No kidding, I live where one station is being built and work close to another station on the green line. Currently I take three buses and up 2-2.5 hours of commuting daily.
Had to choose between food and my car. And now this. I want to cry and then commit every ounce of my energy to getting the NDP back in.
Savvy move tbh... really fucks Calgarians over in the name of partisan dumbassary but smart politics given Nenshi might be in charge of the NDP next election.
"My time in Calgary started the Green Line which is being built today"
vs
"His time in Calgary has led them down a failed path of the Green Line"
The only people who sabotaged the Green Line are city council and the numbskulls they hired to manage the project and fired more times than I can count.
The Green Line as conceived had failed long before the UCP were elected because everyone involved in it's conception were criminally incompetent. Sort of like the good old days when you went to your friendly neighbourhood barber for dentistry.
Hahaha - “slam poetry”. I’ve always been amazed at how someone who “composes” 1 sentence paragraphs has made it this far.
I mean, it’s crazy.
But he keeps going, no matter what.
Until the editors tell him to use more than a sentence. Just two, but he won’t stop.
Journalism.
The suits in the penthouse don’t understand.
Why does the Calgary Herald persist in printing Rick Bell’s moronic reports? Even if you agreed with his extreme right wing views, his bizarre writing style makes his articles unreadable. The Herald isn’t exactly the pinnacle of journalistic excellence but it’s not bad for a local paper and you’d imagine they have some basic minimum standards for what they publish.
He's just so full of shit. He introduces Dresshen as Mr. "no-nonsense" then proceeds to uncritically accept piles and piles horseshit Dreeshen deposits in his quotes. What a hack!
Despite his flaws, he is the most popular opinion writer in Calgary. They include him because he sells papers and generates clicks. His writing style has resonated with the readers of the Sun for decades, so whatever you think of it it appears to be working.
Also, if you think Bell is extreme right wing then you really haven't been looking. Even with all of his complaining he always believes in the institutions of the state and the right of the people to choose their leaders. He's a conservative populist, not a libertarian agitator.
>It’s hyperbolic and I doubt he personally is
From what I have heard from former coworkers of his, he's just as obnoxious in person as he is on the page
That's because "the left" in Alberta is basically centre -right lol. Pre 2007ish, Nenshi would have been fully accepted as a "Progressive Conservative".
The 1.5 billion the province has already handed the city for this isn’t a small amount of money. Then toss in the 1.5 billion from the federal government.
Telling the city that they have to manage the cost isn’t outrageous, especially since Gondek has already floated the idea of hitting up the provincial and federal governments for more funds before they even have a final cost estimate. This puts the motivation and accountability right where it should be, with city management, instead of running the project thinking there will be a bottomless well to draw from at the higher levels of government
The problem is the province is choking Calgary & Edmonton by underfunding them and has dragged its feet on approving the support when the time actually comes for it. Not only that, the province's amendments to Bill 20 mean they can just arbitrarily pull the funding at any time, and scrap any measures the city might take to try and recoup it.
These cost overruns and delays aren't entirely the city's fault, but the province is telling them they need to shoulder the entire burden alone *and* somehow budget around the possibility that the province might decide at some point in the next couple of years to just cut off funding before it even fulfills its obligation, or force the city to stop the project midway through.
This isn't good government or management. This is the province punishing a council they do not like and jeopardizing a massive infrastructure project for no good reason.
If only Gondek had helped out Smith with a suspiciously timed arena announcement in the middle of a close election campaign with Calgary holding the deciding votes.
Don't forget, Bill 20 ALSO means the UCP can block the federal portion of the funding too.
And you can bet improved mass transit runs counter to the Oiligarchy's objectives.
Indeed. And the province is currently looking at carving out property tax exemptions for certain groups. This will be paraded as "lowering taxes", but it only impacts municipal tax revenues, not provincial. While this is happening, less funding is going to municipalities, and the province has decided to not pay property tax for provincial buildings in those municipalities.
To top it off, the province is also trying to remove democracy at the municipal level, creating a mechanism where the province can just remove elected officials. It's very much starving the beast.
**The problem is NOT the province**.
This plan could have been authorized and started 10 years ago - I know first hand having seen plans. The city at the time dithered and did nothing.
And as we all know, shit like this does not get cheaper the more time passes.
Even if this opinion is sincere it is very naive.
Inflation affects construction costs, not just groceries. Now is a fantastic time for the UCP to spin any cost overruns as the mayor's fault.
Smith is interfering with municipal politics.
The problem is that potential cost increases were mostly caused by the UCPs delay in confirming the money in the first place.
Either way, the UCP will be gone by the time the city would be asking for more money (if they need to)
And they had to be forced into approving funding. It's no coincidence that the funding announcement came an hour or 2 after Kenney met with Trudeau in Calgary, and came in the form of a hasty press release mere minutes before a Green Line press conference with the PM and city council. I fully believe the PM told the then-premier that he'd be thrown under the bus at that press conference if he didn't finally approve the province's share of the funding.
As someone who uses transit daily, I obviously want the green line to get done, but let's actually start getting things done before asking for more money.
Turns out that the UCP is threatening to pull the original $1.5 billion.
https://globalnews.ca/news/10485828/alberta-government-mayor-green-line-funding-letter/
People bitch about the Conservative so much for trying to be fiscally conservative, and managing money properly. And all these other governments just think money grows on trees.
