In Quotes: Council on secondary suites

On Dec. 15, city council voted 8-7 against secondary suite reform in Calgary. Here's some of what was said throughout the debate.

Mayor Naheed Nenshi:

"How can we continue to have discretion in this debate while removing the approval of each secondary suite from council ... a lot of folks think today's vote, if it were to pass, [suites would] be legal immediately."

"If this fails today, we're done ... I'm done frankly because we have tried very hard to try different compromises."

Ward 10 Coun. Andre Chabot:

"If we're going to have some sort of regime to license secondary suites it shouldn't be exclusive to R1 and R1C zones."

Ward 8 Coun. Evan Woolley:

"We want to create safe suites, we want to create a supply of suites and all of these people have come forward with a very united voice."

"We have an affordable housing crisis ... if you don't like this ... then I would encourage you to come up with your own plan to add some affordable housing supply."

Ward 12 Coun. Shane Keating:

"I cannot support a blanket rezoning without provisions."

"We must promote more opportunity for Calgary to access affordable housing."

Ward 7 Coun. Druh Farrell:

"...We have as a council dealt with suites 37 times in my tenure and I think most members of council would agree that the status quo is not working, so all of us, I hope, at the end of the day leave this room uncomfortable, so I'm willing to compromise even though I feel uncomfortable."

City Chief Planner Rollin Stanley: