Leaving some @sprawlcalgary.bsky.social Olympic zines in Parkdale today!

In 2018, Jeromy Farkas called the Olympics “the ultimate politician vanity project.” Not anymore! In the new Sprawlcast, we speak with Mayor Farkas about how his position has changed and why he's thinking about the possibility of a 2038 bid (with caveats). Listen and/or read! #yyccc

"These Olympics could have been here in Calgary!" Yes, they could have been. But there are good reasons why they weren't. The Sprawl revisits how Calgary's 2026 bid effort collapsed. #yyccc

New edition of The Sprawl kicks off today! We're going to look at how hosting the Olympics—and not hosting 2026—has shaped Calgary. But we're also planning some fun in-person pop-ups. Stay tuned for more details on Analog Week!

A bleak day in the news biz. Support local journalism, folks. @sprawlcalgary.bsky.social and @livewirecalgary.bsky.social are out here working hard for Calgarians. It's easy to take local journalism for granted but I urge you: please don't.

In 1914, Charles Daniels, a Black CPR employee, was denied his rightful seat at The GRAND Theatre (then the Sherman Grand). His refusal to accept injustice led to one of Alberta’s earliest documented human rights cases. Here's the @sprawlcalgary.bsky.social: www.sprawlcalgary.com/calgarys-unk...

Always great reporting from The Sprawl and with the scathing report on the priorities of council/city admin the last 20 years, the name has never felt more on the nose.

Finally got around to this episode of the @sprawlcalgary.bsky.social cast. It's time we got rid of the free fare zone. I like hoping on it for a few blocks, but ultimately, inhibiting fare enforcement on 7th avenue is damaging our transit network. #yyccc www.sprawlcalgary.com/calgary-tran...

Calgary city hall knew that a crucial water pipe could blow. But the ways in which city hall *didn’t* know—or kept itself from knowing with clarity—are perhaps more telling. #yyccc

I really had fun making this comic about some of @sprawlcalgary.bsky.social's 2025 highlights. Our great year was made possible by folks who value local journalism. And it's because of your support that I get to make comics about Calgary. Thanks! Looking forward to more comics in 2026!

That's a wrap! The Sprawl is signing off for 2025. Thank you Calgary for supporting our independent journalism!

With 40+ new communities being built on Calgary’s outskirts, city hall is struggling to reach them all with services—including transit. We look at how Calgary's new city council is tackling an old problem. #yyccc

New Sprawl merch! Stay warm and support independent Calgary journalism at the same time. Snag a Sprawl toque! square.link/u/HJlazKze

Still updating our #yyccc budget tracker today with more info! —Ward's motion to cut $2M from city housing strategy —Wyness's motion to fast-track new development + $24M fire hall on city's northwest edge —Johnston's motion to cut city hall's software subscription budget by $10M And more!

BUDGET TRACKER! We are wading through Calgary city council's 2026 budget amendments—so you don't have to! See how councillors voted on transit, housing, the Old Y and more. We are still updating this list so stay tuned for more! #yyccc

If you've noticed your Calgary Transit bus mysteriously disappear recently... you're not alone. We looked into why some peak-hour trips are disappearing—and what it says about the bigger challenge facing Calgary's transit system. #yyccc

At the recent Alberta Municipalities conference in Calgary, Premier Danielle Smith floated the idea of taking tax powers from municipalities. They aren't into it but do want the province to start collecting its own portion of property taxes. #yyccc #ableg

“I think the bottom line is whatever you pay attention to grows. And I think we were paying attention in sort of an anti-cynical way.” What we learned from covering Calgary's election—now that we have a little much-needed distance from it!

"Think of it as Opening Day at city hall: the swearing-in of the new city council." Come for the baseball metaphors, stay for the deep dive on why it's so difficult to pinpoint Calgary's population, thanks to a dearth of census data. #yyccc

NEW: Calgary election analysis! You have to go back a quarter-century, when Calgary's population had yet to crack a million, to find a mayor elected with so few votes, writes @klaszus.bsky.social. #yyccc

For the past year, I've been doing an embedded "ethnographic" study of Calgary's election. As a consequence, I've mostly kept quiet about it. It'll still be months before I have qualitative results to share, but in the meantime, here are some results from our pre-election survey. #yyccc #yycvote

Now that we have the result of the public school trustee elections, it is time to revisit this story by @sprawlcalgary.bsky.social www.sprawlcalgary.com/cbe-election... None of the candidates in this slate identified in the story were elected.

Sat down to watch the Ward 13 last ditch debate by @sprawlcalgary.bsky.social I’m dying from Clearly Not Dan Maclean. I was assuming it old be more like a 1-1 interview The chosen former was so much better.

