FORT MACLEOD ? The southern Alberta town left reeling from the province?s abrupt cancellation of a $122-million provincial police college wants the Tory government to reverse its decision ? or pay to make up for what?s been lost.
But Solicitor-General Jonathan Denis is firing back at Fort Macleod?s mayor, questioning the town?s losses and suggesting the province likely isn?t on the hook for any more than the $1.9 million it?s already spent on the proposed facility.
Sporting a black arm band to symbolize the community?s loss, Mayor Shawn Patience vowed Thursday the town will pursue all legal options against the province to recover the nearly $4 million it?s committed to utility connections, and additional money to ?mitigate potential future losses that have come as a result of this decision.?
At a news conference overlooking construction of town utility lines to the facility, Patience said a legal fight isn?t what Fort Macleod wants and he called on Premier Alison Redford to meet with council and reverse the decision announced Wednesday.
?This is really about the way this government treats Albertans,? he told reporters and an impromptu crowd of about 50 residents.
?What does their commitment mean??
The cancellation has caused turmoil in the community of about 3,000, which had been counting on the economic spinoffs of an institution expected to employ 70 to 100 staff while training 400 police officers and 1,000 peace officers annually.
David Arnoldussen, general manager of Scougall Motors, said the car dealership has nearly completed a $5-million new facility it launched, in part because of the police college.
?It?s very devastating,? said Arnoldussen. ?There are other people over ourselves making huge investments in the community.?
The college, intended as a training ground for police across the province, was initially announced by the Klein government six years ago. Outgoing Premier Ed Stelmach confirmed last year the project would go ahead and a construction contract was awarded less than two months ago.
But on Wednesday, Denis announced the project was being scrapped because of concerns over cost and usage of the facility. The Calgary and Edmonton police services, as well as the RCMP, told the government there was little need for a centralized college, he said.
Denis said Thursday it was ?unfortunate? the mayor was threatening a lawsuit and noted it was time to ?cool the tempers a little bit.?
?I don?t agree with a lot of the mayor?s comments . . . the amount of money that he suggests is out,? said the minister. ?I?m willing to look at their figures but at the same time, they don?t match up with ours, frankly.?
Alberta Infrastructure said Thursday there is a contract with the town regarding municipal services needed at the college?s site, but department spokeswoman Jeannie Smith said she could not provide figures on those costs as it would be ?inappropriate? to speculate.
?We did have a contract with the town but as far as amounts go, the town is going to have to figure out their numbers and we?re going to have to figure out our numbers. We?re going to have to sit down and talk about what the costs were at this stage in the game. We don?t have a specific number right now.?
While the building contract was awarded to Bird Design-Build Construction Ltd. in July, only the company ? not the government ? actually signed the document, she said.
Stantec Architecture, which produced the artist renderings of the project, was a subcontractor, she added.
With files from Stephane Massinon, Calgary Herald
jwood@calgaryherald.com
Source: http://feeds.canada.com/~r/canwest/F233/~3/_mpWiACDDNY/story.html
mortgage settlement macauly culkin joe namath stefon diggs nazi ss andrej pejic naomi watts
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.