GREEN LINE UNDER ATTACK FROM JASON KENNEY AND UCP INSIDERS

CALGARY -- A number of high-profile UCP insiders and donors are campaigning against the Green Line, threatening the future of the project and jobs that come with it.

The group includes Steve Allan, Jim Gray, and Brian Felesky. 

Allan was involved in a closed door meeting with city officials to stop the Green Line in February. He campaigned for UCP Justice Minister Doug Schweitzer and is also the commissioner of the UCP’s inquiry into the funding of environmental organizations. 

Gray and Felesky were part of the same meeting in February and have donated over $63,000 to the UCP and their legacy parties since 2015, which includes donating almost a combined $18,000 to Jason Kenney for his PC and UCP leadership campaigns. They also donated an additional $19,000 to political action committees directly tied to Jason Kenney or supportive of the UCP. 

“This is the kind of backroom deals that Albertans are coming to expect from Jason Kenney and the UCP,” said Joe Ceci, MLA for Calgary-Buffalo and NDP Municipal Affairs Critic. “Jason Kenney should explain to Albertans why he sent his commissioner and high-rolling donors to stop the project.”

Since the meeting in February, the pressure from the group of UCP supporters has intensified and they have launched a campaign to stop the Green Line.

Jason Kenney has also expressed his support for pausing the project and followed up those comments by drastically cutting provincial funding in last October’s budget.

“As we look ahead to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, this project is vital to building a modern economy in Calgary that will create 20,000 jobs,” said Ceci. “If Jason Kenney is serious about supporting jobs and our economy, he needs to unequivocally support this project and commit to fully funding it - not send in his close friends and rich donors to kill it.”