Water is one of the most important and ever-present substances in our lives. It drives the weather and shapes our geography. It is a quiet ingredient in things as high tech as computer chips and MRI machines, and as everyday as blue jeans and the cant do without cell phones we all carry. We vacation in it, cook with it, clean with it, and rely on it without thinking much about it at all. Water is everywhere. As my wise veterinarian once said, water never leaves the planet; it just moves around. And as humans, we are mostly water too, roughly 60 per cent for men and 55 per cent for women, depending on who is doing the math.
More than 100 years ago, cities started separating fresh water from sewage, and utilities learned that basic filtration and chlorination could make water safe. It became so reliable we stopped paying attention. Our home water bill is often less than what we spend on streaming subscriptions. Reality only snaps back into focus when something breaks, when a feeder main fails, when pressure drops, when we are told to conserve, when daily life suddenly depends on a system we have not properly prioritized.
That brings us to infrastructure, the least glamorous, most essential work a city does.
Calgary keeps growing, and growth multiplies demand in very simple ways. New residents mean more showers, more toilet flushes, more dishwashers running, more fire protection capacity needed, more pressure on aging pipes, pump stations, reservoirs, treatment plants, and the crews who keep it all running. You do not need a committee to understand the math. The system either has capacity and resilience, or it does not.
Here is the good news. A new Calgary City Council has decided to listen, really listen, to citizens who are saying, loudly and clearly, stop taxing us into submission and start delivering core services. People are tired of grandstanding. They are tired of branding exercises, expensive reports, and political fashion shows. They want clean water, reliable roads, functioning transit, safe communities, and budgets that respect the people paying the bills. They want Council to keep its head out of the clouds and its hands on the hard, practical work that makes a city livable.
So let us call it what it is. Infrastructure is expensive. But pretending it is not, by pushing costs into the future, relying on wishful thinking, or hiding behind vague plans, costs even more. The question is not whether we pay. The question is whether we pay intelligently.
We all agree that simply raising taxes again is not a strategy. It is a surrender. So what are the grown-up options
First, focus spending where it matters. Core services are not optional. Water and wastewater systems are not nice to have. Roads, bridges, stormwater, and treatment capacity are not ideological projects. They are the backbone. Fund them first, measure results, and cut what does not directly support those outcomes.
Second, share costs fairly and transparently. We already have mechanisms that collect contributions from growth and development. But citizens deserve clarity. Where is the money going, what is it funding, and what are the timelines? If the city is collecting levies and fees meant to support growth infrastructure, then show the public the ledger in plain language and tie it to real projects with real schedules.
Third, stop outsourcing decision-making to studies. What we do not need is another multi-million dollar, multi-year exploration that produces a glossy binder and no new pipe in the ground. We need a disciplined plan with priorities, sequencing, and accountability, built by engineers, operators, finance professionals, and business minds who understand delivery, not just debate.
Fourth, consider financing that matches the real life of the assets. Water infrastructure lasts decades. It should be financed like long-life infrastructure, not treated like a short-term political problem. If that means using well-structured bonds, partnerships, or investor-grade models with strict public oversight and performance standards, then explore it. But do it with the same seriousness you would expect if it were your own household budget.
Finally, remember the point of a city. The job is not to perform. The job is to provide. Citizens do not pay taxes to be lectured, managed, or impressed. They pay taxes to have services that work. A council that focuses on fundamentals, delivering core infrastructure reliably, keeping taxes in check, and refusing to confuse virtue signalling with value, will earn public trust the old-fashioned way, by doing the job.
Fix the pipes. Keep the taps running. Make the budget honest. And leave the theatre to Broadway.