The Sprawl started this candidate list last November. Now it's complete. Bios of all 122 candidates running in the October 20 election (including trustee candidates), with links to their websites. Pass it along to anyone who needs it! #yyccc

WE DID IT!! 🎉 All 14 wards in Calgary have now had election debates. We organized four of them because no one had. There are 20 candidates total in those wards and 16 showed up for our last-ditch debates—candidates from across the political spectrum. What a ride! #yyccc

Meanwhile in Ward 2... 🤔 #yyccc

Wiped out! The Sprawl put on two #yyccc candidate forums today on opposite ends of the city. Ward 3 with 6/8 candidates and Ward 12 with 5/5 candidates. Tomorrow is Ward 2 with 4/5 candidates. And Friday is Ward 13 with 1/2 candidates. Watch on The Sprawl's YouTube channel! 📸 @asadch.bsky.social

ALL SYSTEMS ARE GO! The Sprawl is livestreaming four candidate forums in wards that haven't had one, starting at 12pm today (Wed Oct 15) for Ward 3. Then we haul ass to Ward 12 for that forum this aft at 4pm! Tune in on our YouTube channel where you can watch live or later. #yyccc

Hey #yyc! If you can't get to the polls on election day, you can PICK UP a ballot from Elections Calgary anytime until Oct. 20, & bring it back. You have to request your ballot here: sb.calgaryelections.ca I wrote a comic about this for @sprawlcalgary.bsky.social. But I have some more thoughts. 1/7

Another awesome reason to support @sprawlcalgary.bsky.social is @calgaryhester.bsky.social’s creative works! So much to learn about our city! 💚 #TheSprawl #Calgary #Election2025 #ABpoli #local #informative #ElectionComics

Can I tell you how indispensable @sprawlcalgary.bsky.social has been in its coverage of the Calgary election. Whether you are following it closely or not. Videos of numerous ward and mayoral forums. And there most valuable service, a campaign primer. www.sprawlcalgary.com/calgary-elec...

I've been writing #comics about #yyc election stuff for @sprawlcalgary.bsky.social! Sharing today's, because I loved learning about J. M. Miller. I visited his grave at Union Cemetery. His institutional memory must have been incredible! Check out more election comics at sprawlcalgary.com! #yyccc

Incredible piece by the @sprawlcalgary.bsky.social & @klaszus.bsky.social. Amazing history. Bravo! ⁉️ Question ⁉️ Why did the City of Calgary have to loan the Flames $316 million until 2060? Couldn't Gary Bettman & the NHL (worth over $60 billion) loan the owners/CSEC the $316M over 35 years?

I restarted my donation to @sprawlcalgary.bsky.social because if I’m going prioritize my donations I’m going to do it in support of democracy and I’m going to do it here in my community. Everyone makes their own choice. This is mine. I support slow journalism and hope you will too. #yyc

This is why local journalism is important. Thanks for seeing a need and filling it @sprawlcalgary.bsky.social !

Wow, there it is. COUNCILLOR MIAN: “there were many of us around the table who struggled with the arena decision, right? We were like: This is a huge decision. It's a lot of money. And it was largely led by the Communities First folks.”

Four wards in Calgary haven't had election debates (Wards 2, 3, 12 and 13). The Sprawl has waited for others to organize debates in these wards. It hasn't happened. We're done waiting and are making a last-ditch effort to organize and livestream debates in these wards before Election Day. #yyccc

Tonight we are livestreaming the Ward 1 forum in Bowness! Sold out but we're bringing it to you. Starts at 6pm. #yyccc

I’ve said it before & I’ll say it again (& I’ll likely say it at least 1 more after this); no one does local #journalism like @klaszus.bsky.social and the team at @sprawlcalgary.bsky.social Please support them as they’re doing such critical work & doing it excellently at that ⭐️ #Calgary #YYC #YYCcc

My 16-year-old daughter (off from school because of the teachers' strike) helped me make this video and negotiated the new Taylor Swift LP as compensation for her content creation skills. Which are superb, as you can see! #yyccc

Calgary's election now has parties; but who are they?! youtube.com/shorts/4EK1y... via @YouTube From @sprawlcalgary.bsky.social

Ward 10 livestream about to start from the Calgary Marlborough Community Centre! #yyccc www.youtube.com/live/OYUnjpj...

We have now posted video of last night's Ward 1 forum with clear audio, along with photos. Check it out! #yyccc

Tonight there's an all-candidates forum in Ward 1 with all six candidates: Matthew Fritz, Cathy (Angel) Jacobs, Joey Nowak, Dan Olesen, Ali Oonwala and Kim Tyers. Watch our livestream starting at 7 p.m.! #yyccc

Full video of today's Calgary Ward 14 candidate forum in Midnapore with Erin Averbukh, Devin Elkin, Keener Hachey and Landon Johnston. The other three candidates didn't show up. #yyccc

What made me finally decide to hook up my printer after 3 months and while I'm sick? Oh just www.sprawlcalgary.com/print-calgar... I have to go early vote because I'm leaving town the 20th, but I'm gonna print a buncha these off in my ward and leave them around in Little Free Libraries/etc #yyc

I had an extra Ward 9 zine from the debate at Cold Garden and gave it to my neighbour who came over to ask me about his voting plans while walking his dog. 🗳

You asked for it—and we heard you! The Sprawl is making all our Calgary election zines available digitally so you can print them out at home. Share them in your neighbourhood, your workplace, wherever you can think of! #yyccc

🤠 Calgary’s first town council meeting, in 1884, was in a saloon. They soon upgraded to a town hall—“a very cheerless, cold and inconvenient place,” councillors lamented. 🥶 Each day until Oct 20, The Sprawl is publishing a new Sam Hester comic on Calgary’s political history. Stay tuned! #yyccc