This database aims to democratize access to Calgary’s municipal campaign finance records, transforming dense, scattered documents into a clear, accessible resource that empowers citizens to understand the financial mechanics of local politics.
Alberta’s Local Authorities Election Act mandates that municipal candidates file campaign finance disclosure statements by March 1 of the year following an election. The City of Calgary makes these documents available online as partially redacted PDFs, providing public access while leaving the responsibility of data analysis to citizens.
With more than 200 candidates running in the 2017 and 2021 Calgary municipal elections, thousands of donations trapped in scanned PDFs created a complex landscape of potential donor influence. To address this challenge, I developed a searchable database by converting scanned PDF disclosures into CSV files, leveraging optical character recognition (OCR) tools, ChatGPT, and OpenRefine for data extraction and cleaning. (I’ve requested the 2010 and 2013 campaign finance disclosure statements from the city and will add those to this database if and when the records are provided.)
The resulting resource is intentionally straightforward, highlighting key details: contributor name, election year, donation amount, candidate, and office. Contribution dates were omitted due to inconsistent or absent reporting by most candidates.
While preserving the original data’s integrity, I standardized corporate names in the contributor column. Individual names appearing alongside corporate entities remain unchanged, reflecting their original presentation. Any variations or misspellings stem directly from the source documents, with only well-known donor names receiving spelling corrections. Negative contributions indicate a returned donation.
The database’s limitations mirror broader transparency challenges in campaign finance reporting. Several candidates failed to disclose complete donor information, particularly for fundraising events. Former Ward 2 Councillor Joe Magliocca’s 2017 disclosure exemplifies this issue: $19,690 came from named donors, while an additional eye-popping $319,139.09 originated from fundraising activities with no individual donor details.
Though some candidates meticulously categorized donations—distinguishing between in-kind contributions, fundraisers, and direct donations—most did not. I chose to maintain a uniform approach, avoiding potential misinterpretations and preserving the database’s simplicity.
Consequently, this database should not be used to calculate total candidate contributions. Regulatory gaps and reporting inconsistencies render such calculations unreliable. For comprehensive analysis, cross-referencing with original city disclosures is essential.
Despite multiple manual reviews to ensure accuracy, the occasional error may persist. If you encounter any inaccuracies, I welcome your feedback and commit to prompt corrections.