The province has announced who will conduct a secondary review of Calgary’s troubled water system and the handling of it, after promising to do its own assessment.

Former Alberta Energy Regulator chair David Goldie will be in charge of the review, Municipal Affairs Minister Dan Williams announced Friday. 

Goldie will be able to order testimony and documents from those he feels might have insight, including municipal officials.

The review should be completed by the end of the year, and findings will be made public. 

It will come at a cost of about $1.2 million from the Municipal Affairs operating budget, Williams said. 

“The goal is simple: to better understand the circumstances around the feeder main failures, identify lessons that can strengthen infrastructure management in the future, and provide transparency and accountability for Calgarians and to Albertans,” Williams said. 

Review comes on heels of another report

Williams first announced the province’s intention to lead its own review in January, a week after an independent review panel presented its own findings. 

The previous council ordered the independent review in 2024, following the first catastrophic break of the Bearspaw south feeder main. Former ATCO executive Siegfried Kiefer headed the panel, with the report presented Jan. 7.

It highlighted decades of deferred inspections after the water main’s potential failure was first identified in 2004 following the McKnight feeder main break.

It did not point blame at any one person or specific council. 

Williams said the province appreciates the panel’s work, and said Goldie can use it as a jumping off point.

He said Goldie has access to tens of thousands of more documents than the panel, such as minutes from in-camera meetings. Williams requested those documents from council in his January letter and it complied. 

Politicization? 

During his news conference Friday, Williams was asked if the review was politically motivated. He said it was an issue of governance, not politics. 

“When a municipality fails to deliver its core services, it’s the core responsibility of the province to oversee that and make sure that there’s accountability, transparency and prevention of future crises,” said Williams. 

Political scientist Lori Williams is not so sure, saying it does seem to be political in nature.

She pointed to the fact the governing UCP has previously tied the system’s failures to former Calgary mayor and now Alberta NDP Leader Naheed Nenshi.

“Since that’s the way it was framed from the beginning, it’s going to be very difficult to detach it from that framing right now,” she said.

Nenshi was not available for an interview Friday. The NDP provided a statement from Calgary-Mountain View MLA Kathleen Ganley.

“Let’s call today’s announcement what it is: a waste of taxpayer dollars that will produce no real results for Calgarians who just want to see their water pipes fixed and water restrictions lifted,” wrote Ganley.

Dan Williams also faced questions about the extent of power Goldie will wield in his review.

Former judge Raymond Wyant, who reviewed the province’s health procurement practices, noted in his report that some individuals refused interviews, while others avoided answering some questions. 

The minister said it’s standard for any inspector appointed under the Municipal Government Act to have the powers of a public commissioner, including compelling testimony under oath.  

Ganley took aim at that contrast in her statement.

“This UCP government refused to use its power to compel documents or testimony on an actual health-care scandal that never ends. The hypocrisy speaks for itself. It seems this UCP government only believes in accountability when they think it doesn’t implicate them,” she said.

Mayor endorses new review

Mayor Jeromy Farkas says he fully supports the province’s approach. In a letter to the minister shared on social media, Farkas said a transparent review will help with the long-term resilience of the water system. 

“We will cooperate fully with the appointed inspector, Mr. David Goldie, and ensure all relevant information is made available in a timely and transparent manner,” Farkas wrote. 

Farkas has already committed that council will follow all of the recommendations put forth by the independent review panel. 

Those include the accelerated replacement of the Bearspaw feeder main, which Farkas says is now on track to happen by the end of the year, and a standalone corporation owned by the city to take control of the water system. Farkas said this week he supports Enmax doing just that.