Prabjhote Kaur "Jyoti" Gondek (born 1969) is a Canadian politician serving as the 37th and current mayor of Calgary since October 25, 2021.

Early life and education

Born in London,

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 ...

, Gondek is the daughter of Indian

Punjabi Punjabi, or Panjabi, most often refers to: * Something of, from, or related to Punjab, a region in India and Pakistan * Punjabi language * Punjabi people * Punjabi dialects and languages Punjabi may also refer to: * Punjabi (horse), a British Th ...

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. Gondek pursued a bachelor's degree in criminology and sociology from the University of Manitoba, where she worked as a policy analyst with the government of Manitoba 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 of Central Alberta. Gondek pursued a master's degree in organizational sociology during a two-year stint at Greyhound. 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 consultancy, Tick Consulting, while pursuing a PhD in urban sociology at the University of Calgary, where she also taught and eventually directed a real-estate studies initiative at the University's Haskayne School of Business. 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, 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 is a residential neighbourhood in the northwest quadrant of Calgary, Alberta. It is bounded to the north by the Country Hills Boulevard, to the south by Beddington Trail, and to the east by Harvest Hills Boulevard. To the southwest, ...

, 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. 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 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, who was embroiled in a scandal following allegations of impropriety with a minor while he was a member of the Calgary Police Service. 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 The Calgary Event Centre was a planned arena complex to be built in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. It would have replaced the Scotiabank Saddledome, home of the Calgary Flames of the National Hockey League. Construction was scheduled to start in early ...

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 identified ...

, including the related protests in the Beltline 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