Trash talk at City Hall, as motion calls for private waste collection

CALGARY (660 NEWS) — There’s some serious trash talk inside the Calgary Council Chambers on Monday, concerning a motion seeking private sector waste collection.

The motion, drafted by Ward 1 Councillor Ward Sutherland and supported by nine colleagues, calls for a pilot program looking at contracting out 25 per cent of black cart collection.

The motion includes evidence from a report showing it could save the city between $425,000 and $1,275,000 per year, or about $2.59 per household per year.

Sutherland said at a time of constrained spending, they cannot afford to waste any cash.

“It’s more about the concept of creating a competitive environment,” he said. “That we can first of all compare apples to apples, finally, between how we service and how someone else services.”

Sutherland added that the report may be flawed, with industry stakeholders indicating to him that the savings could actually be much larger.

One council member who seemed to not be in support was Mayor Naheed Nenshi, who criticized the early hour at which this motion appeared in his inbox and how it includes immediate action.

“Without any public consultation, without any opportunity for city workers to give their opinion on the matter, or to organize in favour of doing that. I don’t think that’s a fair pool,” Nenshi said. “It has zero impact on the 2020 budget, so I have no idea why it’s before us as urgent business today when we could’ve dealt with it after the budget.”

The motion seeks to develop and execute a request for proposal contracting out the services, and then implement the pilot program in 2021.

Sutherland said the program would last seven years, mainly to give time for the private sector to see any value and purchase needed equipment.

He also shot back at the mayor claiming this is a surprise.

“This has dragged on for three and a half years. This isn’t something new, everyone knows about it,” he said.

A similar plan has been enacted in Toronto and Winnipeg, with some success in Toronto but a wide range of complaints in Winnipeg.

Nenshi cautioned about the latter, indicating it would be hard for the city to get out of these deals if it turns sour.

However, Sutherland again countered.

“It’s in the contract, if we have constant problems [the contractor] will be replaced. It’s as simple as that.”

Sutherland added that it shouldn’t include any cost increases for the consumer, either.

Sutherland also presented another motion to council on Monday, to seek a request for proposal for a long-term management contract for city-owned golf courses in another bid to save money.

That motion came after the city found they are losing a significant amount of money in managing golf courses