'Crushed by a government only interested in power': Mayor blasts province on Green Line halt

In a scathing thread posted to social media, Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek skewered the province over its decision to pull its portion of the funding for the Green Line LRT, calling it "political stunting."

"Neither the minister nor the premier have any interest in working with partners," Gondek said in a 13 post thread on X, formerly Twitter, on Monday morning.

"They want control and they have exerted their power to kill a project that had independent third party oversight of the Green Line Board. For their new LRT project, oversight is all political." 

Her comments come as Calgary city council is expected to learn more about the costs of winding down the Green Line LRT on Tuesday, and Calgarians rally in front of city hall in support of the multi-billion-dollar transit project.

Gondek said the province is ignoring the facts surrounding the Green Line and accused Minister of Transportation and Economic Corridors Devin Dreeshen of "killing" the project.

"A critical public transit investment has been crushed by a government only interested in power and political stunting," she said. 

"It's shameful. We exist in a time when we have no hope of partnership and trust. Instead, we are left to watch as the UCP compromises Calgary's future."

But Premier Danielle Smith said Saturday on her weekly radio show that the Green Line in its current form is not viable, too expensive and wouldn't serve enough people in the city.

"We wanted to see if there's a better way to do it that will actually get the line far enough out to where the people actually live. So, I hope Calgarians understand, we want to see this built properly, too," Smith said.

CBC News has reached out to the offices of Dreeshen and Smith for comment on Gondek's remarks.

Smith noted that because of the many delays the Green Line has faced over the years, the cost has become extraordinary.

"At some point, someone had to say, 'this is not a viable project the way it's being proposed.' It was a 46-kilometre route that was initially proposed for about $4.5 billion. Now it's a little stub of a line, nine kilometres, that goes from nowhere to nowhere," she said.

"And I have to ask Calgarians, is that what you signed up for? Are you prepared to spend that amount of money on a single project because of the over-engineering that's required downtown? We don't think so, and so we think we can find a better way to do it."

Mike Mahar, president of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 583, told Calgary Eyeopener host Loren McGinnis Monday morning that the idea the proposed design of the LRT is "going nowhere" is confusing, and too much money has gone into the project to change gears now.