Following a social-media battle with Airdrie MLA Rob Anderson, which appeared to get quite heated at times, Cochrane mayor and Calgary Regional Partnership (CRP) chair Truper McBride is remaining steadfast when it comes to comments he has been charged with making about the Wildrose Party.
The Wildrose Party released a statement Sept. 19 alleging that McBride and other CRP officials accused the party of only intending on running municipal candidates who would support pushing local municipalities out of the CRP.
“McBride should publicly admit he made a false statement,” Livingstone-Macleod MLA Pat Stier said in the Wildrose media statement. “We were in the room when this discussion took place and no such comments were made. For him to make such ridiculous accusations almost a year after the meeting took place calls into question his integrity as well as the credibility of the organization he represents.”
McBride, however, has taken issue with this indictment, saying the Wildrose press release changed his comments into a blanket issue with the entire party.
“What I said was that Rob Anderson, at a meeting with the CRP at the Legislature Annex Building in March 2013, told alderman Jim Stevenson, councillor Michel Jackson (Black Diamond) and I that we would see Airdrie council change its position on the CRP by June of this year,” said McBride, “and if it didn’t, that he would become personally involved in the civic election to see to it that candidates supporting his position on the CRP were elected.”
McBride said Anderson’s position on the CRP was not one that was shared by other Wildrose caucus members, and that he believes they were genuinely working to understand the CRP.
“I don’t know why (Anderson) felt so strongly telling us this plan of his in March and now denies it ever occurred,” said McBride. “That’s baffling.”
Anderson, on the other hand, believes McBride misheard what he said during that March meeting.
“Ideally, Airdrie should stay in the CRP,” said Anderson, adding that his main contention with the CRP and its Calgary Metropolitan Plan (CMP) is that it calls on municipalities to develop high-density housing.
“I said that I would be personally supporting candidates in the next municipal election who would withdraw Airdrie from the mandatory high-density development requirements of the CMP,” said Anderson. “Many of my constituents are worried about how crowded new developments are becoming, as well as the lack of green space and yards for families.”
Anderson said he does not feel Airdrie should withdraw from the CRP as a whole.
McBride said the CMP is not a command and control piece of legislation, but is rather an enabling policy document.
“It allows each municipality to choose its own path in working towards the goals laid out in the CMP,” said McBride, adding that it’s a 70-year plan for the Calgary region. “Airdrie moved to a minimum density of eight units per acre before the CMP was even written, so Anderson’s assertion that the CRP has forced this upon them is incorrect.”
Anderson responded, saying the reason Airdrie employs the eight units per acre stems from former mayor and CRP chair Linda Bruce, and that he happens to disagree with Bruce’s opinion on the density matter.
Anderson pointed out that on page 28 of the CMP, it states that member communities ‘will achieve minimum densities of eight to 10 units per acre.’ Anderson feels this is not sustainable, attractive, or the right path for Airdrie, which is why he would like to see the CRP provide some clarity on what it is suggesting with such an assertion.
McBride said the plan uses the word ‘will’ because each municipality in the partnership has made its own decision to commit to eight to 10 units per acre between now and 2076, and the density target only applies to urban areas and growth nodes.
The disagreement spurred a lengthy battle on Twitter, with McBride and Anderson verbally jousting not only about the CRP, but each other, not even able to agree on whether Anderson had ever been to a CRP meeting.
At one point, Anderson tweeted, “Yup, because classy people publicly twist and sensationalize friendly informal conversations from eight months ago #classytruper,” to which McBride responded, “Classic Rob Anderson…All class.”
In a statement issued on behalf of the CRP Sept. 25, McBride said the partnership does not intend on influencing or getting involved in October’s municipal election and will remain neutral.
