Firefighters stage at the side of a flooded highway, as the broken Bearspaw South Feeder Main, centre, spews water in Calgary on Dec. 30.Ian Royer/The Canadian Press
The Alberta government has appointed an investigator with sweeping powers to examine Calgary’s continuing water main problems, as residents were ordered to restrict their consumption once again to allow repairs to the city’s key artery.
On Friday, Alberta Municipal Affairs Minister Dan Williams described the investigation as an “extraordinary” measure.
David Goldie, the former board chair of Alberta’s energy regulator and a career oilman, has been appointed to explore how Calgary oversees its water infrastructure. He will have the power to require witness testimony under oath, demand documents and to direct the provincial government to take action, Mr. Williams said.
“This authority is rarely used,” the minister said at a news conference in Calgary.
“Municipal interventions are not routine. They’re not political tools, and they’re certainly not something that the government launches lightly.”
Calgary imposes water restrictions yet again as pipe system is shut down for more repairs
This week, more than 1.6 million Calgary area residents returned to month-long restrictions so the city can undertake new reinforcement work on the pipe. The city is asking residents to take short showers, flush only when required and limit dishwasher and washing-machine use.
It’s the city’s second round of major water restrictions this year. On Dec. 30, the Bearspaw South Feeder Main, Calgary’s largest, which distributes a significant amount of the city’s treated water, burst and sent a river of water gushing into the street, submerging vehicles and forcing firefighters to rescue 13 people travelling on the Trans-Canada Highway in the city’s northwest.
Less than two years earlier, in June, 2024, the same pipe ruptured just a kilometre south of that location, triggering a summer-long water-supply crisis in Alberta’s largest city.
A third-party probe commissioned by the City of Calgary, published in January, found the city ignored two decades of warnings about the pipe’s vulnerabilities.
Calgary Mayor Jeromy Farkas says officials are hoping for stronger communication this time around as the city enters a renewed round of water restrictions while crews reinforce a water main that ruptured in June, 2024, and again in December, 2025.
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Siegfried Kiefer, who conducted that probe, described “systemic gaps” and ineffective management in how the city’s water system was overseen. His report also warned of more disruptions to come unless the city takes immediate and long-term actions.
The first crisis placed Jyoti Gondek, who was mayor from October, 2021, to October, 2025, and her administration under intense scrutiny. Ms. Gondek lost her bid for re-election last fall.
Recently, the United Conservative Party has laid Calgary’s water troubles at the feet of Alberta NDP Leader Naheed Nenshi, who was the city’s mayor from 2010 to 2021.
Mr. Williams estimated the province’s investigation will cost about $1.2-million.
Calgary Mayor Jeromy Farkas, who has referred to the pipe as a “ticking time bomb,” welcomed the investigation. After the city finishes the current reinforcement work, Mr. Farkas will again ask residents to ration water in the fall when it ties in a new, parallel pipe to the feeder main.
The pipe replacement is a $439-million project, which began in January. The city has expedited it to be completed by the end of 2026; it was initially expected to take several years.
Mr. Williams said the investigation isn’t being used for partisan gain, while noting he won’t be able to control how people respond to the findings.
“This is an issue of grave matter and consequence, and very dramatic for Calgarians. So, of course, there’s going to be a lot of discourse. I’m not going to predetermine what the outcome is.”
But Alberta NDP MLA Kathleen Ganley, in a statement, called the probe a “waste of taxpayer dollars.”
She noted the province has “refused to use its power to compel documents or testimony” on the heels of alleged impropriety tied to health contracts, allegations that have roiled Alberta’s UCP government for more than a year.
Last year, the province tapped former Manitoba judge Raymond Wyant to independently examine the alleged procurement and contracting problems at Alberta Health Services and Alberta Health, the government ministry.
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Mr. Wyant concluded last October that AHS did not follow its own policies for two major health care deals, and the government ministry failed to follow its own rules for one of them.
He did not find evidence of wrongful interference by government officials. But he wrote that his conclusions came with caveats because he didn’t have the power to subpoena or hear testimony under oath. Some people declined to be interviewed or to answer certain questions.
Mr. Wyant didn’t interview any elected officials in his investigation, according to his report, and Ms. Smith said he did not request an interview with her or her ministers.
Mr. Williams, the Municipal Affairs Minister, didn’t directly address questions asking why Mr. Wyant wasn’t given the same powers in that investigation.
The Premier’s Office and Ministry of Primary and Preventative Health Services did not respond to a request for comment.
Heather Jenkins, spokesperson for Alberta Justice Minister Mickey Amery, said in a statement that Mr. Wyant received more than two million documents in his review and all government departments fully complied. She did not say why Mr. Wyant wasn’t given the power to summon sworn testimony or demand documents.