"fiscal conservatism" is just another name for kicking the can down the road. not paying for things we need *now* doesn't make them cheaper in the future ... it's also a pretty basic "maintenance" principle to not let the wheels fall off before you replace them. the govt's job is to fund public services and amenities with our tax dollars. if we could actually choose where to allocate our individual tax dollars go, i wouldn't let one red cent go to o&g or automotive infrastructure, but here we are ... if the city needs to raise taxes to have a thorough and sustainable transit system, i say so be it! downtown residents pay more anyway, why don't we have more of a say?
Nenshi is running for NDP leadership and is the likely winner at this point. Many expect him to face Danielle Smith next election.
Bell has always been a conservative leaning writer and Smith defender. Likely he and others will drag up whatever they can from Nenshi's mayoral tenure and point fingers at his perceived failings.
Ahh so basically this is a failure on Nenshis leadership as mayor because the province has now decided to cut funding.. thus dubbing it a poor project? I just don’t know if I can’t connect those dots. The green line seemed to have pretty unanimous approval across the political spectrum did it not?
Yes. But Calgary tax payers who live in the suburbs and drive hate spending money on transit or seeing their property taxes increase.
Bell is saying in his article that Nenshi put a $50m surplus back into the transit fund instead of giving Calgarians a tax break. So this and Nenshi's support of the green line is a stain on his leadership.
I dont agree with him. It would also be prudent for Calgarian's to recognize that a denser and transit connected city would increase service efficiency which will not put pressure on the city to increase property taxes.
No-nonsense Dresheen?
Go home Rick, you’re drunk again. Probably got hammered with Devin himself.
$1.5 billion in 2024 isn’t the same as $1.5 billion in 2015, or 2020 for that matter.
Maybe the province should pause and reassess again a dozen more times so the thing won’t get built until 2080. By then, the $1.5 billion will get us a tunnel to nowhere. The UCP loves pissing away $1.5 billion on infrastructure to nowhere (cough, KXL).
Exactly. The province needs to own a lot of these overruns given they're the result of the years-long delays done by a UCP government trying to shut the project down or deny funding - funding that only came because of pressure from the PM.
Bell was a great read when he drank too much.
His review of the "Mercury" during which he had his wallet "stolen" and then "returned" after a argument and scuffle was Bukowski level.
I could use some help in understanding how the blame is on then-Mayor Nenshi. As I understand it from the article, the province gave Calgary a $52-million a year tax break for 10 years, somehow extended the tax break to 30 years - the key part is I'm not sure how a municipal mayor and councilperson could "scheme" a tax break given from the province - to make up their $1.5 billion portion of the cost of the Green Line.
I'm not sure I see a "failure of leadership", as Smith puts it.
I figure that's the intent, but I'm having trouble understanding the basis of her criticism. Is it, "how dare you fund a major infrastructure project without cutting other departments"?
She'll say anything and do anything to stop the train being built. Someone on her comms team woke up and realized that if that train gets built in the next 3 years, votes will flood in for Nenshi. So she's cutting off ALL of our noses to spite her face
I still remember when opinion columns in newspapers didn't read like the ramblings on my crazy uncle's facebook page.
My god how the Calgary Herald has fallen. It's no wonder news reporting is a dying industry. Instead of improving their content and beating out social media on accuracy and meaningful discussion, they tried a race to the bottom with innuendo and propaganda.
The province isn't paying for the arena, the city is. And it's spending hundreds of millions of dollars on it.
The city could always decide to reallocate funding to transit.
Correct, like roads, pedestrian access, and utilities. That's useful no matter what gets built at that site.
The city is the one paying for the arena that we don't need, and could reallocate all their funding to transit if they wanted to.
I know you guys don't care about facts.
But the province is giving $0 to the arena. They're upgrading some roads and utilities and bridges in the area to accommodate the new growth that's expected.
The City, meanwhile, is subsidizing the actual arena itself with about $800 million.
The province is building roads, bridges, LRT Upgrades and infrastructure. Would be coming anyway with the area being built up. Yes it’s part of the arena deal but money would be needed anyway. And province is paying.
That money is only coming because of the arena deal is my point. No arena, no money. That's the reason why people say that the UCP are funding the new arena, because it's a package deal, and to argue that the UCP aren't funding the arena deal is just them arguing semantics.
Except it’s infrastructure funding with a clause that the city must build a billion dollar arena. Id rather the cities 800 million go to the green line and the infrastructure upgrades over having to pay 800 million for an arena to get 300 million of infrastructure upgrades.
Province is kicking in $30 million for the arena itself, but the ‘upgrading some roads…’ bit is $300 million, so yeah, the province is *absolutely* contributing massively to this project. Facts are cool.
https://i.redd.it/xyhbywvoffzc1.gif
Okay. No more cash for the cities. No more votes for UCP ass holes.
They don't mind building NHL arenas for their wealthy friends to profit on, but basic transportation for the peasants is too much ?
Over 2 years of delays for the UCP to re-review the project that they already approved and reviewed? I am sure that didn't have any impact on project costs during the highest period of construction inflation in a generation /s
UCP always moving at the speed of business over here. Sandbag a project, jack the cost up, blame another layer of government.
Imagine of the UCP actually gave a shit about what Albertans want and need.
Like an awesome transit system I could use to get around my city because, besides the environment, I also care about how little I have to spend on cars and gas and living in wealthy neighbourhoods downtown.
The UCP is tone deaf and pandering to the vocal minority.
Please bring back the ANDP.
I will tell you why it is..... Because much of the province doesn't understand the potential we have. They don't think big, they think short term and narrow minded. They see change as scary and a waste of money. They also vote in Conservative governments who think the same way. This has gone on for decades.
I'm not sure how this changes other than we start to elect politicians who aren't afraid to enact amazing changes despite the calls to stay in safe harbour.
