Discussions with the Alberta government are progressing and Mayor Jyoti Gondek is confident they’ll be able to make a decision on Calgary’s southeast transit line in the near future.

Mayor Gondek, who spoke to reporters Tuesday, the day after a Green Line working group meeting, said that a decision on the $6.25 billion project by the end of this month is “absolutely possible.”

She said they’ll have a better idea once they see the recommendations from administration.

Mayor Gondek also said that she was happy to hear that Alberta Transportation Minister Devin Dreeshen was able to talk with the federal government about funding.

“They will need to see a business case. We are working with the provincial government to put a business case together,” she said.

“When I can share any of the details about what we’re working through, I will definitely do that. But for now, we remain engaged as working group members, and we are trying to find a positive way to deliver a north, south transit line to our city.”

The project has been mired in uncertainty ever since the province told the city last September that it would no longer support their already-approved Green Line alignment. That led to a flurry of discussion on how to salvage the transit line without sacrificing nearly $2 billion in costs already put into the project.

This week, Rev. Samaya Oakley, with the advocacy group Calgary Alliance for the Common Good, sent a letter to media saying that this project is teetering on the edge of failure due to political gamesmanship and short-sighted decision-making.

“Scrapping the project, on the other hand, sinks $2.1 billion in committed costs and up to $2 billion in legal liabilities—leaving taxpayers with nothing but wasted dollars and lost opportunities,” Oakley wrote.

“This isn’t just bad math; it’s a betrayal of the public trust.”

Green Line risk worries remain, Mayor Gondek said

Oakley said that for this project to work, both the province and the city must prioritize collaboration over conflict.

“This means sitting down, sharing accurate information, and devising a plan that spreads costs equitably between levels of government. Both municipal and provincial coffers are funded by the same taxpayers,” Oakley wrote.  

“The province has the greater ability to raise revenue, so it’s time for them to step up and invest in Calgary’s long-term success”

Last month, Mayor Gondek, flanked by Couns. Andre Chabot and Peter Demong, all members of the transit working group, said that it was difficult to move forward with all the risk of the project upon the City of Calgary.

Mayor Gondek said that it’s still a concern for them.

“We continue to be concerned that there is risk involved,” she said.

“Any time you have a project of this size, the risk is something that needs to be carefully assessed and analyzed and mitigated, and that’s what we are asking the province to do with us.”

Mayor Gondek said they’ve received more clarity from the province on some of their outstanding questions. Those have been answered through the working group and a liaison working between the two government administrations. She said any questions they had were going directly to the province.

“We are working very well together to try to come up with a solution,” she said.

Calgary city council was behind closed doors to discuss the issue late into Tuesday’s public hearing meeting.