The City of Calgary could be on the hook for more than 50 per cent of as much as $7.5 billion, perhaps $8 billion with an approved Green Line alignment.

Councillors heard an administration presentation behind closed doors on Tuesday before discussing the once-$6.25 billion project during their Jan. 28, 2025 Regular Meeting of Council.

The plan, in general, calls for work to be advanced on the southeast leg from a Grand Central Station location near the under-construction Event Centre, with ongoing review and planning of a downtown alignment. While the basic project is set at $6.25 billion, city admin estimates as much as $1 billion in additional costs, along with another nearly half-a-billion to get the line to Eau Claire.

“Whilst the provincial government has indicated that they’re willing to fund from Seventh Avenue to Shepherd, our intent is to look at how we can deliver a project into the downtown. So, we’re not there yet from a final, detailed design perspective, but it is, I believe, our commitment to look at solutions for the downtown as a whole, and not just terminating specifically at Seventh Avenue,” said Ward 10 Coun. Andre Chabot, who moved the main motion.

“While there may be additional funding requirements associated with going beyond Seventh Avenue, I believe that this provides us with the scope to vote beyond what is envisioned as funding from a provincial government.”

Chabot said he was happy to direct administration to move forward with the development of a business case. That business case will be forwarded to the province for approval. After that, it goes to the federal government for their final funding approval.

Ward 12 Coun. Evan Spencer said he wasn’t enamoured with the provincial government but supported the plan.

“The province really does feel like it has us staring down the barrel of a gun. But, I am supportive,” he said.

“We need track. We need the Green Line to get started somewhere in the city. We need to start building this line, otherwise this 10-year dithering will turn into 12, into 14, into 15, and we may lose out. Calgarians will lose out, neighbourhoods that have been built specifically for public transportation will lose out.”

Alberta Transportation Minister Devin Dreeshen issued a statement on the Green Line decision Wednesday morning. He said it’s a historic step forward for Calgary commuters.

“This new elevated alignment will save more than $1 billion compared with tunnelling downtown, allowing those savings to be reinvested into the project to extend the line further south to Shepard,” the statement read.

“By increasing ridership and expanding access, we are ensuring that taxpayer dollars deliver maximum value while building a stronger, more connected city.”

Minister Dreeshen said he looks forward to continued collaboration with the City of Calgary and the federal government.

On the opposite side of the debate

The recommendations are to develop a concurrent development process for the delivery of a north-south LRT program.

The southeast segment of the line from Shepard to the Event Centre would begin construction in 2025, according to the approved recommendations.  The City and the province would work together to begin the functional planning on the downtown portion this year.

Ward 8 Coun. Courtney Walcott pulled no punches in his assessment of the situation. He said it felt weird to the on the other side of the debate. Walcott has perennially put his support behind the Green Line, but not this version.

“When I think about what it means to continually give in to the provincial government who is not a good partner, who have demonstrated zero capacity to do this work in any meaningful way, who have never shown to care about Calgarians at all, especially ones that ride transit, whether it be through the low-income transit pass or funding capital projects, and they definitely don’t care about us,” he said.

“There’s zero respect in this relationship.”

Walcott said that as he thinks about the reputation of the government and the expectations the public has, it’s come down to the effective stewardship of dollars.

“It’s a hard pill to swallow, and I’m just not on the side of swallowing this one. I know there’s a cost associated to saying no to this,” he said.  

“I know that cost comes in all different forms, but I’ll sleep better knowing that I acted with the demands of respect.”

Ward 1 Coun. Sonya Sharp said the project as it stands represents a compromise.

“I know this isn’t perfect, and council members, not everything we do is and there’s risk, but there is risk in every single one of our decisions and capital projects,” Sharp said.

“We need to get some sort of Green Line started. The reality is the Green Line cannot succeed without any provincial collaboration and alignment.”

Held ‘hostage on our own project: Coun. Mian

Ward 3 Coun. Jasmine Mian also did not support the Green Line proposal. In fact, she told councillors that she wouldn’t be seeking re-election because of the decision that city council made.

“Calgary is being held hostage on our own project,” she said.

“I have a fiduciary responsibility to this corporation to provide sound governance based on our conversations and everything I’ve heard you all say, it seems to me that council will accept whatever terms necessary to keep the project alive, including signing a blank cheque while relinquishing control over something for which we have ultimate accountability.

“That’s not leadership. It’s dangerous, and it’s purely political territory.”

Mayor Jyoti Gondek was equally forceful in her opposition to the project. She said after a call from the province last Friday at 9:15 p.m. she realized the province was not interested in being a partner on the Green Line.

“Rather, they’re interested in exercising power and control, demanding that their whimsical vision of an elevated train hammering through downtown is the only option.”

The mayor said that Calgary taxpayers will take on all the additional risk, and couldn’t stand behind a decision that could destroy the downtown.

“Their proposed alignment will rattle past buildings. It will be careening above our Plus-15 network, and it will create a condition that will make corporations second guess their decision to headquarter in our city, never mind the safety issues that will be created by this alignment with massive pillars that reduce eyes on the street, take away traffic lanes and encourage the type of criminal activity that we have tried so hard to remove from our downtown,” she said.

“I cannot tell downtown property owners and investors that their commitment to our city no longer matters. I will not compromise Calgary’s downtown, its businesses and its people, because our provincial government has a dream that has not been proven out by any facts.

“As someone who has championed public transit and the Green Line for longer than I have been in office, I’m saddened by the corner that we have been pushed into, and I’m absolutely furious that local businesses, property owners and residents are an afterthought to our provincial government.”

An update on the business case submission is expected to come to Calgary city council within a week.