Jyoti Gondek seeks meeting with Smith, Dreeshen about Green Line LRT

Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek says she wants to meet directly with Premier Danielle Smith and Transportation Minister Devin Dreeshen about the future of the Green Line LRT. 

She told reporters outside of council chambers on Thursday she has asked to meet with the premier and is trying to set something up for Friday, as well as a second meeting sometime next week.

Gondek added her goal is to de-risk the City of Calgary from the project as well as to try and convince the province to walk back its choice to pull funding.

"We need the Green Line," she said.

Earlier, Gondek joined CBC's Calgary Eyeopener and said she also plans to meet with Dreeshen.

"There are something like 20,000 jobs that are tied to this," she said.

"The economic growth from this project is massive, the housing that we can deliver on the alignment that we had approved is incredible for our city. So once again, I will make the plea to listen to the experts on the Green Line board and reconsider their decision." 

In a statement to CBC News on Thursday afternoon, a spokesperson for Smith said the premier "would be happy to set up a meeting," but did not elaborate on when.

Gondek also expressed her disappointment with the province's decision to pull funding from the public transportation project in its current state.

"I'm not certain what happened. When they received the business case on August the 15th, [it] contained the same information that we had provided early and often in July, and it is the same information that we use to make our decision as a council on the 30th of July," she said.

"I'm uncertain as to what changed their mind."

'A step too far'

Meanwhile, the Calgary Construction Association says it's concerned with the province's decision to pull funding.

The association says the move signals that no project, regardless of its scope or significance, is safe from unexpected funding cuts. It contends the resulting uncertainty introduces a huge element of risk for contractors and businesses involved in provincial projects.

It also undermines confidence in the stability and reliability of government commitments, the group says.

"To literally pull funding and put the brakes on is a step too far," Bill Black, president and CEO of the association, told CBC News.

Black said it's challenging when large infrastructure projects like the Green Line are delayed, as it's already difficult for contractors to retain construction workers.

"You're left with a scramble on some of these companies as to how do they replace the work that they thought would be in the market before the end of this year?" Black said.

Black called the project an economic lifeline that the industry has been "counting on." 

Is the project in the province's hands now?

Gondek said the project is, in effect, in the province's hands now, as the city can't afford to go ahead without the $1.53 billion in funding from the provincial government.

In a letter sent Tuesday in which he said the province would not fund the Green Line LRT in its current form, Dreeshen called the city's recently revised plan "unacceptable" and one that was "fast becoming a multibillion-dollar boondoggle."

Dreeshen added in his letter to Gondek that the province will move forward by contracting a third party to provide alternative proposals for the LRT, including reviews of the project as it stands.

Gondek said she's not sure what the province hopes to get out of another review of the project, stating an extensive review was done in 2020 and 2021 under former Calgary city councillor and then-minister of municipal affairs Ric McIver.

"Their administration provincially worked closely with our administration at the city and many things were reviewed, including a line from City Hall to the south," she said. 

"It was deemed at that time in that review that such a project could not work because we don't have enough capacity. So, I'm not sure what this review will conclude that hasn't already been done."

Gondek says she intends to urge the province to take another look at the current plan approved by the Green Line board, which would be the largest infrastructure project in Calgary's history. City council installed the Green Line board in 2021 to oversee this project.