Calgary mayor gives update on water main repairs

Calgary is still dealing with a water crisis and repairs are being made to the infrastructure to fix the issue.

Mayor Jyoti Gondek joined Alberta Primetime's Michael Higgins to talk about the water situation and repairs being made.

Here is a transcript of the conversation:

Michael: What does the timeline look like for getting the water system up and running optimally?

Mayor Gondek: I can tell you the stage that we're in right now is there's welding taking place inside the sites where we identified hotspots. There are adapters being put on to the concrete pipe that's in there to attach it to the steel pipe that's going in. Out of those five sites, there's one that had a concrete casing put on overtop of the existing pipe, because it was deemed to be a better repair than trying to put a steel pipe in there. So that's the state of the five. We imagine that work should be done in short order. After it's finished and things have been sealed up we'll do backfilling. Once the backfilling is done and the sights are covered back up, then we will start testing water, we'll start adding pressure to the system. And we will start doing the tests for water quality. And Alberta Health Services will be able to tell us if we are good to go. And the pressure tests will tell us if everything is ready to be fully operational again.

Michael: As we heard off the top, you've indicated you're calling in all favors, taking up provincial and federal offers of support What does that look like? What might those other orders of government bring to the table for you?

Mayor Gondek: It remains to be seen. Right now we're doing an accounting of the expenditure on this repair and we have already received a lot of support from our provincial government partners. I'm very grateful that they allowed us to draw water from the river to have non-potable water available in big city wagons so that construction crews or commercial businesses could access non-potable water. And now residents are able to do the same so they can collect non-potable water in their containers to provide a little bit of moisture for their plants or their gardens. So we've already had a good partnership with the provincial government. Once we know the full state of what it took to do this repair, I'll make sure I reach out to both federal and provincial counterparts to see if there are funding supports in place that we can access.

Michael: As this situation has played out, has there ever come a point where Bill 21 was potentially on the table, that legislation that allows the provincial government now to take over emergency management?

Mayor Gondek: I have to say the communication between the provincial government and the City of Calgary has been very strong. I have had the opportunity to join in when they've had their Emergency Management Cabinet Committee meeting; I have been in regular contact with Minister McIver; I have had conversations with Premier Smith as it's been needed. They're quite comfortable in the way that we are managing the situation. I consulted with them before we declared the State of Local Emergency. So between their Alberta Emergency Management Agency and our local one, and between my dealings with the provincial cabinet, they know that we've got things well in hand.

Michael: In terms of a post mortem, what should Calgarians expect to come of the independent review you've indicated is already in the works?

Mayor Gondek: That's a really good question. And I think all of us have certain components that we would like to see in that review. And I'm going to leave it up to the experts that we put onto that panel to determine what the scope looks like, what the questions are, what the responses are. What I am really pushing for, though, is transparency to the public. And so the review should be thorough and fulsome. And we should get a good result to show residents that we looked at the incident in a very rigorous manner. Here's what happened. Here's why we think it happened. And here's what we're doing moving forward to ensure this doesn't happen again. So transparency is key here.

Michael: Is it a one-month process, a six-month process? Can you put any kind of a timeline on that?

Mayor Gondek: Not sure what the timeline looks like. I would say it's definitely going to be more than a one-month process. Remember, there are several stages that will need to be reviewed. And there are materials that were taken out of those work sites that are in storage. So the experts will have to look at those damaged pieces to try to put together what may have happened so I'm more interested in making sure this gets done properly, with regular updates to the public as they are available. But I don't want to rush something, I want to make sure that we do it well so that not only can we strengthen our systems, but we can be an example for other cities across North America, because this could actually happen to any of them as well.

Michael: And maybe on that point, what do other Alberta Municipalities need to take away from what your city is experiencing here?

Mayor Gondek: I would say it's Canadian municipalities. So I've had conversations with the chair and the vice chair of the big city mayor's caucus, that is a group of big city mayors that regularly meets and we talk about the things that are important within our cities and all municipalities. With them, I'm going to be figuring out how we take the lessons that we've learned here and apply them broadly across the nation. So you know, what did we find out? What did we do to address the situation? How do we manage this type of infrastructure? Those are all things that we commonly share. So I'm interested in using us as the case study, if you will, about what other places can do.

Michael: What has this experience represented for you as mayor? How has it changed your perspective on municipal politics?

Mayor Gondek: More so than municipal politics, municipal service, municipal public service, we have incredible people who work at the City of Calgary and they have strong partnerships with the private sector. We were able to bring in contractors very quickly. And we have those contractor crews and our city crews working together side by side on getting this repair done. So it's a valuable reminder how important it is for the public sector and private sector to be working together. And I would say the other thing is the importance of communication. It's critical for the residents to understand what's happening around them, because in the absence of strong communication, people assume things. And in a situation like this, assumptions aren't helpful. Facts are important, timelines are important. And so being strong communicators is something that we need to do well as a municipality.

Michael: Before we go, maybe some quick thoughts on your predecessor Naheed Nenshi winning the Alberta NDP leadership race. How do you see that playing into your city's political dynamic?

Mayor Gondek: Well, I think first and foremost, it's important that we have a province that's got a leader as well as the leader of the opposition. Congratulations to Mr. Nenshi. I'm looking forward to working with anybody that forms government as well as the opposition to ensure that our concerns are well understood. And that at times, if both parties could work together to really help us do the things we need to do in our city, in terms of a better funding model, more consistency and funding. I would hope that both parties would be interested in doing that because we are the economic engine of the province and the nation. So more supports would be greatly appreciated.