Calgary mayor, councillors to pitch Alberta energy at Quebec municipal politician meeting

More than half of Calgary's city council is in Quebec City Thursday for theannual meeting of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, where they aim to talk up the importance of Alberta's energy industry to the national economy.

Mayor Naheed Nenshi, who's among those attending,said the goal is to win the "hearts and minds" of municipal politicians from across Canada.

"Remember, these are grassroots politicians, and there are thousands of them, representing their communities with their own microphones and their own press corps in their own communities," Nenshi said.

"And I think that it's a real good opportunity to make sure that they're ready with the right answers when questions in their communities come up about things like pipeline infrastructure or energy independence."

All told, nine members of Calgary's 15-person city council are in Quebec City for the meeting.

Coun. Jyoti Gondekexpects Alberta's energy industrywill be discussed both inside the meeting but also in the hallways in more casual conversation.

"There's always the informal approach," she said.

"I think it's important to strike up the conversation around the significance of oil and gas and responsible production and the impact that it has on the Canadian economy. But you've got to kind of look for those opportunities."

Nenshialso will attend a caucus meeting of Canada's big city mayors, which will be held alongside the federation's general conference.

He said issues, such asstrategies for this fall's federal election, housing and infrastructure, will be key topics on the mayors' agenda.

The federation's annual conference runs until June 2.