Western Canada: Alberta faces off with Edmonton and Calgary over transit funding

Hi everyone, Mark Iype in Edmonton today.

It was another interesting week in Alberta politics, as the province and its two biggest cities faced off (this time) over transit funding. But the question of who knew what, when is still hanging out there.

It all started on Tuesday, when it was revealed that the Alberta government would no longer fund pilot projects in Edmonton and Calgary that helped subsidize transit passes for low-income residents. Since 2017, the province has been giving each of the cities $4.5-million for their respective programs, with bumps in the past year as the much-needed service was used by more and more people. (More than 100,000 enrolled in each city)

While the funding cut wasn’t officially announced by the province, the city mayors both quickly spoke out about the hardship it would cause for some of their most vulnerable residents.

Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek called it an “absolute cruelty to low-income Calgarians” who rely on discounted transit passes to attend work, school and medical appointments. Edmonton mayor Amarjeet Sohi reiterated that sentiment, calling it an “attack on local democracy.”

While the province and the cities have been wrestling in recent months on a variety of issues such as homelessness, public safety and housing, there was no indication that low-income transit passes might be on the chopping block. In fact, Premier Danielle Smith’s government, in February, 2023, said supporting these programs would help make life more affordable for Albertans struggling to “heat their homes and feed their families.”

When The Globe and Mail asked Jason Nixon, the Minister of Seniors, Community and Social Services, on Tuesday why the cut was made, his press secretary, Alexandru Cioban, in a statement, said transit is a municipal responsibility and the province is investing more in “core services” such as homelessness and housing.

But about 12 hours later, after public outcry and some unfavourable coverage in the media from sources that are often friendly to the government, the decision was reversed.

At a news conference Wednesday, Nixon said he was unaware of the decision to cut the millions in funding and it was departmental bureaucrats who put the programs on the financial chopping block because they are considered pilot projects.

It remains unclear why his office provided a statement seemingly justifying the decision if the minister was unaware of the funding cut.

Nixon said he spoke directly with the mayors after he understood what was happening before reversing the decision.

“We were able to get feedback about what implications that decision would have on the cities and on that program and were able to make some adjustments. We’ll have to look elsewhere within our budget to be able to meet our targets,” said the minister, who added that it was clear neither city could cover the full cost of the programs.

Gondek and Sohi were happy that the funding was restored, even if there were still questions about how it happened.

“There’s two ways of looking at this. One is that there was an error that’s been rectified and the other is that they have now changed their mind,” Gondek told reporters.

This is the weekly Western Canada newsletter written by B.C. Editor Wendy Cox and Alberta Bureau Chief Mark Iype. If you’re reading this on the web, or it was forwarded to you from someone else, you can sign up for it and all Globe newsletters here.