Grow Calgary founder Paul Hughes said he’s been told that the move to the new site – which was originally going to cost $300,000 – could cost up to $900,000.Todd Korol
Talks to move Canada’s largest community farm have broken down. The Alberta government says ballooning costs and its continuing focus on “fiscal restraint” means they’ve run out of money for the project, while the non-profit’s organizers say they’ve been presented with unreasonable lease conditions.
Grow Calgary’s future is at stake six months after the community farm was evicted from its home of six years to make way for a highway project. The fields and fruit trees that supplied organic produce to shelters for women and the homeless have been razed, but the community farm and provincial officials reached an agreement in the spring to relocate the farm to a new site
with the government picking up the tab for the move.
The government forecast the move and set-up at the new site to cost $300,000 when the agreement was struck in February. Grow Calgary founder Paul Hughes said he’s now been told by officials that the move could cost up to $900,000 and the province can’t cover the bill. In early July, provincial officials cited “fiscal restraint” – a central theme for the United Conservative government since the spring election – in a letter to Mr. Hughes where they said future costs would need to be covered by the volunteer group.
"A significant amount of public funds has been spent in support of Grow Calgary. With that said, the province has now entered into time of fiscal restraint and will no longer be able to provide additional support to Grow Calgary," deputy minister Shannon Flint wrote in a July 3 letter to the group. The Alberta government would not confirm the $900,000 figure shared with the group.
The initial budget of $300,000 has been spent on demolishing the old farm and storing equipment, according to the government. Mr. Hughes said those costs that were not supposed to be covered by the moving agreement. Nothing has been moved to the new site and no work has been done there.
“It makes me crazy that they spent that much money when they didn’t need to. They’ve spent more money in a few months where they’ve done nothing on the site than we did in six years of running the farm,” Mr. Hughes told The Globe and Mail.
In response to questions about where the money for the move was spent, a spokeswoman for Alberta Infrastructure said $230,000 was spent demolishing the organic farm for highway construction, including removing soil, cutting down trees and moving the farm’s equipment to the parking lot of a nearby provincial sheriff’s office. Storing the equipment on government land is costing about $10,000 a month, added spokeswoman Diane Carter in an e-mail.
Grow Calgary began in 2013 when Mr. Hughes and his son got permission to begin farming 11 acres of land alongside a major highway near Calgary’s Canada Olympic Park. The two arrived on the scrubland with two shovels and a bucket. The total cost for starting the project was two city bus tickets.
With the help of thousands of volunteers, including numerous field trips from local schools and donations of equipment and money from local companies, the farm was slowly built over time to encompass gardens, greenhouses, fruit trees, berry bushes and storage sheds.
Faced with starting from scratch, Mr. Hughes said he can move the equipment and supplies without government help. He’s also ready to hook up water and electricity to the new site, something he said could be done with labour already volunteered by contractors.
Infrastructure Minister Prasad Panda’s office did not directly address why they’ve pulled support for Grow Calgary in a statement sent to The Globe: “A new site has been made available and Grow Calgary is welcome to relocate there if they apply for and receive municipal permits and pipeline crossing agreements. The Government of Alberta remains committed to keeping the new site available for Grow Calgary to use for their urban farm.”
Mr. Panda’s New Democratic predecessor called Grow Calgary “squatters” despite their holding a lease on the land. That statement had been indicative of a relationship between Grow Calgary and officials in the infrastructure department labelled as confrontational by both sides.
New Democrat Thomas Dang said he’s disappointed Alberta’s new United Conservative Party government isn’t going to support the farm’s move. “Our government had a fair agreement with Grow Calgary that would have allowed them to continue supporting those in need. It’s disappointing to see the UCP government not honour this deal and jeopardize the work of Grow Calgary,” Mr. Dang said.
While Mr. Hughes is disappointed the government has withdrawn its material support for the group, one of the biggest remaining issues is the fine print of the lease being proposed, he said.
The lease on 20 acres of land in southeastern Calgary, alongside the city’s ring road and a major industrial area, would require the volunteer group to accept responsibility for cleaning up any soil contamination found on the site. The group would be barred from planting fruit trees or erecting greenhouses. The farm would be inspected to ensure it looks aesthetically pleasing to passing motorists and along with carrying substantial liability insurance, the group would be responsible for any government bills arising from the area. If they signed on, Mr. Hughes and Grow Calgary would also be barred from speaking to reporters or publishing anything in public about the lease unless they got permission from the minister’s office.
“We have question marks over this entire thing and they won’t answer any questions. People will think that I’m a complete idiot if I and our organization sign this thing,” Mr. Hughes said.
The lease is a standard document, the government said in response to questions about Mr. Hughes’ concerns.
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