Prabjhote Kaur "Jyoti" Gondek (born 1969) is a Canadian politician serving as the 37th and current

mayor of Calgary This is a list of mayors of Calgary, Alberta, Canada. List of Mayors of Calgary See also *List of Calgary municipal elections *Calgary City Council Notes References SourcesBiographies of Calgary's mayors from the City of Calgary web pa ...

since October 25, 2021.

Early life and education

Born in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, Gondek is the daughter of

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

Punjabi

Sikh Sikhs ( or ; pa, ਸਿੱਖ, ' ) are people who adhere to Sikhism, Sikhism (Sikhi), a Monotheism, monotheistic religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Gu ...

parents Jasdev Singh Grewal, a lawyer, and Surjit Kaur Grewal. She immigrated to Canada with her parents at age four, initially settling in

Manitoba Manitoba ( ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population o ...

. Gondek pursued a bachelor's degree in criminology and sociology from the

University of Manitoba The University of Manitoba (U of M, UManitoba, or UM) is a Canadian public research university in the province of Manitoba.government of Manitoba The powers and structure of the provincial Government of Manitoba (french: Gouvernement du Manitoba) are set out in the Constitution Act, 1867. In modern Canadian use, the term "government" referred broadly to the cabinet of the day (formally ...

before moving to

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, makin ...

, where she worked in sales and marketing for the

Credit Union A credit union, a type of financial institution similar to a commercial bank, is a member-owned nonprofit organization, nonprofit financial cooperative. Credit unions generally provide services to members similar to retail banks, including depo ...

of Central Alberta. Gondek pursued a master's degree in

organizational sociology Organizational behavior (OB) or organisational behaviour is the: "study of human behavior in organizational settings, the interface between human behavior and the organization, and the organization itself".Moorhead, G., & Griffin, R. W. (1995) ...

during a two-year stint at

Greyhound The English Greyhound, or simply the Greyhound, is a breed of dog, a sighthound which has been bred for coursing, greyhound racing and hunting. Since the rise in large-scale adoption of retired racing Greyhounds, the breed has seen a resurge ...

. She founded a

strategic planning Strategic planning is an organization's process of defining its strategy or direction, and making decisions on allocating its resources to attain strategic goals. It may also extend to control mechanisms for guiding the implementation of the st ...

and

communications Communication (from la, communicare, meaning "to share" or "to be in relation with") is usually defined as the transmission of information. The term may also refer to the message communicated through such transmissions or the field of inquir ...

consultancy, Tick Consulting, while pursuing a PhD in

urban sociology Urban sociology is the sociological study of life and human interaction in metropolitan areas. It is a normative discipline of sociology seeking to study the structures, environmental processes, changes and problems of an urban area and by doin ...

at the

University of Calgary The University of Calgary (U of C or UCalgary) is a public research university located in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The University of Calgary started in 1944 as the Calgary branch of the University of Alberta, founded in 1908, prior to being ins ...

, where she also taught and eventually directed a real-estate studies initiative at the University's

Haskayne School of Business The Haskayne School of Business is the University of Calgary's business school, located in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. It is named after Richard F. Haskayne, who gave one of the largest endowments to a business school in Canada. The school offers ...

. Gondek was a member of the Calgary Planning Commission from 2012 to 2016. Gondek's successfully deposited her dissertation in 2014. It was called Pressures of Hybridity: An analysis of Urban-Rural Nexus. it offered a case study of

Rocky View County Rocky View County is a municipal district in southern Alberta, Canada that is named for its views of the nearby Rocky Mountains to the west. It surrounds most of Calgary, forming the city's northern boundary and most of the city's western and e ...

, a municipality that shares both rural and urban features. Rocky View County surrounds most of Calgary, forming the city's northern boundary and most of the city's western and eastern boundaries.

Political career

From 2017 to 2021 she was the councillor for Ward 3,About Councillor Jyoti Gondek
City of Calgary. Retrieved October 7, 2021. which includes the communities of, Carrington, Country Hills, Country Hills Village, Coventry Hills, Harvest Hills, and Panorama Hills. Ward 3 is in the NW region of Calgary. Prior to her term as a city councillor, Gondek sat as a citizen member of the city's planning commission. In 2021, it was reported that in 2013, Gondek's consultancy was hired by the Urban Development Institute, a special interest group for the development industry in Calgary, to influence public opinion in favour of

urban sprawl Urban sprawl (also known as suburban sprawl or urban encroachment) is defined as "the spreading of urban developments (such as houses and shopping centers) on undeveloped land near a city." Urban sprawl has been described as the unrestricted growt ...

. This, along with the fact that contributions from developers made up 47% of her donations in the 2017 municipal election—above the average of 35%—made her the subject of controversy.

Mayor of Calgary

On October 18, 2021, she was

elected Elected may refer to: * "Elected" (song), by Alice Cooper, 1973 * ''Elected'' (EP), by Ayreon, 2008 *The Elected, an American indie rock band See also *Election An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population ...

the 37th mayor of Calgary. Gondek was sworn in along with the incoming city council on October 25, 2021, becoming the first female mayor in the city's history. During the swearing-in ceremony for the new

City Council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counc ...

, Gondek refused to swear in

Sean Chu Sean Wen-Hsiang Chu (born 1962 or 1963) is a municipal politician who currently serves as councillor of Ward 4 in Calgary, Alberta. He was elected in the 2013 municipal election. Electoral record Chu first entered Canadian politics in 2008 wi ...

, who was embroiled in a scandal following allegations of impropriety with a minor while he was a member of the

Calgary Police Service Calgary Police Service (CPS) is the municipal police service of the City of Calgary, Alberta, Canada. It is the largest municipal police service in Alberta and third largest municipal force in Canada behind the Toronto Police Service and the Mont ...

. Gondek attended a rally calling for Chu's resignation. On March 29, 2022, a poll by ThinkHQ Public Affairs pegged Gondek's approval rating at 38%, with 53% of respondents disapproving and the remaining 9% unsure. The unusually low approval rating in the first few months of her mayoral tenure has been attributed to the failed Calgary Event Centre deal, a four percent tax increase, and the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, including the related protests in the

Beltline The Atlanta BeltLine (also Beltline or Belt Line) is a open and planned loop of multi-use trail and light rail transit system on a former railway corridor around the core of Atlanta, Georgia. The Atlanta BeltLine is designed to reconnect nei ...

neighbourhood. Gondek responded to the poll, saying it was a "data point at a very specific point in time," and reflective of residents' frustrations with the uncertain economy caused by the pandemic.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gondek, Jyoti Living people British people of Indian descent British people of Punjabi descent British Sikhs English people of Indian descent English people of Punjabi descent English Sikhs British emigrants to Canada English emigrants to Canada Canadian people of Indian descent Canadian people of Punjabi descent Canadian Sikhs Canadian politicians of Indian descent Canadian politicians of Punjabi descent University of Calgary alumni Canadian sociologists Canadian women sociologists Urban sociologists Calgary city councillors University of Manitoba alumni Mayors of Calgary Politicians from London Women mayors of places in Alberta Women municipal councillors in Canada 1969 births 21st-century Canadian politicians 21st-century Canadian women politicians