Now that he’s unintentionally appointed himself Calgary Public Transit Czar, Alberta Transportation Minister Devin Dreeshen is starting to sound as if he’d really prefer to shed the responsibility.
Too bad, though, as we’ve already explained, it’s that pesky Pottery Barn Rule: If you break it, you own it.
Readers will recall that on September 3, the thirty-something United Conservative Party (UCP) minister dashed off a letter to Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek telling her the province was pulling its promised $1.53-billion contribution to the Green Line light rail transit project because, he claimed, it had turned into a boondoggle in the month since he’d promised city funding for the project, already under way, was “100-per-cent” secure.
It was widely understood in Calgary at the time that the real reason was more likely that former Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi, harshly criticized in the minister’s missive, had become the leader of the Opposition NDP.
While the city and province have continued since then to trade shots over the project and argue about the route it should take if someone is willing to carry on, Dreeshen’s letter pretty well killed the Green Line the minute it landed on Mayor Gondek’s desk.
On Tuesday, Calgary City Council acknowledged that reality and voted 10-5 to wind down the project.
“This project has suffered a terrible blow because of a decision of the government of Alberta,” Gondek said in a statement posted to social media. “We are left as a city to bear all of the responsibility for the contracts that are in place and we hold all of the liability. It’s looking like it’s going to be at least $800 million to wind down this project. And for what reason? For the whim of a provincial government cancelling this program.”
So, at this point, it looks as if the only way the project can move forward is if the province takes it over and runs the whole thing – an expensive fate the new transit czar would surely prefer to avoid!
Alas for Dreeshen, there’s a school of thought among a lot of influential Calgary Conservatives that the UCP Government he’s part of will have to do that or the party can say goodbye to even more Calgary seats in the Legislature.
So either way, whether he likes it or not, Dreeshen owns the Green Line now.
Yesterday, apparently driven to fury by council’s vote, Dreeshen published a remarkably petulant rant on the government’s website, insisting that “the province’s contribution to the Green Line has never been a blank cheque, and the current alignment put forward by the City of Calgary is an irresponsible waste of taxpayer dollars.”
“The province promised funding for a line servicing hundreds of thousands of Calgarians in southeast Calgary, not a stub line barely reaching out of downtown,” huffed the proud son of Innisfail, pop. circa 8,000, a town best known for its lamb slaughterhouse and proximity to the bright lights of Red Deer.
“It is unfortunate that some members of city council would prefer to see the Green Line cancelled entirely rather than find a far more cost-effective and longer above-ground alignment that will actually reach hundreds of thousands of Calgarians in the southeast of the city,” Dreeshen complained.
As for the huge cost of winding down a project that was already under way, he whined, “I don’t see why Alberta taxpayers should be asked to pay for decade-long mismanagements and decisions of past mayors and city councils.”
Well, my dear boy, that’s what happens when you break something you didn’t want to own! It’s yours now and you’re either going to wear everything that goes wrong if you build it or get blamed for everything that happens if you don’t. Your choice.
Plus, every minute you wait it’s going to cost more. Ottawa’s matching $1.53-billion contribution is probably gone with the wind. And just pausing the project is said to be costing $30-million a month.
By December, Dreeshen’s statement concluded, “the province will provide city council with a new alternative route extending further into southeast Calgary for their consideration.” Chances are good council will hate it.
Only if the city follows his orders, his statement implied, will “our provincial contribution” remain on the table.
As Oliver Hardy famously said to Stan Laurel: “This is a nice mess you’ve gotten us into!”
Reactions to UCP school funding announcement cast some light
Dust from Premier Danielle Smith’s school spending announcement Wednesday is far from clear, but some of the reactions helpfully illuminate realities of the government’s plan.
First, the province is claiming it can build 90 new schools in three years. This seems highly unlikely. There aren’t enough trades people, paperwork can’t be eliminated entirely, and the iron law of supply and demand dictates that costs will rise. Good on them if they can do it – I doubt they can finish half that number in the promised time frame.
In a news release, the Alberta Teachers Association complained the announcement “will not address the untenable classroom conditions students continue to learn in today.”
Waiting for the 2025 budget “means another year of overcrowded classrooms, unmet needs, decreased support for students with complex issues and a lack of learning resources,” the teachers’ union said. Asked ATA President Jason Schilling: “What good are schools without teachers?”
“Funnelling public money to charter and private schools that are not accessible to all families takes away from the majority of Alberta’s students,” the ATA also said.
Support Our Students Alberta Executive Director Medeana Moussa said, “without any new operational funding to accompany capital funds, Danielle Smith’s announcement of a seven-year-long construction plan leaves out the concrete need to help students struggling today in the here and now.”
“We also need thousands more education workers,” she said in her statement. “We need a full plan that brings in more education workers to support large and complex classrooms. These material resources were glaringly omitted.”
Moussa also assailed the money that will be spent on charter and private schools: “Alberta invests the least money into public education and simultaneously the most money into private schools in the country.”
Finally, in her Substack column yesterday, University of Calgary political scientist Lisa Young considered the political strategy behind the plan.
Among her key points: “We’re not talking about the Green Line debacle this morning.” (Well, we are this morning, though.) Plus, some of the schools will be getting finished just in time for the next provincial general election. So expect signs.
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