Parties, Power, and Parity: What the 2025 Municipal Elections Reveal About Women’s Representation
When Alberta passed Bill 20, the Municipal Affairs Statutes Amendment Act, it introduced a significant shift: a pilot project permitting local political parties in Calgary and Edmonton.
Calgary saw three parties emerge for the October 20, 2025, municipal elections: Communities First, The Calgary Party, and A Better Calgary Party. Edmonton voters encountered two: Better Edmonton and PACE (Principled Accountable Coalition for Edmonton).
The reform marked a significant change in how local elections could be organized. For the first time, candidates in Calgary and Edmonton were able to align under registered municipal parties rather than running solely as independents. The 2025 election cycle became the first real test of how these local parties would shape municipal representation, participation, and governance.
A Reminder: What We Predicted
In Ask Her’s earlier commentary, Municipal Political Parties — Helpful or Harmful for Representation?, we explored the opportunities and challenges that party politics might bring to local elections.
Political parties could, in theory, help women candidates overcome financial and logistical barriers. Party networks can connect candidates with donors, volunteers, voter databases, and media infrastructure that are difficult to build independently.
At the same time, we cautioned that party nomination processes often involve internal vetting and subjective standards, which can create spaces where gender bias persists. We also noted that partisanship in local politics can limit autonomy, forcing women to balance community priorities with party loyalty.
Our conclusion was simple: parties won’t create parity unless they intentionally embed gender equity into their internal frameworks.
So What Happened?
With the party model newly in place, the rise of local parties did not translate into greater gender balance among nominees.
In Calgary, Communities First fielded one woman mayoral candidate, three women councillor candidates (Wards 1, 8, 9), and six men. The Calgary Party nominated six women (Wards 1, 2, 7, 9, 10, 12) and seven men, while A Better Calgary Party ran two women (Wards 1, 3) and five men.
In Edmonton, PACE nominated two women (Nakota Isga, Karhiio) and seven men, while Better Edmonton fielded four women (Anirniq, Dene, Karhiio, Métis, tastawiyiniwak) and seven men.
No party in either city achieved gender parity in its candidate slate, and there was a complete absence of openly gender-diverse candidates across all party slates.
In Calgary, women were competitive across both party-affiliated and independent lines, though actual leads varied by ward. Several women affiliated with Communities First and The Calgary Party placed within close margins, often finishing second or within a few hundred votes of the winner. Notable examples include Sonya Sharp (Communities First), who finished second in the mayoral race by just 616 votes, and Sarah Ferguson (The Calgary Party, Ward 12), who lost by only 59 votes. Others, such as Cornelia Wiebe (Communities First, Ward 8), also ran strong campaigns but narrowly missed victory.
Independents remained highly competitive, particularly incumbents. Jennifer Wyness (Ward 2) led comfortably among independents and ultimately won re-election. Women running as independent candidates also polled strongly in Wards 5, 6, and 11.
In Edmonton, the pattern was similar, with non-party affiliated women, many of them incumbents, consistently performing at the top of their races. Erin Rutherford (Ward Anirniq), Keren Tang (Ward Karhiio), Ashley Salvador (Ward Métis), Anne Stevenson (Ward O-day’min), and Jo-Anne Wright (Ward Sspomitapi) all secured strong results.
Among party-affiliated candidates, Karen Principe (Better Edmonton, Ward tastawiyiniwak) won re-election as a party-affiliated incumbent. In Ward sipiwiyiniwak, where no incumbent was running, independent candidate Thu Parmar secured the seat, finishing 627 votes ahead of Better Edmonton’s Darrell Friesen.
Together, these results point to a consistent pattern across both cities: while party affiliation provided structure and organization for some candidates, it did not yet serve as a decisive advantage in Edmonton or Calgary’s municipal landscape. Women running as independent candidates, particularly incumbents, remained the strongest performers, reflecting a continued emphasis on personal recognition, ward-level visibility, and community engagement over party branding.
Post-Election Party Futures
Despite mixed results, several municipal parties intend to remain active.
In Calgary, A Better Calgary Party has announced plans to hold its first Annual General Meeting in February 2026, signaling its intent to continue organizing for future elections. The Calgary Party’s future remains unclear; councillor DJ Kelly (Ward 4), its sole winner, noted that a party of one functions much like an independent.
Communities First, meanwhile, appears unlikely to continue in its current form. Elected members have stated they will recuse themselves from party operations, and during the campaign, the party had committed to dissolve after the election. As a result, whether any organizational structure remains moving forward is uncertain.
In Edmonton, both Better Edmonton and PACE have also committed to carrying on. Party leaders emphasized the benefits of team-based campaigning, noting that municipal parties helped consolidate messaging and build fundraising infrastructure. Better Edmonton, which raised over $1 million for its first campaign, plans to expand its fundraising and policy presence ahead of 2029. However, two of Better Edmonton’s three elected councillors, Mike Elliot (Ward pihêsiwin) and Reed Clarke (Ward Nakota Isga), have since left the party to sit as independents, citing a desire to focus solely on representing their wards.
However, internal gender equity commitments remain vague. None of the municipal parties in either city reported formal gender quotas or transparent nomination policies. Candidate selection remains at each organization’s discretion, meaning the inclusivity of party structures depends largely on internal culture rather than legislative requirement.
Do Municipal Parties Help or Hinder Representation?
Based on the 2025 outcomes, the introduction of municipal political parties in Alberta has not produced a clear win, or loss, for representation. Instead, it marks a structural shift: one that changes how candidates organize, campaign, and connect with voters, but not yet who ultimately gets elected.
Parties appear to offer greater organization and visibility, providing resources that can benefit first-time or underrepresented candidates. However, independents, particularly incumbents, continue to command the community trust and name recognition needed to win.
Across both Calgary and Edmonton, a consistent pattern emerged. While party affiliation helped some candidates with coordination and exposure, it did not serve as a decisive advantage in determining electoral success. Non-party affiliated women, especially incumbents, remained the strongest performers, reflecting a continued emphasis on personal reputation, ward-level engagement, and community presence over party branding.
Early evidence also suggests that gender parity will not emerge organically from the presence of parties alone. Achieving equitable representation requires intentional frameworks, transparent nomination processes, mentorship programs, and policies that actively support women and gender-diverse candidates from recruitment through election day.
As Alberta’s municipal party experiment continues, several key questions remain:
Will local parties adopt explicit gender equity policies within their nomination processes?
Will they establish mentorship and support structures for women and gender-diverse candidates?