City lawmakers are pushing to seek nearly $1 billion from Ottawa to fund what they call a badly-need sports field house and extension to the northeast Blue Line LRT.
City council’s governmental affairs committee will debate a recommendation to request the federal money that would also earmark $190 million for critical infrastructure that would largely fund water projects.
Another $320 million would go towards the city’s GamePLAN recreational facilities strategy that would include a multisport field house that would likely be constructed at Foothills Athletic Park just to the north of McMahon Stadium.
RouteAhead roadmap
The city’s 30-year RouteAhead transportation and transit plan, in part, involves extending the LRT Blue Line’s northeast leg from Saddletowne Station to 88th Avenue, Country Hills Boulevard and ultimately Redstone, said Ward 5 Coun. Raj Dhaliwal, who sits on the committee.
The province, he said, has only committed to funding to push the line to 88th Avenue N.E. while Ottawa has made no such vow.
“If (the federal government) is serious about helping communities, we have an avid need and there’s lots of money there,” he said.
The money would come from Ottawa’s 10-year, $51-billion Building Communities Strong Fund.
As for recreational facilities, Calgary is the only major Canadian city without a multi-sport field house, while Edmonton has several that attracts athletes and families from afar, providing an economic boost, said Dhaliwal.
“We are catching up to what we needed 15 years ago,” he said.
City officials say 70 per cent of Calgary recreation infrastructure is more than 75 years old with much of it needing replacement or upgrades.
Foothills Athletic Park is part of Calgary’s GamePLAN recreational roadmap for the future.
Wave 1 of the GamePLAN includes 17 sites throughout the city for either renewal or new builds, such as the Rocky Ridge Fieldhouse now under construction.
A committee focusing on the multisport field house will meet June 26 to discuss a project that Dhaliwal said could cost between $400 million and $500 million.
Also recommended by city administrators is funding for public safety and the Prairie Economic Gateway, the latter a planned logistical hub on the city’s east side in partnership with Rocky View County.
It’s believed it would create 30,000 jobs and generate $7 billion in economic activity.
Dhaliwal noted recent provincial legislation makes it mandatory for federal funding to municipalities to first go through the Alberta government.
“These are just asks, we will still respect our jurisdiction,” he said.
The city could use the funding as leverage for more provincial contributions, said Ward 8 Coun. Nathan Schmidt, particularly for transportation or transit-related needs.
“We should continue to approach (Ottawa) … we need to upgrade our bus maintenance and bus barns — we need more buses because we have more people,” he said.
Due to their limited ability to raise funds, municipalities, he said “are in a more precarious financial situation than any governments.”
With recent increases in the province’s share of city property taxes, Calgary now only retains 53 per cent of those funds collected, said Ward 9 Coun. Harrison Clark.
That puts added pressure on the city’s ability to close its growing infrastructure gap, particularly as Calgary rapidly grows, said Clark, who’s also a member of the Intergovernmental Affairs Committee.
“This (request) is a signal there are other partners who should be at the table,” said Clark.
“I’m very surprised at how little engagement and collaboration there is with either other levels of government.”
The city, he said, must also work with immediate neighbours like Chestermere to prevent building redundant recreational facilities.
Needed funding
Clark said two weeks ago he met with Calgary Confederation MP Corey Hogan — the city’s only Liberal MP — where he expressed the need for federal support.
“I told him that for all the recreational facilities that exist in our city, we’ve never been able to do that without you,” he said.
Dhaliwal said it’s vital the federal government reverse its decision to reduce funding to municipalities by 15 per cent.
For the city’s part, he said, “all we need to do is put a game plan together,” adding there’s no reason why council would reject the funding request recommendations.
“We should be aggressively pursuing money from any levels of government … I would love to have put more money into the ask,” said Dhaliwal.
Clark said the potential federal funding is needed to address more localized needs in the wake of major funding outlays for what he called “elite” major projects like Arts Commons, the BMO Centre expansion and the Scotia Place events centre.
“Fundamentally, Calgarians want to see investments in their own neighbourhoods, that they have access to,” he said.
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