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You’ve really got to love Calgary city hall.
Many days it’s better than Netflix.
On this day Gian-Carlo Carra struts and frets his hour upon the stage.
For Carra to believe the good intentions of the UCP government of Premier Danielle Smith he says Smith would have to come to Calgary city council, get permission to speak, apologize “and beg us to work with her.”
Arrogance, thy name is Carra.
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On the city council floor, Carra was talking about a pitch from Sonya Sharp, a councillor who did not want to wind down the Green Line LRT project.
Sharp wanted to pause the winding down of the Green Line so city hall could try to work on an alternative Green Line with Smith’s crew .
As you know, Smith and her people want nothing to do with an LRT that’s shrunk and shrunk and shrunk until all that was left was a stub of a line with few riders and a $6 billion-plus price tag.
They’re walking away from that embarrassment.
Carra really went after Sharp.
“Let’s wake up to what’s going on here. It’s ridiculous. It’s a pathetic fantasy.”
Sharp was having none of it.
“For some of you who continually use your debate to cut me down and call my work stupid and make this super political. Good for you.”
“I’m actually showing up to at least try. Calgarians elected us to represent them and not yield to party politics because it’s a government you don’t like. I think that’s actually pathetic.”
It was quite a day with a lot of councillors plainly pissed off.
Many believe a massive majority of Calgarians support them.
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Many can’t quite fathom the province deep-sixed their dream though, as loyal readers know, a dozen years ago I thought the Green Line scheme was just a way to grab a yearly provincial tax break intended for city taxpayers.
Does anyone remember the fight over the annual $52 million tax break or have all those readers moved to Kelowna?
On this day a saddened Mayor Jyoti Gondek weighed in.
“They are not interested at this time in salvaging anything,” says the mayor, of the Smith government.
Gondek also took after Sharp wanting to pause the winding down of the Green Line.
“Are you kidding me? This is absolutely ludicrous. There’s nothing to pause. The project is dead.”
The mayor said she cannot figure out why the province had a change of heart.
My suggestion. Get out a Read Between The Lines dictionary and read my August 11 column.
The title? Danielle Smith stiffs a Green Line rethink and folks are angry.
As we all know, Smith went for the rethink at the beginning of this month.
Anyway, Gondek and the city council majority vote to wind down city hall’s Green Line, stub and all.
The city brass seem to believe the Smith government will cough up cash to the city.
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We’re told winding down the Green Line will cost hundreds of millions of dollars. You read that right.
There could be lawsuits.
Advice to city hall. The cheque is not in the mail. There is no appetite for Alberta taxpayers to foot the bill.
The provincial government is already up and running with their own Green Line ideas cooked up by their own experts.
Some in their ranks believe they’ve done the city a favour since city hall could well have ended up being out more dough following their risky plans.
Devin Dreeshen, Smith’s point man on the Green Line, is not backing down.
On the contrary, Dreeshen calls the city’s Mini-Me of a Green Line “a vanity project.”
I really thought the council majority would tell the province to go to hell.
After all, Calgary city council was mighty upset.
Vein-popping angry in some cases.
The train track, short as it was, had been pulled out from under them.
As it turns out Gondek and the usual suspects voted against working with the province to deliver a Green Line replacement.
But a couple councillors usually siding with Gondek broke ranks and by one vote this city council will try to work with the Smith government on a Green Line Plan B.
Dan McLean. Where would we be without McLean?
There is always at least one person on council who drives the council majority to distraction.
McLean points the finger at Gondek and the city council majority.
He figures city council should be doing everything they can to work with the provincial government rather than picking fights.
“It’s ironic the people saying I wanted to kill the Green Line are the ones who actually did,” says McLean.
Is anything ironic at Calgary city hall?
rbell@postmedia.com
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