Enough is enough, will the UCP commit to supporting Springbank?

CALGARY - To end UCP waffling over Calgary flood mitigation, NDP Calgary MLA Kathleen Ganley will table a motion to support the Springbank Dam project in the Legislative Assembly.

Miranda Rosin, the UCP MLA-Elect for Banff-Kananaskis has written to Transportation Minister McIver asking him to withdraw support for the Springbank Dam project and consider other options.

“Enough is enough,” said NDP MLA for Calgary-Mountain View Kathleen Ganley.

“Every other day in the campaign Albertans heard a different position on Springbank Dam from the UCP. The lives and livelihoods of Calgarians are at stake here. That is why I will be tabling a motion in the Legislature urging the government to commit support for Springbank. The UCP can finally decide to either support this necessary project or leave Calgary at risk.”

Rachel Notley made a commitment to the Springbank Dam project in October 2015 and the Alberta NDP’s support has not wavered. The project has been endorsed by the City of Calgary. Multiple studies have all determined that Springbank remains the best, fastest, and most cost-effective solution to protect Calgary from another flood like the one seen in 2013, which damaged thousands of homes and shutdown Calgary’s downtown for days.

This isn’t the first time Rosin and the UCP have taken stances against Springbank. During the recent campaign she declared that the UCP was “not committed” to the project.

The UCP Government currently has no plan to fund the project. The Springbank Dry Dam was previously planned with $405 million of it’s estimated $432 million budget coming from Alberta’s Climate Leadership Plan, which the UCP has announced it will cancel.