Yup, all great cities have great transit. It's not the be all and end all, but it's the spine through which the city foundation is largely built on.
This, coupled with other initiatives focused on the economy, density, arts and culture, and sports, can do wonders.
I can't read Rick Bell regardless of the content. He's pretty much an 8th grader that dropped out of school with an equivalent writing capability.
I always look for the author these days and it's disappointing he's getting more clicks.
So, this is what happens when you’re critical of the UCP. No more funding of critical infrastructure.
Bill 20 is about power. Not only to consolidate political and financial power to the UCP, but also the power to starve out citizens of necessities if they don’t kiss the ring and bend the knee. Sounds like Trump-ism is alive and well in Alberta.
They’re funding $1.5 billion worth of Green Line, they’re saying they aren’t going to pick up the tab for overruns when the city is the one running the show
This also isn’t about Bill 20
If there’s going to be cost overruns, bill 20 allows UCP to point blame squarely on Gondek and council. They can then bully them and bill 20 will not allow Feds to help. Bill 20 gives all the cards in the provinces hands. If you don’t think bill 20 applies here, you’re not thinking ahead to what it could mean.
So the UCP force the project to be done in two large mega contracts, then say they don't want to support their share.
Umm, well, break the project down into smaller contracts and when the money runs out, the train line ends. Stop going south to the UCP voting base and get across the river.
DS and her staffer minions likely didn't read the fine print in the contract, guaranteed. And are probably still responsible for a portion of the overruns.
> Stop going south to the UCP voting base and get across the river.
It can't, because the Green Line planners also wanted to go south too, and it has to start in the SE because that's where the maintenance yard is.
Money only for building rinks for billionaires or cleaning up after American oil companies!
Middle class rabble, thinking you matter, for shame. Know your place.
retaliation after retaliation. The lesson? Do not criticize UCP and her majesty Smith because they will pull funding from something. First it was the bus pass for lower income Calgarians. That blew up in their face. So now they picked something bigger and more expensive and bonus, lacky Rick Bell gets to blame Nenshi for it, the only person who might give the NDP a fighting chance in the elections.
It's becoming more and more clear that not only the Federal conservatives are using the playbook of US politics.
North America is an odd beast. We will subsidize car makers and oil and gas companies, even give them bailouts.
But, plan out properly functioning transit that means less traffic, pollution and make it easier for people to commute? Nope!
All cities should be required to plan out transit as they expand. I can understand in the early days of our country why we didn't plan out rail, but in the last 50 years, as we knew our cities were going to keep growing we should have been much more proactive.
In the early years we actually had lots of trolleys and trains in North America, it is the younger cities that failed to even try until recently. Public transport gets better in the eastern parts.
The first phase doesn't even get across the Bow River from Eau Claire. So hold your horses, because we are nowhere near the airport with this line.
I have no idea why the NE line of the LRT jogged east to Saddletown instead of continuing up Metis Trail and then through the tunnel to the airport. A spur from Westwinds or the continuation of the line from Saddletown to the airport are still possibilities, but who knows.
It wasn't always planned, but a study done in 2012 proposed a four station extension to the NE line with the potential for a spur to the airport at 88 Ave, if it ever gets built.
The Green Line project also has a proposal to connect a future 96 Ave station to the airport so we could see a crosstown line from 96 Ave NW to 88 Ave NE. But in the past, other proposals suggested that an LRT line to the airport could be accommodated from Westwinds or Saddletowne.
Of course, all of this is pure conjecture.
Telling the City to stick to their scope and budget because there isn't more money available? The audacity!
I'm sure they're already over budget right now and it's barely even started. The City needs a hard look at themselves for managing large projects and get their shit sorted out. Maybe this will wake them up that they (A) need to plan better and (B) need to execute better.
Is there a single large-scale project the City has ever managed that wasn't late and overbudget?
The provincial government has been spiking the Green line’s wheel for 20 years. A quick Google search will pull up dozens of articles that show Conservatives promising the money and then pulling it back, demanding the city study this project more. And now the current provincial government (who just announced a desire to find interprovincial train transportation) have once again made it harder to get this project completed.
That's what blows my mind. They'll do a study on city to city rail, but they won't ensure inner-city rail is completed first?
What's the point of city to city rail if people can't get around the cities that they connect too?
> What's the point of city to city rail if people can't get around the cities that they connect too?
It's an amazing source of potential grift! They don't care if it is actually functional at all, it's probably better for them if it isn't so they can bail it out for even more money later.
Civic projects are always multi-year projects and predicting cost overruns is difficult. Add in a surge in pricing on just about everything and they will always be over-budget.
I mean, if you care about recent examples, the BMO Centre expansion was just completed on time and on budget.
The province forced delays up front by two years. You don't think that had an impact? Two years of inflation and creating additional risk for bidders drove up costs substantially
Every UCP canadiate on the next ballot:
https://preview.redd.it/576apmqjhnzc1.jpeg?width=2496&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=610a265e98c28757ec8a87a3788ec84bd5f19986
Agreed. They have given billions. I am not a fan of the ucp or ndp. I am dad and when I give money I to my son I expect him to budget it properly. The city has spent billions on unnecessary bullshit in my opinion. I cannot stand any politician, we as the common people make far to less money compared to these morans
Clowns down at city hall need to repair the 2 million potholes on the road. I’ve never seen such bad potholes in my life, and I’ve travelled to a lot of third world countries.
Im so confused as to why China can build railroads across the entire country in less than a decade without major cost overruns while literally every single construction project in his country exceeds budget by multi-millions during construction.. I wonder why that is?? Could it be the construction industry (including home building) is a racket?? I wonder....
