2007 Calgary municipal election

Recent high-profile violent crimes in Calgary had generated public concern for safety in the city.

Calgary has the highest per capita ecological footprint amongst Canada's larger cities. The City has concentrated past efforts on increasing community water conservation and reducing its corporate GHG emissions. Community goals to reduce the community's ecological footprint were identified through the Imagine Calgary process. These were intended to form the basis for comprehensive community-based initiatives to reduce the per capita ecological footprint.

There was an ongoing shortage of housing in the city. That, combined with what was among the highest rates of growth in housing costs in Canada, had made housing a significant issue for the public.

A week before the election, the provincial government agreed to provide $3.3 billion for infrastructure in Calgary over the next 10 years. It would be up to city council to allocate those funds.

• Disruption of roads, paths and sidewalks due to construction.
• Public transit infrastructure.
• Increasing motor-vehicle congestion.

Voter turnout in the previous Calgary municipal election was 19.8%, while in the 2001 municipal elections it was 38%.[4]

• Sandy Jenkins was forcibly ejected from the University of Calgary MacEwan Hall Ballroom by security during a Weakerthans concert which he sneaked in after not having paid for a ticket.[5]
• Dave Bronconnier's fundraising has raised concerns about the impact of funding on the campaign.[6]
• Craig Burrows (incumbent, Ward 6) was the Chair of the City Audit Committee. He was approved to take a University of Calgary business management course which would provide assistance to him in his role on the Audit Committee. He was later asked to repay the course fee, which he did indirectly through a reduction in his spending in the subsequent year.[7]
• Mayoral candidate Alnoor Kassam was reported to have spent a million dollars of his own money on his campaign, which led to allegations that his money had been acquired in illegal or unethical manners. Columnist Don Braid attempted to connect him to a banking scandal in Kenya prior to moving to Canada. While Kassam did admit that the local political culture required regular bribes in order to do business, he noted that a Canadian immigration tribunal had completely exonerated him. He insisted that he did not take money when leaving Kenya, but had made his entire current fortune in Calgary. News articles also accused Kassam of attempting economic evictions in a Mount Royal apartment building, although he apparently also supported residents in finding other housing.[8][9]