|
In January 2006, the province of Alberta and the Tsuu T'ina Nation issued an ultimatum to Calgary City Council: either accept the connector roads as drawn or lose the possibility of having these connector roads forever. In a city of a million people, I was one of a handful of skeptics. I urged council to reject the ultimatum.
People complain that it has taken 40 years to get a ring road deal with the Tsuu T'ina Nation.
I remind them that we could have made a bad deal 20 years ago. In fact if they are really pressed for time I point out that we could probably negotiate a bad deal over lunch.
What's at stake here, though, is the future of southwest Calgary. Therefore the quality of the deal is more important than the length of time it takes to reach it.
About 25 years ago, Mayor Rod Sykes had an opportunity to make a bad deal. Had he made that deal, we would have a ring road today.
We would also have a satellite city on native land, exempt from Calgary taxes, competing with Chinook Centre, West Hills and Macleod Trail.
So Mayor Sykes smartly declined the offer and negotiations continued.
|
Then in 1998, Mayor Al Duer came forward with his own bad deal. We will lease the land from the Tsuu T'ina he proposed -- in a momentary lapse of reason.
Fortunately, Calgary taxpayers know a bad deal when they see one. So Duer's leased land deal died and our negotiators went back to the table.
Now comes Ralph Klein's proposed deal. As before, we are told that this is our last chance. This is the best offer we can expect to get. We are handed a pen and a contract and told to sign it.
Is he serious?
40 years into the negotiations -- we finally come to a point in time where the nation begins to make some meaningful concessions and what do we get? We get a provincial government hissing like a salesman on commission.
What's the hurry? We have other options. The road through the Nation is not our only option.
We can expand 14 St.. In fact, if we extend 14 St. south through Fish Creek Park and convert Highway 22/22X into a ring road for trucks, we can do without a road through the nation for 30 years or more.
|
Some also say that we can bridge over (or tunnel under) the Glenmore Reservoir. That too would buy us about 30 years they say.
So why stop negotiating now?
Premier Klein and Mayor Bronconnier want to be remembered as the guys who got this deal done. They see this as their legacy.
Therefore, they have set an arbitrary deadline -- January 27, 2006. After that, they say, the deal is off.
But I guess I see things differently. I see more concessions made in the last 10 years than in the previous 30 years combined. Therefore I don’t see any good reason to stop negotiating.
We can stay at the table at little longer. We can keep negotiating. We can keep making progress. We can keep working towards a better deal for everyone.
The quality of the deal is the only thing that really matters here. Whether it happens on January 27, 2006 or January 27, 2008 is almost irrelevant.
© Brent Johner. Unpublished, January 2006.
|