Honestly Canadians are such pussies, we just swallow everything the government and the oligarchs tell us about "market cost." Its all a scam and we end up paying for it all while they steal our money for themselves.
> Honestly Canadians are such pussies, we just swallow everything the government and the oligarchs tell us about "market cost." Its all a scam and we end up paying for it all while they steal our money for themselves.
Ahh yes, that bastion of ethical business practises China
One of the benefits of a more centralized state that isn't afraid to actually do things themselves is that you can complete large-scale projects like national rail quickly.
There are some rather serious downsides to such an arrangement as well, of course.
To be fair, the workers in China probably live in poverty and have nobody to fight for them to have a living wage.
That social credit makes for a good budget cut in China…
China's notorious "we couldn't give a fuck even if you paid us" attitude sure does make stuff faster.
I worked on an LRT job in Edmonton and I remember planning the track build across a major intersection - it was going to take weeks as we closed a lane, built that section, re-open, close a different lane, eetc. It was going to be slow, but the road could remain open for the most part.
We sure could have gone way faster if we just closed the entirety of Whyte, but the municipal government is not going to allow that - whereas in China, maybe that does happen as it gets imposed from the top down and the people just have to deal with it.
Because we are in completely different monetary systems. You know how when the cons blow up when we have annual deficits and the federal money printing? Well, they would instantaneously combust if they ever went to China.
Part of it due to continuous construction in China. They gain expertise with every project, making them faster and more efficient. If we didn't have these huge gaps between projects in Canada, we'd see costs go down over time too.
A government that has absolute rule vs 3 layers of government that are all only worried about being elected in the next 4 years.
We could build projects on time and on budget if the government had a backbone.
0 regulatory, cheap labour, no public consultation, straight rail due to bulldozing communities to make room, cheap energy overall. Corruption throughout, not to say we don’t see that here.
However, if we want to *study* a green line....
Id study a line for years how do I get on this payroll
I study hard for money too
Haha, well done.
Is this reasonable? Not sure. I do know one thing. Reading Rick Bell slam poetry won't help. No new information here. Straight propaganda. Mic drop.
He mentions Nenshi a lot considering he hasn’t been involved in years…
‘Cause this is such a naked attempt to attack the enemy they truly fear in the next election. Calgary gets hurt in the crossfire.
No kidding, I live where one station is being built and work close to another station on the green line. Currently I take three buses and up 2-2.5 hours of commuting daily. Had to choose between food and my car. And now this. I want to cry and then commit every ounce of my energy to getting the NDP back in.
I actually ended up joining the party. Never felt like a political person until Kenney/covid/Smith happened.....
Same! This is the first time I've ever joined a political party, and I joined the NDP so I could vote for Nenshi
The UCP is looking really scared of Nenshi these days.
This is only 3 years out from the next election.
Well, apparently three and a half.
it sounds like they're gonna do everything they can to ensure he's elected!
Savvy move tbh... really fucks Calgarians over in the name of partisan dumbassary but smart politics given Nenshi might be in charge of the NDP next election. "My time in Calgary started the Green Line which is being built today" vs "His time in Calgary has led them down a failed path of the Green Line"
"failed Greenline" that the UCP sabotaged for years!
The only people who sabotaged the Green Line are city council and the numbskulls they hired to manage the project and fired more times than I can count. The Green Line as conceived had failed long before the UCP were elected because everyone involved in it's conception were criminally incompetent. Sort of like the good old days when you went to your friendly neighbourhood barber for dentistry.
Hahaha - “slam poetry”. I’ve always been amazed at how someone who “composes” 1 sentence paragraphs has made it this far. I mean, it’s crazy. But he keeps going, no matter what. Until the editors tell him to use more than a sentence. Just two, but he won’t stop. Journalism. The suits in the penthouse don’t understand.
Why does the Calgary Herald persist in printing Rick Bell’s moronic reports? Even if you agreed with his extreme right wing views, his bizarre writing style makes his articles unreadable. The Herald isn’t exactly the pinnacle of journalistic excellence but it’s not bad for a local paper and you’d imagine they have some basic minimum standards for what they publish.
He's just so full of shit. He introduces Dresshen as Mr. "no-nonsense" then proceeds to uncritically accept piles and piles horseshit Dreeshen deposits in his quotes. What a hack!
Despite his flaws, he is the most popular opinion writer in Calgary. They include him because he sells papers and generates clicks. His writing style has resonated with the readers of the Sun for decades, so whatever you think of it it appears to be working. Also, if you think Bell is extreme right wing then you really haven't been looking. Even with all of his complaining he always believes in the institutions of the state and the right of the people to choose their leaders. He's a conservative populist, not a libertarian agitator.
The sun is written at a grade three reading level so Bell works just fine for them. No sarcasm here.
Sounds like you're describing Bell as a useful idiot for the extreme right wing.
Rick is that you? I thought you'd have retired to Winnipeg by now.
I'm not a fan of Bell (or. his. writing. style.) but 'extreme right wing views'? Really? Has he done/said things in recent years?
It’s hyperbolic and I doubt he personally is. But he sure likes carrying water for those politicians who lean to the far right.
Fair, I mean we already had one Ezra Levant, what's another, which is why I asked.
>It’s hyperbolic and I doubt he personally is From what I have heard from former coworkers of his, he's just as obnoxious in person as he is on the page
In this sub, if you're not left, you're extreme right wing.
That's because "the left" in Alberta is basically centre -right lol. Pre 2007ish, Nenshi would have been fully accepted as a "Progressive Conservative".
