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Bell: Smith government steps in, orders full-blown probe of Calgary water pipe fiasco

The Smith government steps in, orders an inspection to get to the bottom of how Calgary's water system turned ugly

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Big. Serious. No fooling around. No stone left unturned stuff.

Bell: Smith government steps in, orders full-blown probe of Calgary water pipe fiasco Back to video

Postmedia has learned the Alberta government, led by Premier Danielle Smith and with Dan Williams as its no-nonsense point man on cities, is using the full legal power of the province and ordering an inspection into the city of Calgary’s water pipe fiasco.

The Smith government is appointing an inspector. His name is David Goldie, formerly the chair of the Alberta Energy Regulator and a man who has held senior positions in the oilpatch.

The inspector can compel documents be produced.

The inspector can compel witness testimony under oath.

He can compel anyone with any connection, past or present, with the water pipe file.

“We are using the power the province has to ensure we get to the bottom of the matter,” says Williams.

Williams says there needs to be an understanding of what happened, why it happened and how to prevent it from ever happening again.

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He speaks of what happened in Calgary as “the repeated failure of the greatest magnitude of one of the basic core municipal services.”

In January, the Smith government compelled Calgary city hall to cough up thousands and thousands of documents, including documentation from closed-door meetings.

That is not where the inspection ends.

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“It will follow decision-making timelines,” says Williams, Alberta’s municipal affairs minister.

“When were issues identified? What escalated? What was acted upon? What was not acted upon? What was deferred?

“Risk assessment. The reporting process through administration to city council. Communication. Public monitoring. Internal controls. The scope on this is broad.”

A broad scope of investigation, says Williams, because Albertans, and Calgarians in particular, expect to have basic core services provided and there has been a massive failure to deliver those services.

The work of the inspector will go on until the fall. Findings and recommendations will be made to the government and they will be made public.

Williams says this kind of inspection is tough stuff.

Smith’s point man says he is “not presupposing anything” and “wants to see the process play out in an above-board way.”

He wants “the whole truth and nothing but the truth.” He is just overseeing the process. The inspector will be free to do his work.

And make no mistake. Going this route, with an inspection, a full-blown investigation, the government of Alberta has the hammer.

If Calgary city hall is found to have been “managed or governed in an improper, irregular or improvident manner” the Alberta government can force the city of Calgary to “take corrective actions.”

They can tell the city what must happen.

That direction from the Alberta government would be legally binding.

Of course, there will be the boobirds. There will be those who say the Smith government should not stick its nose in Calgary city hall’s business.

Williams says the city failed and anyone who disagrees should tell him why there are water-use restrictions in Calgary.

He adds if it’s not the provincial government who keeps the city accountable, who should it be?

“We take seriously the catastrophic failure of the delivery of the water service. It’s been two times in two years when Calgarians have been told into a microphone by prominent leaders that if it’s yellow let it mellow,” says Williams.

In other words, don’t flush every time after urinating.

Williams points out how, at one time, there was the possibility of Calgary hosting the 2026 Winter Olympics. What if there had been this water failure while the world was watching?

“This is not a First World city problem we should be facing. Anyone who says this wasn’t a failure really needs to talk to a Calgarian.”

Williams does say the current city council has done “a great job” meeting the water issue head on.

“They came in and were saddled with a very, very big load and task in front of them and they’ve been doing the heavy-lifting.”

As some readers know, the city hall did fork out taxpayer dollars for an expert panel to look into the water pipe explosion and the city water system issue.

The panel criticized how the file was handled by city hall before the pipe exploded and exploded again and was found to need more serious repair work requiring further shutdowns.

For the province, the inspection they have ordered has a lot of teeth. The province, unlike the panel, can tell Calgary city hall what to do.

At the end of the day, Williams says he wants to see accountability.

And who doesn’t want as much accountability as we can get?

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