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The mayor said in addition to the now cancelled function on Wednesday, his team is organizing free coffee parties throughout the campaign at people’s homes and anyone who wants to meet with him can book a meeting, as long as they disclose who they are.

But Conacher said the fact Nenshi is accessible didn’t change the nature of the fundraiser at Kasian Architecture.

“Even though he meets with people for free, he is offering to meet with people who pay,” Conacher said. “The one does not excuse the other. It’s still cash-for-access.”

Fundraising and campaign expenses have exploded in recent Calgary civic elections, with much of the money coming from land developers, home builders and unions, all with their own preferred candidates.

Nenshi has long advocated for stricter campaign finance rules for what’s often referred to as a “wild west” system considered lax compared to other Canadian municipalities.

Nenshi said Monday he operates under a “much more stringent set of rules than the law actually allows,” and he releases campaign donors’ names before the election and doesn’t keep campaign surpluses.

Reaction to the $5,000-per person fundraiser was swift from several of Nenshi’s council colleagues.

“It seems rather disingenuous for the mayor to promote this kind of activity when he himself was saying the $5,000 limit was too high,” said Ward 10 Coun. Andre Chabot, who is challenging Nenshi for the mayor’s chair.

“I have intimate discussions with people all the time, and it doesn’t cost them anything.”

Ward 4 Coun. Sean Chu, who regularly meets one-on-one with constituents and pays the cost of beverages out of his own pocket, said the exclusive fundraiser “looks really, really bad” and is hypocritical.

“People don’t like hypocrites,” Chu said.

Ward 2 Coun. Joe Magliocca said he didn’t understand what Nenshi was thinking.

“How well did it work for the Liberal government? They got their hands slapped and here our mayor is doing that,” he said.

aklingbeil@postmedia.com