Calgary mayor meets with province over Green Line, Feds 'surprised' by funding changes

Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek met with representatives from the Alberta government Friday, just days after councillors voted to start the process to 'wind down' the $6.2 billion Green Line and transfer the cost and risk to the provincial government.

The meeting comes after a letter from Devin Dreeshen, Alberta's transportation minister, outlined "serious concerns" the province has with the updated plan for Phase 1 of the Green Line.

Dreeshen's letter said the province would no longer provide its $1.5 billion share of funding for the project, and outlined a plan to launch an independent review to suggest alternate alignment and costing proposals.

"As a province, we want to build the Green Line, but it has to be an alignment that makes sense," Dreeshen told CTV News.

"We are actually commissioning a new alignment that will take place within the next few months, that will stretch, hopefully, as far south as the hospital (in the community of Seton) and southeast part of Calgary to downtown, and then obviously connect into the red and blue," he said.

Gondek met with Dreeshen and a member of the premier's office on Friday morning.

"This morning's meeting with Transportation Minister Devin Dreeshen and Rob Anderson from the premier's office was intended to explain that city council has requested information about the costs, risks and other consequences related to winding down the existing Green Line project, in light of the provincial government pursuing a new alignment," said a statement sent to CTV News from Gondek on Friday.

"The information that will be shared with council on Sept. 17 will also be shared with the Government of Alberta.

 "There was a request from the Province for a summary of all work on Green Line to date, as well as ongoing work, and a summary of all contracts. 

"The Province also confirmed that they have no desire to revisit the original alignment. They are actively pursuing engineering expertise to create an above ground alignment by end of 2024."

In July, Calgary councillors approved an updated plan for the first phase of the Green Line, which was shorter and costlier than originally proposed. Phase 1 of the project was supposed to cost $5.5 billion for an 18-kilometre stretch from Eau Claire to Shepard in the Southeast.

Due to delays and escalating costs, the project was approved run from Eau Claire to Lynnwood/Millican for $6.248 billion.

The updated scope for Phase 1 meant there would be five fewer stations in the southeast and the Centre Street station would be deferred.

Council will now discuss options for winding down the project on September 17.

'Surprised and disappointed': federal government

In addition to the city and province putting up money for the Green Line, the federal government had also committed to provide $1.5 billion.

A  statement from federal infrastructure minister Sean Fraser's office says Ottawa continues to want to work collaboratively with other levels of government on the project, but admits this week's developments caught them off guard.

"We were surprised and disappointed by the decision by the Government of Alberta to withdraw their funding from the Green Line, which will impact thousands of jobs," the statement reads.

"This was especially surprising considering the positive discussions that took place with provincial officials at regular meetings where these apparent issues were not raised, up until the province’s decision to delay construction, risking cost escalations, and ultimately leading to council’s decision to wind down the project."

Calgary councillors say the situation with the project is evolving very quickly, but delays in moving forward will continue to cost the project.

"I mean an independent review is always a great idea. The thing is, time is of the essence on a project of this magnitude," said Ward 1 Coun. Sonya Sharp.

"We have to think about, not just the financial risk of waiting and pausing, but the reputational risk. We also have about a thousand people employed on this project, so what does that mean for those employees?"

Site procurement and preparation work is well underway for the Green Line, with more than $1.3 billion already spent on the project.

There is no estimate for how much a 'wind down' of the Green Line would cost or who would cover it.