Press Release
Greg Lang for Mayor of Calgary 2004
Phone: (403) 691-5645 e-mail: [email protected]
Campaign office: P.O. Box 456, Station M, Calgary, AB., T2P 2J1
For immediate release: to general media outlets
September 20, 2004
Greg Lang, a three-decade resident of Calgary, declared his candidacy for Mayor today. Lang comments that the fall election makes getting a campaign going for all but the most established and heavily supported candidates difficult, due to the closely following the summer holidays. He still doesn�t have his funding in place, but will be working to set up a website immediately. He is pleased, however, that the process in filing for municipal office is democratic at least in its accessibility of application. He has no campaign office as such.
Lang is 45 and is single, never married; his occupation is consultant to non-profit organizations. He is currently a resident of Bridgeland, and sits on that community association�s board of directors. He is a long-time community activist, having followed Calgary�s urban affairs from the inception of the LRT with regards to its right-of-way lines through affected communities, shortly after he arrived. He is not related to Bob Lang of the Mission-Cliff Bungalow area, who has previously run as a candidate in Ward 8.
Lang�s concerns include addressing the problem of the shortage of non-profit housing in Calgary. He says that city council is aware of the problem, but states it is not doing enough, including with respect to pressuring other levels of government to help finance housing for low-income people. Along with being critical of city hall�s level of organization in other matters, he believes that it is not focused in housing policy development. He would push city council to immediately institute a moratorium on the future conversion of any apartment building into condominiums, which he says is one of the chief causes of the rental housing shortage here. He would also urge council to require new subdivisions to institute a minimum percentage of housing units as being for rental; and supports the easing of legalization for basement suites.
Lang would bring the issue of police oversight before city council, to further present concerns to provincial government. He believes that the police are not capable of objectively reviewing any concerns raised against them, and sees there own lack of finding serious fault with themselves troubling, despite such serious concerns being brought before them in recent years. He would support a provincially-mandated police review body, which would be completely independent, and would have ordinary citizens on its review panel.
Among other issues, he would press for the term �alderman� to be immediately changed to �councilor�. He would have city council positively reconsider its consideration to be one of the international Mayors for Peace cities. He would institute a breed-specific ban on vicious dogs.
September 30, 2004
Greg Lang only Mayoralty candidate to support Calgary joining Mayors for Peace?
Mayoralty contender Greg Lang believes that he may be the only candidate to advocate Calgary joining the international Mayors for Peace organization. In fact, he stated this intent in his campaign launch press release. Edmonton is already signed on as a member. Earlier this year, Lang attended the luncheon hosting Mayor Akiba of Hiroshima, who is the automatic chair of the organization. At that time, it was witnessed, but not widely reported, that current Mayor Dave Bronconnier, now running for re-election, agreed to join Mayors for Peace in the presence of Mayor Akiba.
However, Lang points out that since then, Mayor Bronconnier has been less than enthusiastic in joining up with Mayors for Peace. The Calgary chapter of Project Ploughshares, itself also an international organization for the promotion of peace, has repeatedly pressured Calgary�s City Council � including with a letter sent to Bronconnier during the current civic election � to pass a resolution having Calgary join. Lang says that City council has apparently tabled the matter with vague excuses. The main reason given was that Calgary supposedly has no mandate to go beyond municipal affairs. Lang agrees with other local peace activists that this is nonsense, and that though the gesture is of a symbolic nature, it is nonetheless of great value. Furthermore, Calgary�s branch of Project Ploughshares has already successfully lobbied for Calgary to proclaim itself as a �nuclear-free city� during the 1980s.
Lang will be present as a peace candidate for Mayor of Calgary at a rally to be held at City Hall this Saturday, October 2, at noon from 12 � 1 pm. The primary intent of the peace rally will be a demonstration against the current Missile Defense Shield (MDS) program being instituted in the US on Friday, October 1. Peace activists are anxious to protest against the pressure which will be increased on Canada to join up with the US on the MDS program. Another focus of the rally will be to strongly encourage Calgary to join with Mayors for Peace. Lang and other local peace activists believe in the exercising of leadership by the Mayor�s office in this respect, and also that supportive candidates running for the rest of City Council should step forward in clear support.