Month: March 2023

The question of why provincial funds for Calgary’s downtown were left off the latest budget has been answered by Alberta’s premier.

But documents from the city refute her reasoning.

“It just so happens that we didn’t receive our priority list from the City of Calgary,” Premier Danielle Smith said at an unrelated news conference Monday.

On Thursday at the Calgary Chamber of Commerce, Finance Minister Travis Toews said there was no “business case” presented to the province for funding to go to the downtown of the province’s largest city.

“I’m meeting tomorrow with (Edmonton) Mayor (Amarjeet) Sohi. Mayor Sohi did write me a letter and told me what his priorities are for Edmonton,” Smith added Monday. “And so I’m looking forward to meeting with (Calgary) Mayor (Jyoti) Gondek to find out what her priorities are and I hope we’ll be able to come to a conclusion on that.”

But three and a half months ago, Gondek sent a seven-page budget submission for the province to consider ahead of the 2023-24 budget that was released last week.

Gondek’s Nov. 14, 2022, letter highlighted seven recommendations: “broad” municipal finance reform, enhancing Family and Community Support Services (FCSS) funding, committing to a Bow River reservoir options study, contribution to a multisport fieldhouse, committing funds to income supports and the low-income transit pass, improving access to affordable housing, and a request to match the city’s $100-million investment in the downtown revitalization plan.

That letter was addressed to Toews and CCed to Smith.

“It is a little complicated for me to explain why I would give $100 million to a Toronto-based REIT (real estate investment trust) so that they can renovate their building,” Smith said midday Monday. “I accept that that’s a bit of a complicated argument to be made. And all the minister said is, show me the business case for that.”

The city’s revitalization framework caps funding for any project. For example, a trio of downtown towers got $31.7 million in April 2022 for office-to-residential conversions.

Calgary will get “full construction” funding for only one new school and one modernization as part of the UCP government’s Budget 2023 approvals announced Wednesday.

Among the 58 new projects touted by Education Minister Adriana LaGrange, only 13 complete builds are approved for funding, while others are on a series of lists defined as getting “design,” “planning” or “pre-planning” funds, with no clear commitment as to when money for construction will arrive.

As part of the 13 provincewide projects, the Calgary Catholic School District will get full construction funding for a K-9 school in Nolan Hill, addressing only one of seven top priorities in its three-year capital plan.

The Calgary Board of Education will get modernization funding for upgrades at John Diefenbaker High School — a $29-million project that has been on the board’s priority list for 13 years — addressing only one of four top priorities in its three-year plan

“We are committed to building schools to help address enrolment growth, classroom complexity and modernizing schools to support 21st century learning,” LaGrange said at the announcement in CCSD’s St. Gianna School in Auburn Bay.

Twenty-five projects remain on planning, pre-planning lists

Other projects within the full construction funding list include a new francophone school in Airdrie and a new Catholic school in Okotoks, as well as projects in Lethbridge, Edmonton and others in rural communities.

Another 20 projects were listed for design funding, but again only one Calgary project was included — a Catholic high school in Rangeview, which has been on CCSD’s capital planning list for years.

Meanwhile, a further 25 projects remained on planning and pre-planning lists, defined as funded for site analysis, scope development and conceptual planning. Among those were five CBE projects and three CCSD projects, including the new west high school that Catholic parents have been demanding for more than a decade.

#yyc #calgary #ableg

The Alberta Emergency Alert test sounded off at least five times on Wednesday, but I wonder if anyone in the UCP government actually noticed.

After all, there’s been a five-alarm fire roaring in downtown Calgary for years, yet the provincial government has done little to help.

And there are no clear signs in this week’s provincial budget that aid is on the way.

Last year, the Kenney government allocated $5 million to the cause of Calgary’s downtown. It was, in the words of Calgary’s mayor, a “pittance.”