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Calgary plots bold future
City aims to become energy hub

Colette Derworiz, Calgary Herald
Published: Wednesday, January 9, 2008

Calgary needs a bullet train to Fort McMurray, a downtown university campus and a ring road, as well as more child-care spaces and affordable housing, says a new report looking at the city's growth over the next decade.

Also included in the blueprint are plans to make Calgary a world-class city -- transforming it into a global energy hub and Canada's intellectual centre.

The economic development strategy, part of a report going to a council committee today, was developed by a task force of representatives from the private sector, municipal government and various civic partners.

This is what we think is important in the next 10 years," Mayor Dave Bronconnier, who was part of the 17-member task force, told the Herald Tuesday.

"I believe they are realistic targets," he said. "To not plan is just to guarantee failure."

Suggestions include:

- A high-speed rail link between Calgary, Edmonton and Fort McMurray, estimated by the province to cost from $3 billion to $12 billion between Calgary and Edmonton alone.

- A Calgary ring road, which doesn't have a cost estimate. An 11-kilometre stretch of Edmonton's ring road cost $493 million.

- A new urban campus, a $235-million project slated to be built on an entire block in East Village, near City Hall, by the University of Calgary.

Even before the report came out, however, it was criticized by a local economist who suggested it was folly and "a waste of taxpayer money" for the city to try and manage its growth.

The strategy doesn't yet have a price tag attached to it, but is likely to cost billions.

Other economists, however, said it makes sense to develop a plan to deal with some of the challenges that come with the city's growth.

Over the past decade, Calgary has grown at an unprecedented rate, hitting the one-million population mark in 2006.

It has led to significant challenges -- including a labour shortage that is seen as the most significant issue facing the city in its attempt to grow economically.

According to the report, businesses identified the lack of affordable housing as their top challenge in retaining and recruiting staff.

"From senior oil executives to small ma-and-pa operations . . . everyone recognized the importance of having a strong housing market, with affordable housing," Bronconnier said.

There's also concern over a growing wealth divide, which is putting severe pressure on the city's social service agencies, and the continued decline of the region's water supply.

As a result, the economic development strategy sets out a direction to meet three main goals that the task force believes would make Calgary a world-class city.

The three goals focus on people and community, business and enterprise, and international reach.

Other ideas within those goals are:

- Making Calgary the education and intellectual centre of Canada with the development of the urban campus and other centres of excellence;

- Ensuring Calgarians are active and full contributors to the economy by creating more childcare and elder-care spaces in the city, as well as building more affordable housing; and;

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