No Budge in Budget
April 30th, 2007 posted by CrepehangerCalgary - McCall MLA Shiraz Shariff went to the press Saturday to suggest the budget squabbles between the Stelmach regime and the Bronconnier contingency stay out of the press. The irony of going to the press to ask his colleagues to not go to the press seems to be lost on him.
The real issue with the recent budget announcement isn’t Tory versus Liberal or even Province versus City, but what are the most important needs to improve the infrastructure or even more basically, what is the definition of “infrastructure”. Bronconnier leans towards the more traditional view of public works as infrastructure while Stelmach is more inclined to the modern municipal infrastructure scenario.
The $127.4 million of the provincial budget earmarked for Calgary is not up to the city’s discretion to spend. Mayor Bronconnier has made his displeasure with the strings attached to the funding very vocal. His primary concern is tying too much money up in housing and not enough in transit.
It is understandable to have some concerns for the future based on the current situation with the transit union voting this week on striking, the plans to expand the LRT, and the current downtown street closures. On the other hand, the long term issue of housing has reached a crisis situation that is feeding into the growing labor shortage.
How much is the debate posturing for the cameras? Is the argument more political or ideological? Does Stelmach’s friendship with Ray Danyluk, the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, have any bearing on the budget segmentation?
News Source: Calgary Sun
