Nenshi blasts province for pulling Calgary’s Green Line LRT funding

Former Calgary mayor and Alberta’s current opposition leader isn’t holding back after the province revealed this week they will be pulling more than a billion dollars in funding from Calgary’s Green Line LRT project.

Speaking to reporters in downtown Calgary on Thursday, Naheed Nenshi criticized the letter sent from the province’s transport minister to current mayor Jyoti Gondek that called the transit project a “multi-billion dollar boondoggle,” and said the province is withdrawing their $1.53 billion share in funding.

“You want to pick a fight, come after me,” said Nenshi. “Don’t come after the investors, don’t come after the construction workers, don’t come after the jobs.”

“And especially, don’t come after Calgarians because they won’t forget it.”

In a letter to Gondek dated Tuesday, Minister of Transportation and Economic Corridors, Devin Dreeshen, said his department has “serious concerns” with updates to the Green Line made at the end of July, adding the province would be unable to fund the project in its current form.

City council approved changes to build the core of the project from Eau Claire in downtown Calgary to Lynwood/Millican in the southeast. Previous plans had the first phase of the project going all the way south to Shepherd with five more stations in southeast.

In response to the letter, mayor Gondek said the city can no longer afford to build the line and is now considering transferring the transit project and the risks that come with it to the province.

Nenshi called on Dreeshen and the UCP government to build on investments that have already been made and claimed the province’s decision means saying goodbye to 20,000 construction jobs and $1.3 billion that has already been spent.

“He’s basically set a billion dollars on fire through the cancellation of this project,” said Nenshi.

Dreeshen’s letter blasted the rising cost of the project and the alignment of the line, suggesting instead that the Green Line should start at the new arena entertainment district.

“Transit projects have to take people where they want to go,” said Nenshi in response. “If you want people to go to work….you can’t drop them off a kilometre away from work on the other side of city hall.”

The NDP leader and former mayor says the Green Line has been studied and delaying the project won’t make it any cheaper.

Construction association ‘dismayed’ over further delays to Green Line

The Calgary Construction Association says it is dismayed at further delays to the Green Line expansion.

The group representing hundreds of local companies say the latest move is a setback for the construction industry and the broader community.

The association’s president Bill Black says the province is setting a dangerous precedent for any future infrastructure project in Alberta.

“To have such an abrupt pulling of funding happen…it’s a kind of sudden shock that can really shake up the confidence and expectations of our industry,” Black says.

He says a lot of jobs are at stake if the line doesn’t get built.

“Over the course of the project, with everything from tunnels to rail lines to bridges and everything else, you’d be talking about multiple thousands of workers over the duration of the project.”

Gondek said Wednesday she will be contacting Premier Danielle Smith with details on how much it will cost to wind down the project now that the province has pulled their funding.

A final decision on the Green Line’s future is set to happen at the next council meeting on Sep. 17.