Policy Positions

TAXATION:

Seniors' Tax Break - Anthony will work with the Province to remove the Education portion on residential property taxes for Seniors 65 and over. This will allow Seniors to stay in their homes. These people have already paid for two generations of students.

Non-Residential Property Taxes - Anthony will do a complete review of the non-residential tax burden. Our local pubs are spending $10,000 - $30,000 per month in non-residential property taxes alone before they even meet payroll. Whether it is paid directly or through their rent they pay both of these taxes and consumers end up stuck paying these taxes through increased prices on services and products. 

Oppose New Taxes - Although you may not have heard of this in the media but our current City Councillors have voted to explore the following taxes: Alcoholic Beverage Tax, Entertainment Tax, Amusement Tax, Motor Vehicle Ownership Tax, Municipal Income Tax, Fuel Tax, Land Transfer Tax, Insurance Tax, Sales Tax, Tourist Tax, Home Business Tax, Bill Board Tax and many more. Anthony will fight to reject any new tax proposals.

Four Year Property Tax Freeze - Too often, the city raises taxes as a way to compensate for their overspending. Not this time. We are going to cut the bureaucratic waste in City Hall. We are going to be responsible with our spending, and we are going to grow our tax base so we can finally afford to freeze our taxes and not raise them. 

RESPONSIBLE SPENDING AND COST CONTROL

Zero-Based Budgeting - This budgeting reviews every department function comprehensively, and all expenditures must be approved. Zero-Based Budgeting requires the budget request be justified in complete detail by each division manager, starting from the zero base. The current use of the so-called Zero-Base Review has been a smoke screen to hide the true costs of services at City Hall. Anthony proposes a Zero-Based Budget. This would allow a complete review of services on a yearly basis, and any surplus resulting from savings (after a portion is being placed into reserves for contingencies) would be returned to taxpayers immediately in the following year.  

Elimination Of The Climate Emergency Budget - Rescind the declaration, demand an audit of spent monies, and redirect funds to core services like the Police, Firefighters, Roads, and water mains etc. Climate Change and the environment are not within municipal jurisdiction. Anthony will repeal and course correct this mistake.

Tenders & Public Bids - Anthony will ensure that contracts are no longer in the hands of one company and that all tender and bids are available on the city website, along with the rationale for awarding the contract. Anthony wants to give all local companies a fair opportunity to bid and tender for contracts. 

Get Rid Of The Overcap Pension Plan - Beaucrats in City Hall shouldn't be able to have three pensions. Anthony demands transparency on where the money came from and who has been receiving it. That gravy train ends immediately. 

REDUCE CRIME AND HOMELESSNESS

Making Sure Our First Responders Are Properly Funded - Anthony, like any real Conservative, is in full support of ensuring the Calgary Police Service and all our first responders are properly funded and supported by the City. Anthony will collaborate with our police, not defund them. We will work with our social workers, not defund them. We will support our firefighters and paramedics, not defund them. 

A Robust Rehabilitation Program And Facilities Overhaul - In order to reduce crime and homelessness, we need to get to the root cause of the issues that lead to crime and homelessness. Too many are suffering from mental health issues, substance abuse, PTSD, etc. It is our responsibility as councillors to keep our citizens safe from harm, and this includes self harm. We need to have robust and accessible rehabilitation programs and facilities, and they need to accommodate housing while in treatment. Housing them is actually cheaper than having our emergency services constantly handle them, but housing them without treatment does nothing. They need rehabilitation and housing for this to work. We can make this happen. 

Intergovernmental Co-Operation - Anthony will advocate legislation and work with the provincial and federal levels of government to get tough on crime. We need bail reform and harsher sentencing. We shouldn't have career criminals. We punish crime, not incentivize it. 

LISTENING TO OUR COMMUNITY

Blanket Rezoning - Anthony will repeal blanket rezoning, immediately. Anthony will reinstate the previous Local Area Planning to provide community input and reform the planning department to quickly approve community-agreed-upon projects and cut red tape. Anthony will give communities their voice back. 

Term Limits - Anthony believes in Term Limits and is the only candidate in Ward 7 who does. Term limits will not only encourage politicians to work harder to achieve the objectives they ran on to get elected, but it will also allow a changing of the guard and bring new ideas on a regular interval at City Hall. Anthony is committed and very serious about this policy. 

Reduce Red Tape - We need to get the projects we started done faster, and not get in our own way. Too many projects have stalled and we need to fix that so we can actually get things done. Cut the middle management holdups and remove the red tape.