In the lead-up to the federal election, Mayor Naheed Nenshi was in the media multiple times speaking on the issue of flood mitigation.

Op-ed in Globe and Mail

Mayor Nenshi penned a to-the-point op-ed in the Globe and Mail calling out the federal government for delays on the Springbank Off-Stream Reservoir project (SR1).

We can’t get what we need built. And the blame can largely be laid at the feet of the federal government, through its inability to get the regulatory system for major projects right … projects are caught in an endless cycle of regulations, court cases and infinite assessments.

He highlights how the federal assessment agency has been “moving the goalposts” throughout the SR1 regulatory process and gives a few day-to-day examples to demonstrate how frustrating this is.

What if, in order to turn on your furnace, install a fire extinguisher or fix a window in your home, you had to write an essay to the government, only to have them tell you months later that it wasn’t really what they were looking for?

Read Mayor Nenshi’s full op-ed in the Globe and Mail: Calgary wants to prevent another disastrous flood. Why is Ottawa being a dam obstacle?

Election night speaker panel on CBC

Then, as part of a CBC speaker panel as the votes rolled in on election night, Mayor Nenshi discussed concerns he was hearing from Calgarians and reiterated how federal regulatory issues are tying up critical projects.

Albertans are upset because after having been the economic engine of the country for so very long, we feel like our issues are being ignored … [The Trans Mountain pipeline] hasn’t been built yet. And when you combine that with Bill C-69 which would make it very difficult to build any kind of major infrastructure projects, including pipelines, but also flood resiliency projects and so on in the future, you can see why people are getting frustrated.

We appreciate Mayor Nenshi’s calls for certainty in the federal regulatory system. Otherwise, how else will we be able to move critical projects forward?

Watch the video of Mayor Nenshi on CBC’s election night speaker panel and read his interview with Calgary Eyeopener: Post-election Q&A with Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi

Regards,

Your CRCAG Board