Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek said the Alberta government’s insistence there will be no further funding help for the Green Line isn’t anything new.

The mayor responded to questions on the $5.5 billion project on Thursday morning, after a letter from Alberta Transportation and Economic Corridors Minister Devin Dreeshen indicated no further funding would be available “under any circumstances.”

The letter follows a meeting that Dreeshen, along with Minister of Infrastructure Peter Guthrie, Minister of Jobs Economy and Trade Matt Jones and Municipal Affairs Minister Ric McIver, had with Green Line Board Chair Don Fairbairn and CEO Darshpreet Bhatti on May 6.

The letter acknowledged the cost pressures faced by the Green Line and other North American infrastructure projects but said the province’s $1.53 billion commitments haven’t changed, and there are two key conditions to the funding.

“Firstly, any cost increases or escalations will be the responsibility of the City and no additional funding will be available from the province for this project under any circumstances,” the letter read.

“And secondly, the provincial funding is contingent on the City’s Green Line being fully integrated with the Province’s recently announced Master Rail Plan which is scheduled for release next year.”

Mayor Gondek said in terms of the funding, nothing has changed. The Alberta government has been upfront that the $1.53 billion is the allotted amount of funding, she said.

“The only thing about that letter that’s concerning is the fact that they now want the Green Line to align with their yet-unrealized plan for regional rail,” she said.

“So, I mean, you can tinker with toy trains on your table all day long and try to come up with a plan. We’ve got construction underway on the Green Line. So Green Line, having to comply with a fictitious plan, is going to mean opening up that contract.”

Calgary had other options: Premier Smith

The Green Line board said earlier this year that they continue to examine ways to mitigate escalating costs. For the first time since the project started, their quarterly report reflected that costs bore a high degree of concern.  A revised business case and update on costs is expected to come before council in June.

Minister Dreeshen’s letter underscored the need for these transit dollars to be used “in the most responsible and efficient way possible,” especially given their investment in a regional rail plan and the $330 million infrastructure investment into the area around Calgary’s $1.2 billion Event Centre.

“Given these conditions and the acknowledged cost escalations currently recognized by the City, we strongly encourage the City to carefully assess whether there are mitigating scope adjustments that can be made to the Green Line plan, including the potential of raising downtown stations from underground to above ground in order to avoid unnecessary cost,” the letter reads.

It’s believed cost overruns on the project are in line with overages on other infrastructure projects in Calgary and around Alberta – in the 10 to 20 per cent range.

Premier Danielle Smith was asked about the letter during a media conference on new emergency response powers on Thursday afternoon. She said she’s been clear she thought the City of Calgary made a mistake with tunneling through the downtown. It’s a part that she said is the most expensive. She mentioned a letter from an ad-hoc citizens group that has been “raising the alarm” on this aspect since 2021.

“It says that, it’s that area that’s going down to Eau Claire, and the alternative, an elevated line from the Event Center to City Hall hub would avoid the costly tunnels, would only cost $200 million, which would save about 1.8 billion,” the Premier told reporters.

“So, if I know that, they know that, their administration knows that, and yet they decided to go ahead anyway.”

Premier Smith said Calgary has been told on multiple occasions, including by then-Minister of Transportation Ric McIver, that the province expected this would be a major cost escalation.

“They said don’t worry, we got this and he told them, ‘OK, you got this, you’re on your own if there are cost escalations, so no one can be surprised,” she said.

“What we’re telling them is, we’re happy to support LRT, we’re happy to support transit projects, but if it needs to be re-scoped, so that they can do it within their budget, then we would expect them to do that.”

Province responsible for cost overruns due to delays: Coun. Carra

Ward 9 Coun. Gian-Carlo Carra said that the province’s dithering on the project for several years has contributed significantly to the increase in costs. He said when the project started, they were one of the only major rail projects of that kind being planned and delivered. Now, he said there are 18 to 20.

“We’ve gone from a buyer’s market to a seller’s market,” he said.

“When we hear that the provincial government is unwilling to fund cost overruns, we have these cost overruns because of this government.”

Carra supports the province’s vision for a regional rail system. All parties should be sitting together across a table from one another with sleeves rolled up to deliver a plan.

“Unfortunately, it seems like we’re in an environment where politics continues to dominate and the people who are interested in actually serving Albertans and the people are interested in actually doing the work of delivering infrastructure that will serve this city in this province for a century and plus, are taking a backseat to just day-to-day politics and that’s disheartening,” he said.

While the province may have its own thoughts on how the project should be delivered, or how it should have been delivered, Carra said there’s a plan in place that was agreed to from the start.

To that end, they’re continuing work on that plan, he said.

“I will say we have money in the bank. We are building this thing, and we will continue building it until it’s done.”