Green Line champion may throw in the towel
Keating says province’s funding renege changes dynamics of $4.9B megaproject
Coun. Shane Keating, one of the first to champion a Green Line LRT linking far-flung neighbourhoods in north and south Calgary, says he may no longer be able to support the $4.9-billion megaproject after the province reneged on the terms of a four-year funding agreement.
In the provincial budget released Thursday, the UCP government committed just $75 million to the construction of the Green Line over the next four years — a far cry from the $555 million that was previously promised. While the UCP has said the remainder of the cash will come in future years, the city could be facing hundreds of millions of dollars in upfront financing costs with construction of the project scheduled to ramp up over the next few years.
Keating said the city had been expecting there could be some changes to the province’s schedule for payments on the $1.53 billion that was first promised back in 2017 — but nothing as drastic as this, he said Friday.
“Cutting almost half of a billion dollars from a funding agreement, in my view, is a wholesale cut of the funding,” said Keating. “It’s come to the point now, without a drastic change in the financial model or scope of the project, I can’t put the burden on the backs of Calgary taxpayers.
“As someone who has lived and breathed this project for nine years, it’s devastating for me to say: I don’t know if I can support it anymore.”
Keating’s comments come as the city prepares to hold a special council meeting Monday to discuss the impact of provincial cuts. Edmonton city council held a similar meeting Friday where elected officials heard the city could be forced to delay infrastructure spending and take on more debt for construction of the Valley Line West LRT.
Both cities are scrambling to respond to significant reductions in capital transfers and grants from the province.
On Friday, Calgary transportation staff shelved an order for more than a dozen new rail cars that were to replace some of the fleet’s 40-year-old U2 Ctrain cars. The city had previously been promised $100 million from the province to help fund the replacements, but that funding was slashed in Thursday’s budget.
Nearly every single rail car the city owns is already in service during rush hour, Mayor Naheed Nenshi explained Thursday night. “At some point, if the U2s fail, (it) means we just have to pull them out of service. Which means four (rail car) trains become three-car trains. It’s got very serious implications on front-line services.”
When it comes to proceeding with the Green Line, the province has argued that federal funding should permit the city to move ahead with construction.
But Keating said the city still has to come up with approximately 60 per cent of the costs upfront since Ottawa will only cover 40 per cent.
And even then, he said, federal funding will only flow after the work is complete and receipts have been submitted. “How are we supposed to make up that difference in such a short time?” asked Keating, adding, “Seventy-five million dollars over a four-year period is technically worthless on a project of this size.”
Jeff Binks, with the advocacy group LRT on the Green, said council is up against a “very real limit” with a debt-servicing ceiling policy that prevents the city from taking on too much debt, making it difficult to borrow the money required to fund construction.
“There is very limited wiggle room that the City of Calgary has to try and move forward with this project,” said Binks. “The provincial government really has to sit down and think about the impact they’re having on this city.”
Asked Friday about the shortfall in funding for the Green Line over the next four years, Alberta Finance Minister Travis Toews said the province is managing finances “responsibly.”
“Both LRT projects within both cities are still within our capital plan,” Toews said. “We have moved them back a couple of years so we can more adequately manage cash flows with the projects in front of us.”
Keating said that city and provincial administrators will be meeting in the near future to discuss the impact of the budget. He said he still hasn’t given up hope that some sort of solution can be reached.
Keating was a passionate advocate for a dedicated bus or train line to the transit-starved southeast when first elected to council in 2010, eventually evolving his position to champion a crosstown train linking the far north and southeast. The Ward 12 councillor has shepherded the Green Line project for six years as chair of council’s transportation committee.
Asked how he felt about the potential demise of a project that’s now become an integral part of his political identity, Keating was forthright.
“I remember a federal MP saying, ‘This is why you get into public service, to actually facilitate great projects like this,’ ” said Keating. “And when it’s been your lifeblood for a long time, to see it possibly fail is not great.”