City councillors are crossing their fingers, hoping today’s provincial budget plans include green-fuelled public transit and consideration of civic debt.
Matching carbon capture and transportation dollars would offer balance in Edmonton, where concern about the environmental impact of our existence continues to grow, Ward 5 Coun. Don Iveson said.
“If we can make the kinds of investments in public transit that other cities are making, that can make a huge dent in reducing our emissions, not just pumping them underground,” he said.
His sentiments were echoed by Ward 6 Coun. Amarjit Sohi, who hopes the province makes good on allusions to bolster the Green TRIP (Transit Incentives Program) Fund with $2 billion.
Money would be used to help fund the proposed LRT extension from Edmonton’s downtown to NAIT.
Edmonton is facing a $30-million civic debt. Sohi said that though a dollar figure promised by the province allocated for city debt isn’t essential in today’s announcement, acknowledgement of the municipal deficit is.
“We don’t need special consideration,” he said. “I hope there’s some help available from the province.”
