Rumours were confirmed Wednesday morning, as former CTV news anchor Barb Higgins stepped in to the race for Calgary’s mayor.
Amongst a room full of journalists and fellow colleagues, Higgins explained that it’s only in the last two weeks that she’s decided to launch her campaign.
“For 21 years as a television journalist, I’ve had a front row seat to what goes on in our city,” said Higgins. “I have researched and written the news but I’ve had to stay neutral and I have made the decision to jump in to municipal politics because I don’t want to stay neutral anymore.”
She said that many know her as a socially minded person because of her work in the community, but at heart she’s money-minded.
“People know I have a social heart, but what you don’t know is I’m a fiscal conservative,” she said. “I have respect for money.”
Higgins said she’s had a passion for politics for years, and no one would know that better than her former co-anchor.
“Darrel (Janz) is sitting in the audience…and he, probably more than anybody, knows how passionate I am about things. We’d be in a commercial break, or we’d be in a story and I’d be talking about the stories all the time.”
While some have been drawing comparisons to Higgins and former Calgary mayor and premier Ralph Klein, Higgins said it’s merely a coincidence that they both come from journalism backgrounds.
Higgins said she will be rolling out her full platform by Labour Day.