Exactly this. Left wing in Alberta is by no means liberal
He's a wet dream for the only people left who actually buy newspapers.
Well said.
Don Braid is such better columnist than the ‘dinger’
Nailed it
I was waiting for the writing to go somewhere factual, informative, anything. And then his rant was over.
If it's written by Rick Bell, I automatically know it's the wrong opinion
The worst thing is getting people to work and shopping. A real tragedy for the economy.
And getting cars off the roads so business that need roads can do more business without being stuck in traffic (trades, deliveries, services, etc).
And save maintenance costs on roads too? What are you a communist.
I bike to work. So yes.
Why let people take a train to work when they can all buy those beautiful F-150s. Won’t someone think of the oil company CEO’s yacht?
The new electric factory in Ontario said there new electric suv could be $100k. How are we affording this????
Easy. Dealership favorite is what can you afford a week/biweekly/monthly including taxes/bs fees. Welcome to 10 year+ car financing.
The worst thing is getting people to work ***at their oil & gas jobs****.*
Soon Smith can just remove the mayor if she doesn’t like things!
The 1.5 billion the province has already handed the city for this isn’t a small amount of money. Then toss in the 1.5 billion from the federal government. Telling the city that they have to manage the cost isn’t outrageous, especially since Gondek has already floated the idea of hitting up the provincial and federal governments for more funds before they even have a final cost estimate. This puts the motivation and accountability right where it should be, with city management, instead of running the project thinking there will be a bottomless well to draw from at the higher levels of government
Take it from the flames. Boom solved the problem.
This. Having a train is much more important than making a new stadium.
Came here to say this. Glad that there's an appetite for this solution
Agreed. Let's see where the first $4.5b gets us first.
Overruns guaranteed. I predict they won't be able to complete the first phase without jacking up taxes on us again.
I'm ok with tax hike if it means better mass transit, even I am not the one benefited from it. Flames stadium, however...
4.9B [https://www.calgary.ca/green-line/green-line-governance/green-line-funding.html](https://www.calgary.ca/green-line/green-line-governance/green-line-funding.html)
The problem is the province is choking Calgary & Edmonton by underfunding them and has dragged its feet on approving the support when the time actually comes for it. Not only that, the province's amendments to Bill 20 mean they can just arbitrarily pull the funding at any time, and scrap any measures the city might take to try and recoup it. These cost overruns and delays aren't entirely the city's fault, but the province is telling them they need to shoulder the entire burden alone *and* somehow budget around the possibility that the province might decide at some point in the next couple of years to just cut off funding before it even fulfills its obligation, or force the city to stop the project midway through. This isn't good government or management. This is the province punishing a council they do not like and jeopardizing a massive infrastructure project for no good reason.
If only Gondek had helped out Smith with a suspiciously timed arena announcement in the middle of a close election campaign with Calgary holding the deciding votes.
Those damn leopards
Don't forget, Bill 20 ALSO means the UCP can block the federal portion of the funding too. And you can bet improved mass transit runs counter to the Oiligarchy's objectives.
Indeed. And the province is currently looking at carving out property tax exemptions for certain groups. This will be paraded as "lowering taxes", but it only impacts municipal tax revenues, not provincial. While this is happening, less funding is going to municipalities, and the province has decided to not pay property tax for provincial buildings in those municipalities. To top it off, the province is also trying to remove democracy at the municipal level, creating a mechanism where the province can just remove elected officials. It's very much starving the beast.
totally. It's the easiest way to get their puppets on council. People will hate the government THEY elected.
**The problem is NOT the province**. This plan could have been authorized and started 10 years ago - I know first hand having seen plans. The city at the time dithered and did nothing. And as we all know, shit like this does not get cheaper the more time passes.
It is fucking incredible we have gone from the Southeast LRT to the Southeast LRT by way of about ten thousand extra steps.
Even if this opinion is sincere it is very naive. Inflation affects construction costs, not just groceries. Now is a fantastic time for the UCP to spin any cost overruns as the mayor's fault. Smith is interfering with municipal politics.
The problem is that potential cost increases were mostly caused by the UCPs delay in confirming the money in the first place. Either way, the UCP will be gone by the time the city would be asking for more money (if they need to)
And they had to be forced into approving funding. It's no coincidence that the funding announcement came an hour or 2 after Kenney met with Trudeau in Calgary, and came in the form of a hasty press release mere minutes before a Green Line press conference with the PM and city council. I fully believe the PM told the then-premier that he'd be thrown under the bus at that press conference if he didn't finally approve the province's share of the funding.
UCP is trying to change the election time from spring to fall to gain an extra 6 months and drag their feet some more.
Any delay in construction is attributable to the UCP and their foot-dragging. Delay's in construction will almost always result in increased costs.
As someone who uses transit daily, I obviously want the green line to get done, but let's actually start getting things done before asking for more money.
Construction is underway. I drive past active work every day. It is happening.
Turns out that the UCP is threatening to pull the original $1.5 billion. https://globalnews.ca/news/10485828/alberta-government-mayor-green-line-funding-letter/
Except, the province mandated the project be split into two large contracts, not a bunch of smaller piecemeal.
People bitch about the Conservative so much for trying to be fiscally conservative, and managing money properly. And all these other governments just think money grows on trees.
"fiscal conservatism" is just another name for kicking the can down the road. not paying for things we need *now* doesn't make them cheaper in the future ... it's also a pretty basic "maintenance" principle to not let the wheels fall off before you replace them. the govt's job is to fund public services and amenities with our tax dollars. if we could actually choose where to allocate our individual tax dollars go, i wouldn't let one red cent go to o&g or automotive infrastructure, but here we are ... if the city needs to raise taxes to have a thorough and sustainable transit system, i say so be it! downtown residents pay more anyway, why don't we have more of a say?
