Calgary council votes to seek legal input on budget leak fallout

Ward 14 Coun. Landon Johnston told Calgary council Tuesday he leaked confidential budget documents that outlined potential property tax increases needed to fund every department and partner spending request for next year.

The documents, presented during a closed-door council meeting on July 28, outline funding requests. Johnston confirmed he shared them in a post on X on Wednesday night, writing "It was me."

"I can't keep being complicit in hiding things from Calgarians," Johnston said, arguing that releasing the information gives residents an opportunity to participate in the budget debate. He said council could reduce potential increases by cutting non-essential spending. The city said the complete proposed budget will be released in November.

Mayor Jeromy Farkas stressed that "at this point, no number for property tax increase has been proposed formally." He said he called the special meeting after hearing from law enforcement partners, city staff, and union leaders, stating there are "reasonable grounds to believe that the law was broken and confidential documents were disclosed publicly without authorization."

City Solicitor Jill Floen told councillors that under section 153 of the Municipal Government Act, council members have a duty to keep closed session information confidential. A breach could result in a ministerial inspection, a direct vote of electors to remove someone from office, criminal investigation and potential charges for breach of trust, or lawsuits from third parties. Floen said the breach demonstrates an inability for council to have candid and confidential discussions with senior executives.

Council voted to seek input from Alberta's minister responsible for municipal government and the Alberta Privacy Commissioner on how to proceed.