Calgary residents criticize provincial handling of flooded homes

Residents of inner-city Elbow River neighbourhoods voiced their concerns about provincial plans to tear down flood-damaged homes at a public meeting Friday night.

Provincial minister for municipal affairs Danielle Larivee took occasionally heated questions and complaints from residents of Elbow Park, Rideau Park and Roxboro, many of whom are not happy that 17 Calgary houses purchased by the former PC government after the 2013 flood are set to be demolished.

“I think it was a very political decision,” Larivee said of the former government’s buy-out program for flood-damaged homes.

Alberta Party MLA Greg Clark went even further.

“It is unequivocally one of the worst public policy decisions I’ve ever seen,” said Clark.

Both those statements received applause from the approximately 150 people in attendance at River Park Church. But several residents took Larivee to task for a lack of answers to their questions.

Tony Morris, co-president of the Calgary River Communities Action Group, had several pointed questions for Larivee about government policy related to flood recovery, saying that the buy-out program was “obscene in the extreme” and demanding that they be put back on the market, which the crowd applauded.

The former Progressive Conservative government under Premier Alison Redford spent $84 million to buy 80 flood-damaged homes across the province following the 2013 floods. Of those, 17 were in Calgary, which cost the province $51 million.

Municipal Affairs minister Danielle Larivee leaves the basement of a flood-damaged home on Riverdale Ave SW in Calgary, Alta., on Friday, Jan. 29, 2016.

The Calgary houses were first slated for demolition in December 2014, but the province put those plans on hold last fall after a public outcry. A review by the new NDP government followed, which determined that demolition was in fact the best option due to the poor condition of the homes.

A media tour of two of the homes Friday required the use of protective masks due to the danger of mould.

Many area residents have complained that the plan was a waste of public money that will not improve public safety or go toward flood mitigation. There have also been complaints of crime around the vacant, boarded up homes.

Those criticisms were echoed Friday as residents were asked for feedback on what should be done with the sites once the homes are demolished.

A resident who identified himself as Donald captured the consensus of the audience.

“How in the world do we retain and recapture the value of our homes? Put that land back in private hands as soon as possible,” he said to loud applause.

One resident suggested a temporary children’s playground, but another man later stood to say, “No one bought a property in these areas to have a kiddie park next to them.”

Mayor Naheed Nenshi opened the meeting by speaking about the importance of flood mitigation to the Elbow River communities, something echoed later by Ward 9 councillor Gian-Carlo Carra, who also took some concerned questions about the City’s plans for a berm along the Elbow.

The process of demolition began this week with material salvage from the homes and utility removal. The houses are slated to be fully demolished by the end of July.

tslambert@postmedia.com