Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi is photographed the day after his nomination with the city of Calagry in the background on Tuesday, October 19, 2010.Chris Bolin
As diplomatic spats go, the players aren't who you might expect. In one corner, there's the government of Prime Minister and Calgarian Stephen Harper. In the other is his hometown mayor.
Calgary's Naheed Nenshi lashed out against the federal government after a Crown agency abruptly backed out of a plan to help build four suburban recreation centres in the fast-growing city – a decision taken suddenly and at the apparent order of the federal government.
The crown agency, Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) Canada, had approached the City of Calgary and asked them to apply for funding for the projects, the mayor said. They worked on it together. "We were told the project is one of the best they've ever seen," Mr. Nenshi said.
Then, a three-sentence memo last week informed the mayor he wouldn't get the cash because recreation centre projects weren't eligible.
The abrupt switch left Mr. Nenshi stunned and fuming. As recently as last week, PPP Canada was still listing recreation centres as qualified programs – up until Mr. Nenshi lampooned them by displaying the website during a press conference. The website was quickly changed and the federal government now insists recreation centres were never eligible – news, surely, to the PPP Canada board that approved the Calgary project.
"So, you have a Crown corporation that's operating under a mandate and a government that's making decisions outside the Crown corporation's mandate," Mr. Nenshi said, waving the letter for TV cameras, saying his city deserves an explanation and urging citizens to complain to their MPs, all of whom are Conservatives. (The mayor helpfully compiled the phone numbers on his website.) "It means that kids are still going to be playing hockey with 6 a.m. and 9 p.m. ice times... It also means that the federal government has lost an opportunity – an opportunity to invest in this city, this city that has always been such a supporter of the federal government," Mr. Nenshi told the news conference Thursday.
He continued his campaign Monday, being sure to mention the snub in a sold-out speech at the Chamber of Commerce, but he hasn't yet heard from his federal counterparts.
"All I know is what they've been saying to the press," Mr. Nenshi said in an interview Monday evening. He doesn't fear a backlash from speaking out against the federal government so strongly. "At the end of the day, I haven't received an explanation from the Government of Canada and I think the people of Calgary deserve that. What choice did I have not to go public?"
He has publicly requested a call or meeting with Mr. Harper – but shouldn't expect one. Andrew MacDougall, a spokesman for Mr. Harper, declined to answer several questions, saying only "there was never any legal authority for P3 Canada to fund rec centres" – even as it solicited such proposals – and that Calgary "received its fair share" of infrastructure cash, an estimated $200-million.
Mr. Nenshi said decisions on projects should be based on merit and that it doesn't make sense to say that recreation centres were never included. "To pretend that this was always the deal is somewhat disingenuous. I'm not picking a fight. I just don't understand," he said.
The city spent $3.1-million on its PPP Canada proposal, and will now need to find roughly $82-million to $100-million to salvage the recreation centre projects. Mr. Nenshi wants to be repaid. "There's no question they should reimburse us the $3.1-million," he said.
That's a tall order.
"If he thinks he's getting $3-million back from the federal government, he's dreaming," said Duane Bratt, chair of policy studies at Calgary's Mount Royal University.
The case demonstrates the mayor's penchant for a pulpit, but he has lacked skills in quiet diplomacy – losing several major votes on his city council as of late, Prof. Bratt says.
"Having these big press conferences and bashing the federal government may be good for his image in Calgary, but you wonder if that is going to weaken his effectiveness in dealing with other levels of government," said Prof. Bratt, adding Mr. Nenshi's predecessor did win some battles with embattled former premier Ed Stelmach.
"(Current Premier Alison) Redford and Harper are not Ed Stelmach. They are much tougher targets. And I don't think Harper's going to get rolled by some Calgary mayor."