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On the hustings, Canada’s next prime minister, Justin Trudeau, promised to beef up flood mitigation infrastructure in Calgary and southern Alberta and continue to spend $1.5 billion on the city’s Green Line LRT, about one-third of its estimated $4.6-billion price tag.

Photo by Crystal Schick / Calgary Herald

Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi polled the four main federal parties on urban issues during the campaign with his Cities Matter survey, noting each party promised to fund the LRT Green Line, though they differed on the funding model.

The Conservatives’ plan would have required the province and city to take on debt while Ottawa kicked in one-third of the payments over many years. Conversely, the Liberals would absorb the debt upfront.

“The difference is that the Conservatives were going to fund it over a long period of time, as much as 30 years,” Nenshi told the Herald on Monday. “Under the Liberal plan, we’re certainly going to suggest they do it earlier.”

The city has set aside $52 million annually over 10 years for the Green Line and intends to extend that to 30 years to pay its one-third of the project.

The provincial government, which has yet to receive a funding application from the city for the LRT line, has not allocated any funding to the project.

“With the Liberals taking over, I would hope that they would consider some changes to that program,” said Coun. Shane Keating, one of the strongest Green Line advocates on city council.

“I hope that the federal government would be able to absorb the debt and then just pay the debt down from the transit fund themselves,’ Keating said.