast between who we are as a party – a real party, with members and member-driven decisions – versus CF – a top-down slate controlled by a Mayoral candidate - is essential for voters to understand.

We strongly believe that, in the long term, the ABC model - a real political party grounded in democratic processes -is the only model capable of uniting centre-right voters and candidates to win future elections. Calgarians deserve a real alternative: a party that is open, principled, and truly accountable to its citizen-members.

We thank you for your continued support and look forward to building this next chapter - together.

Sincerely,

The Board of Directors
A Better Calgary Party