Calgary forced citizens to sign a DEI pledge just to speak at City Hall

Before Calgarians could address their own council, they had to acknowledge an ideology — and that should alarm every Canadian.

https://www.westernstandard.news/calgary/thomas-calgary-forced-citizens-to-sign-a-dei-pledge-just-to-speak-at-city-hall/72263

Calgarians who signed up to speak to city council during the blanket upzoning public hearing were forced to also sign a statement on truth and reconciliation, anti-racism, diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging.

The statement reads, “The purpose of the City of Calgary is to make life better every day. To fully realize our purpose, we are committed to addressing racism and other forms of discrimination within our programs, policies, and services and eliminating barriers that impact the lives of Indigenous, racialized, and other marginalized people.”

"It is expected that participants will behave respectfully and treat everyone with dignity and respect to allow for conversations free from bias and prejudice.”

Participants acknowledge they have read and understand the statement, then add their signature.

The policy goes back to 2021 when then councillor Jyoti Gondek put forward a motion to develop the statement for members of the public to sign when they register for public hearings.

This is wrong in so many ways; one wonders where to start.

Is it even legal or enforceable to force someone to sign a statement acknowledging an ideology they may not agree with or believe in?

Obviously, the City of Calgary has no respect for Calgarians’ ability to express opinions without taking off on a rant against someone or something during public hearings.

To be clear, the city has not kept it a secret.

There are reams of documents about the program to which a great deal of resources have obviously been dedicated, and can be revealed by an AI search.

This is an internal staff awareness component, including ‘Anti-racism 101’ that trains city hall staff on systemic racism and racial discrimination, designed to guide employee awareness and behaviour.

There is an equity, inclusion, and belonging framework training that applies to all staff, with an emphasis on bias reduction and equitable systems, employee participation, and belonging.

The Respectful Workplace Policy, again mandatory for all staff to take training on, details how to avoid harassment, discrimination, and understand workplace conduct expectations.

There is mandatory and recurring staff training tied to DEI and respect, including a code of conduct training and respectful workplace training.

The Calgary Police Service and Fire Department get special training covering inclusion, psychological safety, bias awareness, and inclusive culture.

There are more programs and documents approved by the previous council, and over the course of its tenure, the most vocal supporters of anti-racism/DEI were Mayor Gondek, Cllrs. Walcott, Spencer, and Penner.

Councillors who expressed concerns and skepticism were led by the most vocal Cllr. McLean and included Cllrs. Chu, Wong, and Chabot.

I know you want to know how much all this is costing, but an exact figure is hard to find because there isn't a ‘DEI’ line in the city’s budget. My AI search estimated it to be in the millions of dollars.

There could be an argument that the city is within its rights to define its workplace culture; there could also be a counterargument that the city is a public, not private organization. Those arguments were heard in council and should be revisited.

However, forcing Calgarians to sign this document is beyond the pale.

Before participating in a public hearing, which is a protected democratic process under Alberta law, they must first acknowledge that a government-written, ideologically framed statement is wrong.

Once government access becomes conditional, it is no longer a true democracy.