WEEKEND, June 7-9, 2013
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Budget cuts put buildings at risk Post-secondary. Maintenance backlog at U of C hits $400M, tower’s top half closed JEREMY NOLAIS
jeremy.nolais@metronews.ca
Millions have been drained from budgets used for upkeep on everything from boiler rooms to gymnasiums at Calgary’s post-secondary institutions, and an official with the city’s largest university warns continued provincial funding lags could force some buildings into permanent closure. The University of Calgary accrues $50 to $70 million in deferred maintenance every year and it expects its total backlog to hit $400 million this year. Now, the school must contend with a nearly 40 per cent cut to provincial infrastructure maintenance funding — a byproduct of an overall draining of funding to Alberta’s post-sec-
Drastic
40%
Almost 40 per cent has been cut in provincial infrastructure maintenance funding to Alberta’s post-secondary sector
ondary sector announced in the March provincial budget. “If we don’t get our funding restored, it just gets worse and worse,” said Bob Ellard, university vice-president of facilities management and development. “Eventually, you’re in a downward spiral you can’t get out of ... it will force institutions to close buildings.” U of C’s maintenance struggle is dwarfed only by that faced at the older University of Alberta in Edmonton, which last year reported a need of more than $800 million in upkeep funding. The U of A also saw its 2013-14 maintenance budget cut, but only about half as much as the U of C’s. While the provincial advanced education ministry con-
ceded the infrastructure cuts came as a direct result of harsh “fiscal realities facing government,” a statement issued identified Alberta institutions as being in “good condition,” overall. “The province has invested $3.4 billion in post-secondary expansions over the last 10 years and an additional $1 billion in maintenance and renewal of existing buildings,” the statement reads. Calgary’s Mount Royal University, meanwhile, will be forced to make due with just one-third of the funding it had for maintenance in 2012-13. Duane Anderson, Mount Royal’s vice-president for administrative services, estimated the backlog at his school to be in the “tens of millions,” and said the newest cut will force his department to prioritize required tasks, starting with those that could pose a safety risk if not dealt with. Insufficient funding will force U of C to close the top half of one of its most storied buildings. Story, page 4.
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SPEAKS TRUTH TO POWER
Edmonton MP Brent Rathgeber talks about his decision to quit the federal Conservative caucus in St. Albert, Alta., on Thursday. Rathgeber says there is a lack of commitment to transparency in the government. Story, page 9. JASON FRANSON/THE CANADIAN PRESS
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