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Wayne Stewart’s first career was in the private sector with Shell Canada as a senior manager in the areas of marketing, product research, human resources and public affairs.
In 1991, he began a second career in the non-profit sector. Over the years, he has served as executive director of the Calgary Foundation, project director of HomeFront, president and CEO of the Calgary Homeless Foundation, and chair of the Alberta Secretariat for Action on Homelessness.
 Currently, Stewart serves as a non-profit executive-in-residence at Mount Royal University, and as special advisor to the president and CEO of Imagine Canada. He’s also co-founder a coaching program for non-profit sector leaders.Stewart says he is a lifelong learner and holds degrees in engineering, political science, business, religious studies and philosophy.
He explains his qualifications for mayor as: “I’ve had experience that’s required. I’ve had business experience in a large energy company so I’ve dealt with large organizations. I’ve managed large budgets.
“And I’ve had almost 20 years of community experience. I know the issues of our city and I’ve solved some of them. I’ve developed ideas.
“If we can get people asking the question, ‘What does it take to do the job?’ rather than the question, ‘Who do I know best?’ then I’ll win the campaign.”
With dinner, do you prefer water or wine?
Water. I don’t drink.
Favourite home-cooked meal?
Well, I’m married to Martha Stewart. (His wife’s name is actually Martha.) She’s a wonderful cook. Almost anything Martha cooks is great. She makes this one wonderful chicken dish, but I couldn’t tell you what’s in it.
When you have a little down time, what are some of your favourite things to do?
Well, I love hiking. Last year I did the West Coast Trail for the second time, with my grandson.
Fondest memory of Calgary?
My work is my hobby. So aside from family times, the completion of the 10-year plan to end homelessness, where I provided leadership development, was one of my favourite times in Calgary.
Are you a dog or a cat person?
I’m a dog person. I don’t like cats. I was born on a farm. We had so many cats that I had to milk a cow just to feed the cats. I’ve never liked cats since then.
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Any challenges in the campaign?
For me, it’s name recognition, because there are two people who are very well known in this campaign.
Challenges you feel you may face as mayor?
It’s kind of like how I am not embarrassed by anything; I am not frightened by challenges. I live on challenges. If I don’t have a challenge, I get bored real quick. These are exciting opportunities for me. First thing we would have to do is get the new council working as a team. The second thing is improving [our] relationship with other levels of government, with the province…and also with the private sector and with citizens. And then facing the financial challenges, because there are serious financial challenges with the city.
As mayor, how would you help create a more cohesive council?
For me, leadership is about inspiring people and empowering people. It goes beyond motivation to inspiration. It’s about the capacity to build a team. Management is about control: setting a plan, controlling the plan, and accounting to the plan. I’m good at all of that. I’ve had experience and I’ve had success at all of that.
What makes a city “vibrant?”
My favourite American cities are New York and Boston. The thing that is attractive about New York is the whole Times Square and theatre district, which is just exciting. You feel safe because there are people around you all the time. With Boston, it’s the magnificent museums and history.
One of the things that I would do is provide leadership – because the mayor can’t do everything himself – to dress up the downtown, ensuring it is safe and a place people want to come on a continuous basis. There are occasions when our city comes alive, but they’re not frequent enough.
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What album did you listen to last?
I’m a country music fan. I guess it was Garth Brooks. There’s a song called “The Dance.” There’s a great line that goes, “I could have missed the pain, but I’d have had to miss the dance.”
First teenage job?
I was a farm kid, so I was working by the time I was four and driving a tractor at eight. My first job off the farm was at a bakeshop. I was making cookies and tarts. I was 13.
Guilty pleasure movie?
Well, I’m not embarrassed by anything. I guess Pirates of the Caribbean. It’s just so stupid, but I enjoyed it.
Favourite film of all time?
Fargo. Every time someone says, ‘You betcha,’ I think of Fargo.
Favourite actor/actress and why?
Johnny Depp. I’ll go see almost anything he’s in, including Pirates of the Caribbean. Also, Frances McDormand: she’s fabulous.
Dream roadtrip/weekend getaway?
When I graduated in the ‘60s, seven of us took a year off. We went from London, Ontario to Panama over land and then sailed to England. We were actually headed to Australia, but unfortunately every ship that came through Panama for Australia was full.
Favourite Canadian band or artist?
Neil Young. No doubt.
Favourite sitcom to watch growing up?
We didn’t have a television until I was about 12.
Favourite series now?
Law and Order.
Last great book you read?
I don’t read fiction. I’ve got six or seven books on the go at all times, though. John Kotter wrote a book called A Sense of Urgency. That’s a recent book I’ve read. It’s about the opposite of procrastination and his lament that much of our difficulty these days stems from a lack of a sense of urgency.
What is your most treasured possession?
Probably my car; I have a Honda S-2000.
If you could go back in time to meet one person, who would it be?
Confucius probably, or Aristotle. In my lifetime, the person who has affected me the most is Grant MacEwan, and I would welcome a long chat with him. He was the greatest living western Canadian of the 20th century.
If Hollywood made a movie about your life, whom would you like to see play the lead role as you?
When I was younger and when Robert Stack was younger, people would mistake me for him.
What is your greatest artistic talent?
I’m very creative and innovative, but I deal in ideas, not in physical things. I once took a watercolour course and I failed. And I’ve never failed at anything in my life.
What talent would you like to have?
I’m pretty satisfied with who I am and what I can do. Not in an arrogant way.
The last time you sang?
We go to church every Sunday and so I sing in church, but not well.
Do you have a motto in life?
He never started dying. I don’t ever intend to start dying. I told you about Grant MacEwan. He was 98 when he died, but he never started dying. He was still living the day he died, and living productively.
If you were a Star Trek or Star Wars character, who would you be?
(Question was skipped inadvertently, but Stewart has evidently met some Storm Troopers.)
If you had three shazams with a magic wand, what would you change in Calgary?
- I would like to see this city employ processes that bring everybody into the issue and integrate their ideas into the solution. An example of that would be bringing educational institutions into the designing of the future economic possibilities in our city. We’d get the best ideas and create solutions.
- I’d like to see a vibrant, exciting and safe city core. I’d like to ensure that any communities that are built have a place to gather and people actually do gather.
- The third thing would be public transit that is much more fully developed, some of which is underground.
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