Keira Gunn talks affordability and access in Calgary Confederation bid
By Anna Maxwell, April 22 2025—
Making her federal debut, Keira Gunn is campaigning to serve as Calgary Confederation’s voice in Ottawa. With a PhD in mathematics from the University of Calgary, the New Democratic Party hopeful is looking to blend her analytical expertise with lived experiences to tackle the challenges facing this community.
Gunn grew up in Hamilton, Ontario, where her father worked as a steelworker during the recession of the 1990s. When asked how her life experiences have shaped her approach to public policy, she explained that while completing her degree, she worked up to two and a half jobs at a time to support herself financially. Now, years later and working in education herself, Gunn said she regularly sees students facing similar challenges — balancing work and studies in ways that affect their academic success. She pointed to this as a sign of growing inequality in the education system, where students from lower-income backgrounds often face barriers their peers do not.
“When one group of people can put all their focus on studies and networking, and another group has to work 20–30 hours a week just to pay rent, it’s really affecting equity of opportunity.”
During her time as a recent PhD student, Gunn became active in student governance, which she credits with her leap to federal politics.
“I started getting involved in the student politics side of things, and took a lot of pride in making the association accountable, transparent and representative of members, as well as making fundamental changes that helped people.”
From tackling the cost of living to fixing healthcare and strengthening public institutions, Gunn outlined her vision in an interview with the Gauntlet — and explained why she believes she brings something different to the bid for Calgary Confederation.
Cost of living
When asked how she is looking to make life more affordable for both Calgarians, Gunn identified the cost of living, particularly housing affordability, as a central concern for her campaign. She noted that Calgary has seen some of the highest rent increases in the country, pointing to the absence of rent control in Alberta as a contributing factor.
“Calgary was hit, I think, the hardest across the country by rent increases … in part due to the fact that we don’t have any kind of rent control whatsoever in Alberta.”
According to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), average rent for a two-bedroom apartment in Calgary increased by over 14 per cent between 2022 and 2023, one of the highest jumps among major Canadian cities.
While acknowledging that rent regulation is largely under provincial jurisdiction, Gunn highlighted the federal NDP’s proposal for a national rent cap. She also referenced examples such as the NDP-backed dental care programs to illustrate how federal initiatives can be implemented in areas of shared jurisdiction.
“It is largely a provincial jurisdiction, but the NDP is now talking about a national rent control, rent cap. It’s a very complicated issue to tackle … but so is pharmacare, and so is dental care, and we managed to get something across the board for that. It requires working with other parties. It requires working with provinces.”
On student housing and institutional responsibility
When addressing student housing specifically, Gunn reflected on the University of Calgary’s shift from a commuter-focused institution to one attracting more international students. She continued on to say that this demographic change has added pressure to the student housing market, and doesn’t think that the university and government have adequately responded. Gunn then referenced an Ontario policy that ties international student intake to institutional housing capacity and suggested it as a model worth considering.
“If we’re going to change the dynamic of our institutions so that people from across the country or the world are attending and contributing to our body of knowledge, we need to make sure that they have a place to live.”
Post-secondary funding and affordability
In response to a question regarding where the university should prioritize funding, Gunn emphasized investment in frontline university workers, such as professors, teaching assistants, and support staff.
“We need to start focusing the funding towards your professors, towards your teaching assistants, and towards your support staff that keep the machine going day to day.”
She also highlighted the developing requirement of post-secondary education for securing employment, arguing that tuition shouldn’t be the barrier that it is.
“If that’s the society that we’re moving towards, we can’t have tuition as a barrier for students. We need to start thinking about modelling ourselves after other countries that have figured out ways to make post-secondary education free and accessible.”
Healthcare reform and federal responsibility
When asked how Gunn would defend public healthcare while demanding better outcomes from provinces, she stated the need to increase accountability tied to federal health transfers. She brought up past efforts to attach conditions to these funds, requiring provinces to demonstrate that the money was being used directly for healthcare. She proposed expanding this approach by linking funding to measurable outcomes, like hospital wait times.
“We are not seeing outcomes, and I’m not convinced that outcomes are the plan for how this money is being spent.”
She also highlighted staffing shortages across the healthcare system and stressed the importance of competitive wages to attract and retain frontline workers. She argued that ensuring proper staffing levels, from nursing assistants to physicians, is vital to improving healthcare delivery.
“We need to pay people a wage or a salary that makes them want to work here and do these jobs because they’re hard jobs. We’re seeing shortages across the board—from nursing assistants to doctors and physicians—and if those shortages are because provinces are locked in battles with healthcare workers during collective bargaining, that’s not acceptable.”
Public institutions and access to justice
Following that, Gunn focused on the inaccessibility of legal and governance systems for everyday people when asked about the biggest threats to Canadian public institutions. She raised concerns that many Canadians are unable to defend their rights due to the high cost of legal representation and the complexity and inaccessibility of our existing systems.
“Everyday people can’t defend themselves in court because they don’t have a lawyer, and everybody else has a lawyer going up against them. That creates such a distrust in our systems.”
She continued, saying that while institutions like the Labour Board are intended to be accessible, even those with experience find the processes difficult to navigate. To her, improving access to justice and public systems will require significant changes.
“We need to have our systems working for people and accessible to people… it will require some major overhauls, but I’m up for those challenges.”
What sets Gunn apart
In response to asking what sets her apart from others running in the Calgary Confederation constituency, Gunn highlighted her unique background in mathematics and varied personal experiences. She explained that her PhD in math has equipped her with the ability to analyze complex systems, identify flaws, and find effective solutions, which are skills she believes are crucial for addressing the national challenges she’ll be facing in parliament. Gunn also emphasized her lived experiences, having faced economic hardships such as financial struggles throughout her life. She believes her connection to the issues affecting Calgarians gives her a distinctive perspective that others running may lack.
“These are experiences that people in Calgary are facing, and I don’t know if the other candidates share those experiences and can relay those experiences to Ottawa like we need to have done. I’ve been through job loss, struggled to pay bills, and made sacrifices to get by, and I believe that firsthand experience gives me a perspective that’s crucial in addressing the real needs of this community.”
Looking ahead
Lastly, when asked what the first thing she aims to do for Calgary Confederation if elected, Gunn said the following.
“I think the first thing is absolutely to start tackling housing costs — we’ve been hit so hard by it in Calgary. We need to address what’s happening, especially for renters, and find a solution almost immediately. I think renters are being completely left behind in the discussion by the two big parties, so I want to make that a focal point, because there are a lot of renters in Calgary Confederation.”
The federal election is scheduled for Monday, April 28, 2025. For more information about how and where to vote, visit Elections Canada.