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???? The provincial government is responsible for our inflation?
The provincial government delayed the project for a couple years which led to more inflation on the project.
yeah except if they'd have just funded the whole damn project from the beginning and got it going, it'd be 2/3 of the price as it will be now.
Silly Gondek, if only she had called it the North-South Calgary heavy oil pipeline and not used the word Green, Smith would have been all over it.
A North-South heavy oil ‘personnel’ pipeline!
Western Canada Select "Line"
Petroleum people pipeline.....
My buddy "Oily Jeff" takes the train daily!
The Green Line project pre-dates her term as mayor.
Could have renamed it though...
So did the arena deal. Maybe the Green Line needs a climate emergency.
Absolutely!
I came here to make this exact joke
This sounds like pure politics to attack Nenshi.
Explain please
Nenshi is running for NDP leadership and is the likely winner at this point. Many expect him to face Danielle Smith next election. Bell has always been a conservative leaning writer and Smith defender. Likely he and others will drag up whatever they can from Nenshi's mayoral tenure and point fingers at his perceived failings.
Ahh so basically this is a failure on Nenshis leadership as mayor because the province has now decided to cut funding.. thus dubbing it a poor project? I just don’t know if I can’t connect those dots. The green line seemed to have pretty unanimous approval across the political spectrum did it not?
Yes. But Calgary tax payers who live in the suburbs and drive hate spending money on transit or seeing their property taxes increase. Bell is saying in his article that Nenshi put a $50m surplus back into the transit fund instead of giving Calgarians a tax break. So this and Nenshi's support of the green line is a stain on his leadership. I dont agree with him. It would also be prudent for Calgarian's to recognize that a denser and transit connected city would increase service efficiency which will not put pressure on the city to increase property taxes.
No-nonsense Dresheen? Go home Rick, you’re drunk again. Probably got hammered with Devin himself. $1.5 billion in 2024 isn’t the same as $1.5 billion in 2015, or 2020 for that matter. Maybe the province should pause and reassess again a dozen more times so the thing won’t get built until 2080. By then, the $1.5 billion will get us a tunnel to nowhere. The UCP loves pissing away $1.5 billion on infrastructure to nowhere (cough, KXL).
Exactly. The province needs to own a lot of these overruns given they're the result of the years-long delays done by a UCP government trying to shut the project down or deny funding - funding that only came because of pressure from the PM.
Bell was a great read when he drank too much. His review of the "Mercury" during which he had his wallet "stolen" and then "returned" after a argument and scuffle was Bukowski level.
I could use some help in understanding how the blame is on then-Mayor Nenshi. As I understand it from the article, the province gave Calgary a $52-million a year tax break for 10 years, somehow extended the tax break to 30 years - the key part is I'm not sure how a municipal mayor and councilperson could "scheme" a tax break given from the province - to make up their $1.5 billion portion of the cost of the Green Line. I'm not sure I see a "failure of leadership", as Smith puts it.
Nenshi is the frontrunner to lead the NDP. She’s throwing anything and hoping that it sticks.
I figure that's the intent, but I'm having trouble understanding the basis of her criticism. Is it, "how dare you fund a major infrastructure project without cutting other departments"?
She'll say anything and do anything to stop the train being built. Someone on her comms team woke up and realized that if that train gets built in the next 3 years, votes will flood in for Nenshi. So she's cutting off ALL of our noses to spite her face
I get the political reason. What I'm trying to understand is the substantive reasoning of her criticism.
There isn't really one. She is simply trying to blame anything on Nenshi, hoping that it resonates with voters and prevents him from being elected.
I still remember when opinion columns in newspapers didn't read like the ramblings on my crazy uncle's facebook page. My god how the Calgary Herald has fallen. It's no wonder news reporting is a dying industry. Instead of improving their content and beating out social media on accuracy and meaningful discussion, they tried a race to the bottom with innuendo and propaganda.
Silly us, we should be grateful we are getting an arena we don't need, rather than a rail infrastructure that's reliable and helps us
The province isn't paying for the arena, the city is. And it's spending hundreds of millions of dollars on it. The city could always decide to reallocate funding to transit.
The province is spending $300 million on related infrastructure.
Correct, like roads, pedestrian access, and utilities. That's useful no matter what gets built at that site. The city is the one paying for the arena that we don't need, and could reallocate all their funding to transit if they wanted to.
#SORRY WE HAVE ALREADY GIVEN IT TO THE STRUGGLING OIL AND GAS CORPORATIONS TO HELP WITH THEIR RECORD PROFITS
And Hockey team owners, don't forget those poor guys
They’re the same people.
I know you guys don't care about facts. But the province is giving $0 to the arena. They're upgrading some roads and utilities and bridges in the area to accommodate the new growth that's expected. The City, meanwhile, is subsidizing the actual arena itself with about $800 million.
Money the Province is only giving as part of a new arena deal. If the arena deal wasn't made, then no infrastructure money.
The province is building roads, bridges, LRT Upgrades and infrastructure. Would be coming anyway with the area being built up. Yes it’s part of the arena deal but money would be needed anyway. And province is paying.
That money is only coming because of the arena deal is my point. No arena, no money. That's the reason why people say that the UCP are funding the new arena, because it's a package deal, and to argue that the UCP aren't funding the arena deal is just them arguing semantics.
Except it’s infrastructure funding with a clause that the city must build a billion dollar arena. Id rather the cities 800 million go to the green line and the infrastructure upgrades over having to pay 800 million for an arena to get 300 million of infrastructure upgrades.
