FAQs

D.J. are my initials. My full name is Daniel James Kelly. I am named after both my grandfathers. My parents have told me they started calling me DJ when I was three days old, and I've never gone by anything else. Even my paycheques are made out to "DJ Kelly".

Every so often, someone messages me to DJ their wedding or to listen to their new track. I'm better positioned to help neighbours navigate City Hall bureaucracy, though.

Yes, my family and I have lived in the Ward 4 community of Winston Heights-Mountview since 2009 when we bought our first house. About 10 years ago we built a new home in the neighbourhood and have no plans to ever leave.

(I have also posted a 3-minute video here that talks more about what would happen if City Council repeals blanket rezoning and my recommendations.)

Unlike other candidates, I have spent 10 years on my community association’s planning and development committee, and I’ve seen firsthand the serious problems in the blanket rezoning passed by the current council. For example, while some fourplexes on corner lots may make sense, eight-unit developments, especially on a quiet street, mid-block, on a laneless lot, clearly don’t. There simply isn’t enough parking available to accommodate this volume of population growth on most Ward 4 streets!

As a result of my experience, I know how to address the issues the current council created while they attempted to improve the availability and affordability of Calgary housing. Because of this, I don’t need to advocate for an overly simplistic full repeal, and I won't because doing so would recklessly bring back thousands of needless bureaucratic regulations, remove homeowner rights, drive up property taxes, trigger costly lawsuits, and do absolutely nothing to address Calgary’s housing shortage. I have no interest in any of those things. Instead, I’ll use my experience to adjust the unit limit of the R-CG section of the Land Use Bylaw, ensuring allowable density is located where infrastructure, parking, and transit can handle it, while preserving community character through needed updates to Local Area Plans, built with input from community members.

Calgary is growing faster than any Canadian city in history. We added 6% to our population last year alone. The moment we are in is highly unusual, but predictable when we have built such a desirable city to live in. Making space for that many new neighbours will not be easy. In Ward 4, while our neighbourhoods may have space for more residents — most of our neighbourhoods have seen population declines of 20-40% since their peaks — where we put new homes must be determined thoughtfully. 

Housing is a complex issue, but with thoughtful changes, I'm confident we can add homes, protect neighbourhoods, and keep Calgary an affordable, welcoming place to live.

I advocated against the creation of municipal parties. I just don’t think they add much benefit. City Hall is mostly about the efficient delivery of municipal services (What is the left-wing way to fill a pothole or the right-wing way to pick up garbage on schedule?) and less about public policy, where political party ideology might matter more. Despite most Albertans feeling this way, the provincial government introduced municipal parties as a one-election pilot project for 2025 in Calgary and Edmonton only.

At the same time, the province also changed the rules for fundraising, making it much harder for councillor candidates to raise money to run a campaign unless they have a bunch of friends with deep pockets - which, sorry, apparently I don’t have - thus encouraging them to run together to pool resources such as collateral and technology. With this information, I had to decide what I would do.

When I started looking for volunteers for my campaign, I noticed most of the people I wanted to ask were getting involved with The Calgary Party. I was impressed by how much these volunteers care about their community, and the principles of the party are ones I agree with. So, in the end, when the party asked me to be one of their first candidates, I eventually agreed. This is a group of people I am happy to share costs with and brainstorm ideas with.

In addition to knowing that municipal parties are currently a one-election pilot project, my decision was made a little easier when I thought about what a party in council would look like because no changes have been made to the Procedure Bylaw, which governs how City Council operates. As a result, the ability for a party to caucus is not provided for. In addition, a whipped vote, a primary concern most people have about parties, is virtually impossible because the consequences of not participating are so much lower when you’re not part of a party that has a long electoral history. 

One benefit to running as part of a party that I did not expect was getting to spend time with other candidates. When I ran previously, I didn’t have anyone to bounce ideas off of who was going through something similar. Running for office is a very strange experience, and I’m happy to have others to share it with. Being a party provides candidates with the opportunity to get to know one another - our strengths, interests and personalities - which, when I think about how dysfunctional the current council is when trying to work together, could be more valuable than anyone thinks. The Calgary Party candidates have developed policy together, learned how to work together, and are ready to get to work on day one.