Calgary’s mayor said that Calgary is included in the province’s commitment to back Alberta municipalities in potential rifts with the federal government over housing funds.

On Wednesday, Alberta Minister of Assisted Living and Social Services and the minister responsible for Housing, Jason Nixon, issued a statement on the federal government’s notice of funds being rescinded for Red Deer because of planning decisions made “based on what’s best for their community.”

Back in January, the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) issued a statement including Red Deer in an announcement that they were not compliant on a mandatory requirement, and thus their Housing Accelerator Fund (HAF) agreement was cancelled.

Now in April, Minister Nixon said the federal government told them to redirect the funding to other municipalities, or to lose it entirely.

“That is why I have written to the Honourable Gregor Robertson, Minister of Housing and Infrastructure, and made clear that while Alberta has approved these one-time increases to the Housing Accelerator Fund agreements for Edmonton and Airdrie, we will not sign off on further agreements until the City of Red Deer and other Alberta municipalities are treated fairly and provided the same flexibility that has been afforded to communities in other provinces,” read his statement.

“Situations like this are why Alberta’s government passed the Provincial Priorities Act. The actions of the federal government continue to prove why this was necessary. We will not allow Alberta, and particularly rural Alberta and mid-sized communities, to be left behind.”

While not specifically mentioned, Calgary Mayor Jeromy Farkas said that the province, while not mentioning Calgary, did intend to include Calgary. The reason why it wasn’t was Calgary’s HAF funding agreement pre-dated the Provincial Priorities Act.

“We’ve had really good calls with Minister Nixon, with Mr. Williams. They are certainly watching the situation very closely here in Calgary, very much appreciate the collaborative approach from those two ministries,” he said.

Timing of the announcement

Minister Nixon’s statement comes as Calgary is wrapping up two weeks of a public hearing on the repeal of citywide rezoning.

The question of the potential rescinding of Calgary Housing Accelerator Fund cash due to a repeal is still a murky political football. CMHC has said that the funding could be in jeopardy should Calgary not meet its commitments under the agreement.

City of Calgary administration has also said that funding is at risk should a repeal go through.

The potential loss of funding has been brought up by numerous public hearing speakers, and, while it’s not supposed to be considered as a part of a planning decision, it’s been mentioned by city councillors. The province is weighing in on other cities’ HAF funding at a critical time in Calgary’s decision-making process.

Mayor Farkas said that it’s “forbidden and prohibited” to consider housing incentives like these when making planning decisions.

“When it comes to the question of whether or not to repeal blanket rezoning, we have to make the best decisions for Calgarians. We’re not going to be bribed by the federal government. We’re not going to be blackmailed or otherwise incentivized by them,” he said.

“We want to be willing partners to work at the table for those areas of common interest. But to be crystal clear, and I will be enforcing this as chair of Council, the question of housing and severity funding money is not before us in our public hearing.”

He said he appreciated the provincial support on the matter.

“I want to make it crystal clear that here in Calgary, the province has had our back when it comes to negotiating with the feds on the question of the housing accelerator funding money, potential future grants, withholding of money from the federal government,” he said.

Calgary’s public hearing on citywide rezoning continues on April 2.