For now, governments are working together — as they usually do when a true crisis makes political bickering look ridiculous
Canadian governments bark at each other all the time. Media hounds bark about their barking. Often the nation seems like one big kennel of complaint.
That’s why Tuesday’s news conference on the Bearspaw south feeder water crisis came with a pleasant sense of nostalgia.
It showed how governments are supposed to work; and further, how they actually do work a great deal of the time.
On Tuesday, Mayor Jyoti Gondek signed off from daily briefings. She’s been at it for a month.
After early communications trouble (several days of no news, vague news and conflicting news) she apologized and began to do an excellent job of briefing the public, day by day.
This had to be challenging. She was working in an environment of near-panic, as officials realized this was no ordinary water main break.
A superhighway of H2O exploded, turning Bowness dry and threatening water supply across the city.
Gondek’s misstep stopped there. The city needed help from the province, not more hostility. She had the sense to drop politics and stress co-operation.
But even then, the province was at work. The two governments are closely linked at the operational level, no matter what the politicians are saying.
For instance, provincial emergency management officials are permanently “embedded” with Calgary’s own excellent emergency group.
Smith’s cabinet emergency committee was in regular contact with the mayor and officials.
Municipal Affairs Minister Ric McIver and Gondek praised each other effusively on Tuesday. They were trumpeting their success, as politicians will always do, but they were also describing how things really work.
McIver encouraged Gondek to ask both the province and Ottawa for any amount of funding. Can’t promise you’ll get it, he said, but keep trying. He didn’t seem to see any jurisdictional problem.
Gondek said, “Municipal Affairs Minister McIver has stood with me through the last 26 days.
“He was on standby throughout this emergency, available for calls at all hours to discuss progress and brainstorm ideas, like having the provincial wildfire crews and equipment staged for fire emergency suppression when we had a grass fire situation in early days.
“Minister, thank you for having our back.”
She said Alberta Health Services did crucial water testing that allowed for lifting of the boil-water advisory.
Alberta Environment and Protected Areas helped provide river water for construction and outdoor plant watering. The department also managed crucial chlorine monitoring of flushed water going into the Bow.
When two workers were injured at the break point, provincial Occupational Health and Safety was on the scene very quickly, doing a safety assessment that allowed the site to get up and running the same day.
Obviously, the city carried the greatest burden of the pipeline excavation and repair. But it’s equally clear that without provincial help, the city would not be anywhere near the end of this trial.
McIver said: “From the onset, the mayor reached out to Premier Smith and myself, and kept us updated regularly.
“I also recognize Mayor Gondek for her leadership throughout this ordeal. Her commitment to transparent communication with the public, advocating for realistic timelines and declaring a state of emergency when needed have been instrumental.”
Big questions remain. Why did this happen in the first place, and how much will it cost?
But for now, governments are working together — as they usually do when a true crisis makes political bickering look ridiculous.
Don Braid’s column appears regularly in the Herald