Alberta Municipal Affairs Minister Dan Williams is set to announce “next steps” in the province’s review of Calgary’s maligned water system on Friday.
Williams will be speaking to the media at the McDougall Centre at 11 a.m.
The news conference comes more than a month after the province requested thousands of documents from the city, following a second critical failure of the Bearspaw feeder main on Dec. 30.
Following that break, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said the province would look into whether or not more oversight is needed.
The City of Calgary had until Jan. 27 to provide all documentation.
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Since the break was repaired in mid-January, the city has embarked on an ambitious plan to replace a large section of the pipe, which Mayor Jeromy Farkas has deemed “critically ill.”
The project, along with other water infrastructure concerns, has city officials asking council for an extra $600 million injection of cash over the next two fiscal years.
“(I) really welcome that … really appreciative of the minister’s engagement,” Farkas told Global News on Friday morning.
“I think it’s appropriate for them to be checking our work, doing their own due diligence. What we’re seeing here in Calgary isn’t necessarily unique to our municipality.”
Farkas says other mayors from across the country have reached out to discuss the broader issues of infrastructure deficits and governance in the wake of Calgary’s crisis.
“I think we’re proving we can do here in Calgary what no other place can,” Farkas said, speaking of the expedited timeline for the replacement project.
On Monday, crews began critical repair work to several damaged sections of the existing pipe, resulting in stage four water restrictions across the city and surrounding communities.
In a letter to the city, Williams says while he recognizes city officials have taken “commendable steps” to review the circumstances leading to the first break of the pipe in June of 2024, he believes Calgarians and those living near the city have “valid concerns” the feeder main could rupture again.
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