Calgary Transit

[CalgaryTiger]

Again, this is an issue with the lack of proper reporting of news. A simple, "this isn't new funding, just money going towards transit projects that have already been announced", would take away any excitement about the $1.1B.

 

[trtcttc]

It also helps it appear to the public that this government is funding transit in a big way even though almost all of the funding was announced a decade ago by a NDP government.

That's an extremely simplified view of government finances. It's not like the NDP had the power to commit a decade of budget spending, just like how the UCP isn't solely responsible for the new schools built just because they started "planning" and a future government finished it.

This type of budgeting is standard in any Canadian government. When a minister of X comes to Calgary to announce x million for housing, transit, roads, etc. that money is either already in the budget or goes in the budget next round. And it makes sense. You wouldn't want the government to essentially do nothing for a year then announce billions in new spending on one day in the middle of Feb. This is a budget, it's everything the government is spending money on, not a list of new projects only. Although I do think the media needs to get better at differentiating these for their readers/viewers.