Naheed Nenshi asks why Calgary's police budget has risen 23 percent. (CBC)Calgary mayoral candidate Naheed Nenshi has drawn a rebuke from police chief Rick Hanson after raising questions about the cost of policing.

On Thursday, Nenshi criticized city council and mayoral rival Ric McIver for failing to ask more questions about the police budget. Nenshi said Statistics Canada figures show Calgary has the second highest policing costs per officer in Canada. He noted the police budget has increased by 23 per cent over the past five years but the number of officers has only gone up by 11 per cent.

Hanson issued a terse news release later in the day saying the figures are inaccurate and the CPS is cost efficient. Hanson didn't provide any numbers in his written statement and was not available for media questions. "The information presented by Mr. Nenshi is inaccurate," he said. "We are very proud of the fact that we continue to police this city with one of lowest police-to-population ratios in all of Canada."

"These are the data we have," countered Nenshi. "If Statistics Canada is wrong, if the Calgary police budget is misleading, then I'm very happy to understand my data [is] wrong. I have received no evidence that the data [is] wrong."

Nenshi, a professor at Mount Royal University's Bissett School of Business, said he has no quarrel with the chief or with anyone in the police service — only with councillors who don't ask the right questions.

"I have no quarrel with the chief. I have no quarrel with the many great officers and many great civilians who work at CPS. They do great work. I have a big quarrel with a city council that never asks the right questions."