CALGARY — Even as Mayor Naheed Nenshi was being invited to meet with the premier, provincial needling continued Thursday over the city charter.
The PCs don’t forgive readily, and they never forget.
Premier Alison Redford implied that Edmonton Mayor Stephen Mandel co-operates, and Nenshi doesn’t.
She said both Edmonton and Calgary city councils are satisfied with talks on the charter. So is Mandel.
By leaving out Nenshi, she suggests he’s the unreasonable renegade.
In an interview Thursday, the mayor said none of that’s true. He and Mandel agree on most points of the charter, he insists. Nor is he offside with his own council.
The mayor also points out, correctly, that he never called anybody names in this dispute.
He did say in a Herald op-ed piece that the province is fumbling civic issues and treating Calgary like a “farm team.”
Technically, he was only calling Calgary a name. But even that mild comment deeply irked the provincial types who, in recent years, have become almost fanatical about suppressing criticism from local municipalities and authorities.
In the midst of this dispute, Municipal Affairs Minister Doug Griffiths said Nenshi has “an election coming up; he’s going to puff up like a peacock and be tough.”
Answering a question Thursday, Griffiths said: “If there’s tension, it’s on his side. I don’t feel any tension.”
But the PCs do. They have ever since ex-mayor Dave Bronconnier scared the heck out of them 2007, when he accused then-premier Ed Stelmach of a “broken promise” over infrastructure funding.
Facing an election, the government had to back up. Bronco won that contest by a knockout. Everybody knew it — especially the provincials. They fumed, but didn’t forget.
During the 2008 election campaign, Jack Davis, then CEO of the old Calgary Health Region, declared a medical emergency and demanded extra funding from the government. Again the PCs were livid.
Within four months, the health regions were abolished.
There were many reasons for that decision; but one was the growing tendency of the health regions to speak up about local problems.
Since then, with the rise of much stronger opposition and the general weakening of the old PC consensus, the campaign against dissent has become more zealous.
Last February, you might recall, Griffiths called for a boycott of an Alberta Urban Municipalities Association breakfast by all PC MLAs.
His reason? Linda Sloan, the AUMA president, had said local funding decisions were tainted by “pork-barrel politics.”
But Stephen Carter, then Redford’s chief of staff, posted a remarkable tweet: “Let’s be clear. Linda Sloan didn’t just criticize the budget. She lied. Maliciously.”
Many Albertans were shocked. Carter had to apologize. The ridiculous MLA boycott never happened. The PCs retreated, but they had shown their claws, and it was disquieting.
The worst thing about these episodes — the dangerous thing — is that they take advantage of the power relationship.
The province is a major funder of the municipalities, and almost the sole money spout for health care and education.
Always the government’s instinct is to keep full control over these sectors, using their monopoly on your tax dollars for leverage.
As northern MLA Hector Goudreau once said bluntly in an e-mail to a school board, stop criticizing or you risk losing that new school.
Calgary has produced a few brave public figures who, like Mayor Nenshi, will put a toe across this line. And every time, the government stomps it.
Original Article
Source: calgaryherald.com
Author: Don Braid
The PCs don’t forgive readily, and they never forget.
Premier Alison Redford implied that Edmonton Mayor Stephen Mandel co-operates, and Nenshi doesn’t.
She said both Edmonton and Calgary city councils are satisfied with talks on the charter. So is Mandel.
By leaving out Nenshi, she suggests he’s the unreasonable renegade.
In an interview Thursday, the mayor said none of that’s true. He and Mandel agree on most points of the charter, he insists. Nor is he offside with his own council.
The mayor also points out, correctly, that he never called anybody names in this dispute.
He did say in a Herald op-ed piece that the province is fumbling civic issues and treating Calgary like a “farm team.”
Technically, he was only calling Calgary a name. But even that mild comment deeply irked the provincial types who, in recent years, have become almost fanatical about suppressing criticism from local municipalities and authorities.
In the midst of this dispute, Municipal Affairs Minister Doug Griffiths said Nenshi has “an election coming up; he’s going to puff up like a peacock and be tough.”
Answering a question Thursday, Griffiths said: “If there’s tension, it’s on his side. I don’t feel any tension.”
But the PCs do. They have ever since ex-mayor Dave Bronconnier scared the heck out of them 2007, when he accused then-premier Ed Stelmach of a “broken promise” over infrastructure funding.
Facing an election, the government had to back up. Bronco won that contest by a knockout. Everybody knew it — especially the provincials. They fumed, but didn’t forget.
During the 2008 election campaign, Jack Davis, then CEO of the old Calgary Health Region, declared a medical emergency and demanded extra funding from the government. Again the PCs were livid.
Within four months, the health regions were abolished.
There were many reasons for that decision; but one was the growing tendency of the health regions to speak up about local problems.
Since then, with the rise of much stronger opposition and the general weakening of the old PC consensus, the campaign against dissent has become more zealous.
Last February, you might recall, Griffiths called for a boycott of an Alberta Urban Municipalities Association breakfast by all PC MLAs.
His reason? Linda Sloan, the AUMA president, had said local funding decisions were tainted by “pork-barrel politics.”
But Stephen Carter, then Redford’s chief of staff, posted a remarkable tweet: “Let’s be clear. Linda Sloan didn’t just criticize the budget. She lied. Maliciously.”
Many Albertans were shocked. Carter had to apologize. The ridiculous MLA boycott never happened. The PCs retreated, but they had shown their claws, and it was disquieting.
The worst thing about these episodes — the dangerous thing — is that they take advantage of the power relationship.
The province is a major funder of the municipalities, and almost the sole money spout for health care and education.
Always the government’s instinct is to keep full control over these sectors, using their monopoly on your tax dollars for leverage.
As northern MLA Hector Goudreau once said bluntly in an e-mail to a school board, stop criticizing or you risk losing that new school.
Calgary has produced a few brave public figures who, like Mayor Nenshi, will put a toe across this line. And every time, the government stomps it.
Original Article
Source: calgaryherald.com
Author: Don Braid
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