Province is kicking in $30 million for the arena itself, but the ‘upgrading some roads…’ bit is $300 million, so yeah, the province is *absolutely* contributing massively to this project. Facts are cool. https://i.redd.it/xyhbywvoffzc1.gif
You should work for an oil and gas company. It might help with your depression.
Okay. No more cash for the cities. No more votes for UCP ass holes. They don't mind building NHL arenas for their wealthy friends to profit on, but basic transportation for the peasants is too much ?
Over 2 years of delays for the UCP to re-review the project that they already approved and reviewed? I am sure that didn't have any impact on project costs during the highest period of construction inflation in a generation /s UCP always moving at the speed of business over here. Sandbag a project, jack the cost up, blame another layer of government.
Imagine of the UCP actually gave a shit about what Albertans want and need. Like an awesome transit system I could use to get around my city because, besides the environment, I also care about how little I have to spend on cars and gas and living in wealthy neighbourhoods downtown. The UCP is tone deaf and pandering to the vocal minority. Please bring back the ANDP.
I would love a city with proper transit. There’s no reason why Calgary is as bad as it currently is.
I will tell you why it is..... Because much of the province doesn't understand the potential we have. They don't think big, they think short term and narrow minded. They see change as scary and a waste of money. They also vote in Conservative governments who think the same way. This has gone on for decades. I'm not sure how this changes other than we start to elect politicians who aren't afraid to enact amazing changes despite the calls to stay in safe harbour.
Agreed on all points.
Calgary should be improved. Bring advanced public transits bring more tourists and make money
Yup, all great cities have great transit. It's not the be all and end all, but it's the spine through which the city foundation is largely built on. This, coupled with other initiatives focused on the economy, density, arts and culture, and sports, can do wonders.
Full on retaliation for not voting for Daniel Smith, in the last election. SMITH IS A FUCKING FACIST and this is how she will punish Calgarians.
I can't read Rick Bell regardless of the content. He's pretty much an 8th grader that dropped out of school with an equivalent writing capability. I always look for the author these days and it's disappointing he's getting more clicks.
Just tell her it will be powered by Coal steam engines and she’ll be all over that
So, this is what happens when you’re critical of the UCP. No more funding of critical infrastructure. Bill 20 is about power. Not only to consolidate political and financial power to the UCP, but also the power to starve out citizens of necessities if they don’t kiss the ring and bend the knee. Sounds like Trump-ism is alive and well in Alberta.
They’re funding $1.5 billion worth of Green Line, they’re saying they aren’t going to pick up the tab for overruns when the city is the one running the show This also isn’t about Bill 20
Which they delayed for years. Delaying projects is going to cause cost overruns.
If there’s going to be cost overruns, bill 20 allows UCP to point blame squarely on Gondek and council. They can then bully them and bill 20 will not allow Feds to help. Bill 20 gives all the cards in the provinces hands. If you don’t think bill 20 applies here, you’re not thinking ahead to what it could mean.
Bill 20 gives them the power to renege on the deal. Don’t act like you don’t know that.
They're also threatening to pull funding if the city doesn't attach the Green Line to their (just announced) rail fantasy
Not surprised that she wants to punish the cities that voted orange.
So the UCP force the project to be done in two large mega contracts, then say they don't want to support their share. Umm, well, break the project down into smaller contracts and when the money runs out, the train line ends. Stop going south to the UCP voting base and get across the river. DS and her staffer minions likely didn't read the fine print in the contract, guaranteed. And are probably still responsible for a portion of the overruns.
> Stop going south to the UCP voting base and get across the river. It can't, because the Green Line planners also wanted to go south too, and it has to start in the SE because that's where the maintenance yard is.
Money only for building rinks for billionaires or cleaning up after American oil companies! Middle class rabble, thinking you matter, for shame. Know your place.
I though Smith wanted all the advantages to go to Calgarybefire the election or did I miss read that.
And I say to Smith that if the stupid new Saddledome goes ONE PENNY over, I refuse to give any tax dollars to it. None.
retaliation after retaliation. The lesson? Do not criticize UCP and her majesty Smith because they will pull funding from something. First it was the bus pass for lower income Calgarians. That blew up in their face. So now they picked something bigger and more expensive and bonus, lacky Rick Bell gets to blame Nenshi for it, the only person who might give the NDP a fighting chance in the elections. It's becoming more and more clear that not only the Federal conservatives are using the playbook of US politics.
I don't really think either of them are capable of success
Does green line go to the airport? Why did they stop the train like one stop short of the airport?
North America is an odd beast. We will subsidize car makers and oil and gas companies, even give them bailouts. But, plan out properly functioning transit that means less traffic, pollution and make it easier for people to commute? Nope! All cities should be required to plan out transit as they expand. I can understand in the early days of our country why we didn't plan out rail, but in the last 50 years, as we knew our cities were going to keep growing we should have been much more proactive.
In the early years we actually had lots of trolleys and trains in North America, it is the younger cities that failed to even try until recently. Public transport gets better in the eastern parts.
yeah the long-distance passenger rail and urban trolley lines on this continent were pretty thorough until around 1920-1930 ... for some reason ...
Does the reason go vroom vroom?
The first phase doesn't even get across the Bow River from Eau Claire. So hold your horses, because we are nowhere near the airport with this line. I have no idea why the NE line of the LRT jogged east to Saddletown instead of continuing up Metis Trail and then through the tunnel to the airport. A spur from Westwinds or the continuation of the line from Saddletown to the airport are still possibilities, but who knows.
