The Government of Alberta will conduct a formal municipal inspection of Calgary’s water infrastructure in the wake of two ruptures of the Bearspaw South feeder main over the past 18 months.
Municipal Affairs Minister Dan Williams made the announcement at a news conference in Calgary on March 13, as Calgary is conducting concurrent repairs on nine deteriorated segments of the old line and construction of the replacement line.
Williams said most days, Calgarians don’t think much about the water system, and that’s a good sign overall.
“I want to speak directly to Calgarians, because water (infrastructure) isn’t an abstract policy issue, definitely not for them,” he said.
“It’s something that we rely on every single day. You turn on the tap in the morning, you make coffee, you shower, do the dishes after dinner, and you expect the water to flow. It’s a system quietly working in the background, municipal core services and every municipality across this province and country for over 100 years.”
Given the two ruptures, Williams said the provincial government’s role under the Municipal Government Act is to ensure that critical services are delivered in the best interests of residents.
He said that this inspection will be different than the City of Calgary’s technical review, and the Bearspaw South Independent Review Panel, and other reviews.
“What it looks at and examines is how the decisions were made, how the system was managed, how the oversight around that infrastructure worked. One technical review studies the pipe,” he said.
“This inspection instead studies the systems around the pipe, the management, the process and the decision making throughout the city. Together, those perspectives will build a complete picture for us to understand transparently, how we got here and what the next steps are to prevent it.”
Review expected to conclude by the end of 2026
The province has brought on former Alberta Energy Regulator board chair David Goldie to conduct the $1.2 million review that will be paid for by Alberta taxpayers.
Goldie will have the ability to call witnesses and compel testimony – including under oath – to put together a complete, accurate assessment of decision-making around Calgary’s water infrastructure.
Williams said that once the inspection is complete, the report will be provided to the City of Calgary for review and response. He said it will also be published for the public to view.
The minister deflected questions that the motive behind the review was to ultimately pin the blame on former Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi, who is the current leader of the Alberta NDP.
The report would be released within spitting distance of a potential spring 2027 provincial election.
“It is now the core responsibility and the power invested within the MGA to have the Minister of Municipal Affairs hold an inspection that allows accountability, transparency and prevention of a future crisis like this, and this will be informative for us across the entire province in terms of next steps, of where we need to go as well,” Minister Williams said.
“This is a real failure, and anyone that wants to try and distract from this or say that it’s some sort of political stunt, should really just talk to Calgarians living their day-to-day lives and understand what the crisis is like.”
Williams was also questioned why the province has taken this level of action, allowing such broad powers for this inspection, but limiting the ability of former Justice Wyant to look into the Alberta Health Services spending scandal.
Again, Williams deferred to his role in Municipal Affairs, and the impact these ruptures have had on the lives of Calgarians.
Calgary Mayor Jeromy Farkas posted a message to social media in support of the provincial review.
“I fully support and welcome this inspection and the opportunity it provides to strengthen the governance, management and reliability of Calgary’s water system,” the mayor wrote in a response letter to Minister Williams.
