Calgary's mayor said he's confused by a fellow member of council's claim that he signed his colleague's name to an op-ed without his consent.

On Friday, Mayor Naheed Nenshi wrote a piece for the Calgary Herald along with colleagues Coun. Shane Keating, Coun. Gian-Carlo Carra, Coun. George Chahal and Coun. Joe Magliocca.

The mayor wrote that the province needs to work with the city to help businesses facing large property tax bills, and called out comments made by the province's new minister of municipal affairs as untrue.

Now Coun. Joe Magliocca said he didn't agree to sign his name to the article.

"It was a surprise to me when I read this article by Mayor Naheed Nenshi that it also included my name. I want to be clear that I never agreed to be part of this article and I disagree with some of its content," Magliocca wrote on social media.

"We need to work in partnership with the provincial government in a spirit of collaboration, not confrontation. As such, I have asked Mayor Nenshi to remove my name from his article."

CBC News reached out to Magliocca but has yet to receive a response.

Nenshi said he's "confused" by Magliocca's comments.

"Councillor Magliocca has every right to disagree or to change his mind. I'm happy to remove his name, but since I was standing right next to him when he read it and agreed to let his name stand, I'm a little bit confused by his statement," the mayor said in an emailed statement.

Coun. Sean Chu said the original version of the op-ed he saw — which he chose not to sign on to — just recapped the situation.

"The mayor, in the email he sent to us, doesn't say anything about the provincial government," he said. "I have to give the mayor benefit of the doubt, maybe he made a mistake."

A spokesperson for the mayor's office said the final version of the op-ed was circulated to the four councillors who signed it, but that some edits were needed for length before it was published.

Chu said whatever happened with the op-ed, he'd like to see the city work more collaboratively with the province.

"You come in guns blazing, you think he'd want to work with you? Of course not."

As of Saturday evening, the mayor and all four councillors' names remained on the article.