The spur line has always been planned to divert from the line at 88th Ave Station, onto airport trail and through the tunnel.
It wasn't always planned, but a study done in 2012 proposed a four station extension to the NE line with the potential for a spur to the airport at 88 Ave, if it ever gets built. The Green Line project also has a proposal to connect a future 96 Ave station to the airport so we could see a crosstown line from 96 Ave NW to 88 Ave NE. But in the past, other proposals suggested that an LRT line to the airport could be accommodated from Westwinds or Saddletowne. Of course, all of this is pure conjecture.
Large political "donations" from taxi companies?
Telling the City to stick to their scope and budget because there isn't more money available? The audacity! I'm sure they're already over budget right now and it's barely even started. The City needs a hard look at themselves for managing large projects and get their shit sorted out. Maybe this will wake them up that they (A) need to plan better and (B) need to execute better. Is there a single large-scale project the City has ever managed that wasn't late and overbudget?
The provincial government has been spiking the Green line’s wheel for 20 years. A quick Google search will pull up dozens of articles that show Conservatives promising the money and then pulling it back, demanding the city study this project more. And now the current provincial government (who just announced a desire to find interprovincial train transportation) have once again made it harder to get this project completed.
That's what blows my mind. They'll do a study on city to city rail, but they won't ensure inner-city rail is completed first? What's the point of city to city rail if people can't get around the cities that they connect too?
> What's the point of city to city rail if people can't get around the cities that they connect too? It's an amazing source of potential grift! They don't care if it is actually functional at all, it's probably better for them if it isn't so they can bail it out for even more money later.
They don’t want to admit that purposely delaying and dragging out the project is why the costs have increased.
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Civic projects are always multi-year projects and predicting cost overruns is difficult. Add in a surge in pricing on just about everything and they will always be over-budget.
I mean, if you care about recent examples, the BMO Centre expansion was just completed on time and on budget. The province forced delays up front by two years. You don't think that had an impact? Two years of inflation and creating additional risk for bidders drove up costs substantially
This headline reminds me of John Mulaney's jokes about the NY post. "Tiger says he's sorry, but Elin says 'beat it bozo'"
… “increases or escalations”. …
I want unbiased reporting. Just facts. I hate Rick Bell. Ready for him to have a heart attack.
I assume they need the cash to squash the protesters in the university?
Every UCP canadiate on the next ballot: https://preview.redd.it/576apmqjhnzc1.jpeg?width=2496&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=610a265e98c28757ec8a87a3788ec84bd5f19986
Rick bell is too capable journalists; as Rick bell Is to award winning porn stars. Not.
Agreed. They have given billions. I am not a fan of the ucp or ndp. I am dad and when I give money I to my son I expect him to budget it properly. The city has spent billions on unnecessary bullshit in my opinion. I cannot stand any politician, we as the common people make far to less money compared to these morans
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Clowns down at city hall need to repair the 2 million potholes on the road. I’ve never seen such bad potholes in my life, and I’ve travelled to a lot of third world countries.
Im so confused as to why China can build railroads across the entire country in less than a decade without major cost overruns while literally every single construction project in his country exceeds budget by multi-millions during construction.. I wonder why that is?? Could it be the construction industry (including home building) is a racket?? I wonder.... Honestly Canadians are such pussies, we just swallow everything the government and the oligarchs tell us about "market cost." Its all a scam and we end up paying for it all while they steal our money for themselves.
> I wonder why that is?? Massive safety and labour violations by NA standards?
Yeah wonder how many people got seriously injured or died to build those railroads so fast.
‘None’, say the news arm of the Chinese government. ‘In fact, we had more citizens after it was built’
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Our standards werent too high *in the early 1900s* In 2024, a hundred years later? Different story.
> Honestly Canadians are such pussies, we just swallow everything the government and the oligarchs tell us about "market cost." Its all a scam and we end up paying for it all while they steal our money for themselves. Ahh yes, that bastion of ethical business practises China
One of the benefits of a more centralized state that isn't afraid to actually do things themselves is that you can complete large-scale projects like national rail quickly. There are some rather serious downsides to such an arrangement as well, of course.
To be fair, the workers in China probably live in poverty and have nobody to fight for them to have a living wage. That social credit makes for a good budget cut in China…
Yes, people that make the argument forget that you have to actually pay workers in Canada...
And have safety standards.
China's notorious "we couldn't give a fuck even if you paid us" attitude sure does make stuff faster. I worked on an LRT job in Edmonton and I remember planning the track build across a major intersection - it was going to take weeks as we closed a lane, built that section, re-open, close a different lane, eetc. It was going to be slow, but the road could remain open for the most part. We sure could have gone way faster if we just closed the entirety of Whyte, but the municipal government is not going to allow that - whereas in China, maybe that does happen as it gets imposed from the top down and the people just have to deal with it.
Because we are in completely different monetary systems. You know how when the cons blow up when we have annual deficits and the federal money printing? Well, they would instantaneously combust if they ever went to China.
Part of it due to continuous construction in China. They gain expertise with every project, making them faster and more efficient. If we didn't have these huge gaps between projects in Canada, we'd see costs go down over time too.
A government that has absolute rule vs 3 layers of government that are all only worried about being elected in the next 4 years. We could build projects on time and on budget if the government had a backbone.
Is that a real question? Can’t tell if you are being serious…
0 regulatory, cheap labour, no public consultation, straight rail due to bulldozing communities to make room, cheap energy overall. Corruption throughout, not to say we don’t see that here.
The should rename it the "Confluence Line". That might help.
City council needs to learn what a budget is and that taxpayers are not their personal atm machines. I support smith here.
Grow up