CALGARY — The United Conservative government will be able to pull funding “without cause” for Edmonton and Calgary’s LRT projects under new terms included in omnibus budget legislation.

The change in wording came as a surprise to Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi.

“At first blush, it looks like these provisions will make it more difficult to proceed with the Green Line,” Nenshi said in a statement Wednesday. He said the city wasn’t consulted about the new terms.

The province already pushed back on a promised total of $3 billion for Calgary’s Green Line and Edmonton’s Valley Line West LRT. Calgary will now get just $75 million over the next four years, while Edmonton won’t see any money until after 2023.

Alberta Transportation Minister Ric McIver defended the new wording that lets the government “terminate the grant agreement without cause” with 90 days’ notice as “standard government terms and conditions when we fund something.”

“As you might imagine, we have lawyers, one of which I am not, and that’s what I’m told,” he said Wednesday.

The terms weren’t included in the grant agreement between the City of Calgary and the former NDP government, signed last January. Coun. Shane Keating, a longtime advocate for the Green Line, said he doesn’t understand why the change is being made without first consulting the city.

“If they’re still 100 per cent behind this project, why do they have to unilaterally change the signed agreement? And that’s what they’re doing,” he said.

The new wording is buried on page 100 of Bill 20, one of two omnibus bills introduced last week with the 2019 budget.

Edmonton Coun. Andrew Knack said city council is meeting in November to talk about land procurement for the Valley Line West LRT, and he expects to see more information about the project’s future then, including a look at whether or not the new termination clause is even valid.

He’s “cautiously optimistic” about the project’s future, given that the provincial government has said it is still committed to funding it.

“I’d like to continue believing (the province). It’s tough because we don't seem to be in the greatest partnership situation right now,” he said.

The 27-kilometre Valley Line West, once completed with its 14-km LRT expansion from 102 St. downtown to Lewis Farms, will link Mill Woods in the southeast with the west end of Edmonton. The extension of the entire line was approved by the city in 2012, and it’s estimated to cost about $2.6 billion.

In Calgary, the full Green Line is planned to stretch 46 kilometres, from 160 Avenue N. to Seton in the city’s southeast. Only the first 20-kilometre phase, from 16 Avenue N. to Shepard, has been approved, with funding lined up from the city, province and federal governments. It’s the most expensive project in Calgary’s history, at a cost of nearly $5 billion.

That first phase of construction has also been split in two while the city takes another look at the pricey path through downtown, which includes travel across the Bow River and tunnelling underneath the city’s core.

That’s arguably the most important piece of the Green Line, and Keating said it’s at risk if there’s uncertainty about whether provincial funds will come through. The city will be looking for construction companies to bid for the contract to build the LRT line, and the Ward 12 councillor says that’s a hard sell when the city can’t guarantee there’s money to pay them.

“They could cancel any time — a third or halfway through. And then all of a sudden Calgary has a partially completed project and no funding.”

He said he has faith that the province supports the Green Line, and he’s pushing to ensure the city is clear that they’ll keep moving forward.

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“Whether (the province) want to change parts of it or have more control over the project, that may be where this comes from. I don’t understand the change in the signed agreement.”

Jeff Binks, the president of community advocacy group LRT on the Green, said his group has had to jump back into “full-on political advocacy” with the recent uncertainty around the future of the Calgary transit expansion.

“The UCP government has made a lot of statements saying they support construction of this project, but actions speak louder than words,” he said. “What we’ve been seeing in budget 2019 as well as Bill 20 is actions they’re taking that don’t really look like they want this project to proceed any time soon.”

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NDP Leader Rachel Notley slammed the new wording calling it “a huge overstep” for the provincial government.

“You don’t bother to legislate things like that unless you feel you might plan on using it,” she said. “I think it’s meaningful, we have to assume it’s meaningful, and it’s very different than the situation that was in place before.”

With files from Nadine Yousif and Kashmala Fida

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