Canada’s regulatory system is broken.
It’s what we’ve experienced the last six years, and it’s what former MLA for Calgary-Elbow Greg Clark discussed in his letter to the Calgary Herald this week.
As we commemorate the sixth anniversary of the 2013 Southern Alberta Floods, we reflect on how far we’ve come but also on how far we’ve yet to go.
“Both [previous] governments, and now the UCP, have followed the regulatory process the federal government says is required to build what is actually a relatively simple project. But opponents have worked the regulatory process (and the courts) to slow the project at every turn and used these delays to sow doubt in the minds of the public about the viability of SR1.
But their most effective weapon is the one that will only get worse under Bill C-69 — the very Canadian claim that “I wasn’t consulted.”” – Greg Clark
In his letter, Clark goes on to detail the extensive consultation process that’s taken place on Springbank Off-Stream Reservoir (SR1) and to dismantle several false narratives used by project opponents.
“A robust regulatory process is important, but when that process has been running for six years and counting without a single shovel of dirt being moved, we can say it’s broken. This is true for pipelines and it’s true for lifesaving projects like flood mitigation.” – Greg Clark
Far from finished
Currently, regulators are reviewing the 8,000-page response to SR1 information requests that was submitted just last week, but there are many steps remaining to secure SR1 as a certainty.
Remember, this is only round one of information requests; there is potential for more information requests and subsequent responses. Additionally, the NRCB will host public hearings (originally scheduled for June 2019 but likely to happen in early-2020 now), land acquisitions and/or expropriations must occur, and provincial cabinet approval of the project is required before construction can begin.
Once the project is given approval, the construction timeline will remain the same; two years to partially ready and three years to fully ready.
The failure to put effective upstream mitigation in place has kept Calgarians constantly anxious for many years.
As we continue to brace through flood season, the City of Calgary’s flood readiness resources are a good source of information. For conditions updates, read the City’s flood readiness newsletter June 20 update.
An anniversary message
Each year we struggle to recognize this day.
As much as we’d like to forget the 2013 flood, we’re afraid to. Forgetting is the trap that far too many citizens and elected officials have fallen into over the decades. The trap of simply hoping Calgary’s existential problem would go away (or be some other elected official’s problem, or not be my problem when I move away, or whatever rationale).
But it can’t be that way this time around. This isn’t just a “flood risk”. “Risk” suggests that something has a probability of occurring. In Calgary and southern Alberta, floods happen all the time. The only question is: “How bad will the next one be? And the one after that?”
Through CRCAG’s work, and the work of countless other citizens and elected officials, we’re pushing to answer the key follow-on question: “How ready will we be when the next flood happens?”
Our city has never been closer to being meaningfully protected from its flood problem. It’s never had the momentum it now has, created through all this effort and clear-minded thinking, to protect the lives, livelihoods and property of its citizens. The opportunity this city was given in 2013 to really address its inherent birth defect is at hand. If we all see it through.
Is any strategy a 100% solution? Of course not. A one-in-a-million flood event will see basements wet in Crescent Heights. But SR1 is a critically important first step towards fixing this city’s faulty plumbing, and demonstrating to the world (and ourselves) that maybe this city can get it done.
So thank you to Greg Clark, and to all the advocates we’ve worked alongside these past years, for your tireless efforts to secure flood protection (and peace of mind) for our city. Thank you Mayor Nenshi, City Council, Frank Frigo and his staff, Premier Kenney, former Premier Notley and their three predecessors who moved this forward, our Federal Government for funding along the way, the very many government administration folks who really get this, and those in the media who help us ensure this is not forgotten.
And as always, onward.
If you have questions or comments for us, please reach out at info@crcactiongroup.com.
Regards,
Your CRCAG Board