CECI RESPONDS TO UCP MUNICIPAL FUNDING ANNOUNCEMENT

NDP Municipal Affairs Critic, Joe Ceci, provided the following statement regarding the UCP’s announcement on municipal funding:

“The UCP’s announcement today is a drop in the bucket compared to what’s needed for our province. Almost half a million Albertans are unemployed or severely underemployed due to COVID-19 and this announcement is insulting to those Albertans looking for work.

“We had previously called for a doubling of Municipal Sustainability Initiative (MSI) funding that would have been close to an additional $1 billion for municipalities, but we didn’t see that today.

“And we were hoping for an announcement on Green Line funding that would have created 20,000 jobs in Calgary at a time when Calgarians are desperate for work. Again, the UCP failed Calgarians on that.

“Instead, they announced one-tenth of the funding that would come from doubling MSI and funding the Green Line.

“Two-thirds of Calgarians support the Green Line and the duly elected members of city council overwhelmingly voted to move ahead with the project in a 14-1 vote.

“But the UCP government has already given itself the power to unilaterally tear up the Green Line contract, they’ve cut funding to the project by 86 per cent over the next four years, and tried to shut it down through their wealthy donor proxies.

“Now Minister Ric McIver says they are reviewing the funding and refuse to give a clear commitment on the Green Line. 

“The UCP need to stop delaying and fund this project now.

“We need a bold response in order for our economy to recover from the pandemic. Unfortunately, we aren’t seeing that from Jason Kenney and the UCP.”