Steve Chapman
Wards 11 & 12
Website: Stevechapman.ca
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 403-797-0043
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Biography Much of my career with the Calgary Police Service focused on working with at-risk youth. As a patrol officer in Forest Lawn, I supported students at Forest Lawn High and Jack James. Later I managed the Youth Gang Task Force, I collaborated with schools, parents, and community agencies to help vulnerable youth avoid gang involvement.
I have learned firsthand that schools—especially teachers—are our most important resource for identifying and supporting at-risk youth. Their ability to connect with students can truly change lives. 50 years ago, one remarkable teacher changed the course of my life, for which I remain deeply grateful. After my policing career, I founded a successful computer company in Calgary’s oil and gas sector. In 2001, I ran for Calgary City Council, sparking my passion for building a transparent, responsive and community through political engagement. Over the past 25 years, I’ve worked on 40+ political campaigns, helping elect Councilors, MLAs, and MPs committed to serving Calgary’s residents. As the campaign community engagement expert I’ve knocked on 300,000 doors and spoken with thousands of Calgarians. Despite their diverse perspectives, three priorities consistently emerged: parents want the best education for their children, they want their kids to be safe at school, and they want to be involved in their children’s education. These are the same values I wanted for my 4, now adult, children and the reason I am running for School Trustee so that all Calgary Catholic families can enjoy the same. |
Platform I am running for School Trustee because I believe our faith-based education is at risk. We need strong, unwavering advocates to defend our Catholic schools against the rapidly evolving “progressive” forces seeking to reshape society and drive a wedge between Church and Education—and even between parents and their children.
As a former police officer, my job was to run toward the places others were running from. Now, it’s time to stand firm and return to the fundamentals of education, putting more Catholic “faith” into our faith-based system. Catholic education has a proud history of delivering high-quality learning grounded in moral and ethical principles. This legacy is far too valuable to take for granted. Today, only three provinces—Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Ontario—still publicly fund Catholic schools, while other jurisdictions rely on private or charter systems. Our 63,000 students deserve the best education possible. But that will only happen when we can get certainty over funding. Our teachers and staff deserve the certainty that they will have the resources to do the best job possible. It is not just class size but also allowing for the diversity of student needs within those classes. As a longtime political advocate, I have already developed personal relationships with the premier and ministers of education and finance. I have already started a conversation with them about Budget 2025. I believe I am the best candidate to create meaningful long term solutions and preserve the values Catholic education is committed to. |
7 Questions
1. What are your priority areas?
Appropriate, on-time, meaningful funding to support the resources needed to successfully provide Catholic education to students. Protection to our students and staff from emerging societal distractions from interest groups that want to use our schools and students to promote their beliefs and agenda. We need trustees who will stand firm on our two fundamental tasks of education and Catholic teaching.
2. What are your views on Funding for Public education?
Calgary is a fast growing community. Funding needs to be available early in the budget cycle so can create teaching space, hire teachers, hire EAs and ensure that all the resources needed to do the job are in place before the school year starts.
3. How Can learning conditions be improved?
The most important improvement is adequate resources to meet student needs which will be a combination of class size, access to EAs, and a full understanding of the diverse needs of each student within those classes. A class size of 20 may still be too large if a majority of students in that class require special attention to deal with language, cultural, and learning complexities.
4. How can trustees and school boards best support teachers?
First is meaningful dialogue. It is the job of teachers to deliver the education our school is in business to provide. It is the job of trustees to ensure our teachers have the resources needed to do their job. Trustees need to dialogue with the community to assess expectations. we then need to dialogue with schools and teachers to assess their needs. Finally we then dialogue with the province to ensure those needs are properly funded on a timely basis.
5. What are your views on the recently released curriculum?
I have never been a teacher in K-12. In my opinion teachers who deliver the curriculum are the best people to have input on its design. After earning my M.Sc. in Behavioural psychology and learning i instructed First Nations university students at Old Sun College at Gleichen. I also taught at Mount Royal for several years. So my experience is with young adults. However my expertise is in engagement, listening to parents, teachers and students about how this new curriculum is meeting the metrics that have been set for it.
I have heard a number of complaints and concerns about how the new curriculum has a flawed evolution and about how it is being implemented. In earning my degree I trained on some very well researched and basic approaches to learning that seem to be missing. There is absolutely no place in education for political agenda or ideology in creating curriculum. I am also a firm believer in testing, testing and more testing when moving any process from theory to engagement. This a fundamental truth from my police background that very few theories or plans survive more than a few minutes when put into practice.
I have heard a number of complaints and concerns about how the new curriculum has a flawed evolution and about how it is being implemented. In earning my degree I trained on some very well researched and basic approaches to learning that seem to be missing. There is absolutely no place in education for political agenda or ideology in creating curriculum. I am also a firm believer in testing, testing and more testing when moving any process from theory to engagement. This a fundamental truth from my police background that very few theories or plans survive more than a few minutes when put into practice.
6. How do we best encourage and facilitate the calls to action as outlined by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission?
The commission certainly highlights a truly dark period of confederation and the tragic legacy of residential schools. For the past year I have been working closely with the Otipemisiwak Metis community as they progress to self government. It has been a very eye opening voyage especially given Metis history of emerging from both First Nations and Colonial ancestry. This is obviously a much more complex question than I can answer in 250 words. Just within my own sphere of talking to Metis and First Nations leadership there is a very wide difference in views even to taking the first step of agreeing what the Truth part actually is. Even something as simple as whether Louis Riel was a leader in a "rebellion" or "revolution", Trust rebuilding, accountability and transparency are going to be critical as we progress through the 94 Calls to Action the commission proposed. And even then are they the correct CTAs? There has been a tendency to simply throw money at the problem without truly understanding the underlying reasons money is needed. How well does the 4 seasons of reconciliation education mesh with the Catholic approach we are committed to?
7. What are your priorities in creating a welcoming and inclusive district for all?
Step one is to ensure our funding model actually delivers the resources we need to deliver the best education experience possible. Which means we first must agree on what that experience is and how it can be measured. That means follow up with graduates and open meaningful dialogue with teachers and staff. It means eliminating the outside noise from social ideological interest groups that is distracting from the delivery of above average education founded in Catholic teaching.