Bearspaw Review Compensation Released

Bearspaw Review Compensation Released | A New Standard for Public Accountability

Calgary in Context

Last updated: October 29th 2026

At Tuesday's Regular Meeting of Council (on October 27^th 2026) my Notice of Motion passed (15 to 0), directing administration to make public the total amounts invoiced and paid to the Chair and Panel Members of the Bearspaw South Feeder Main Independent Review Panel that examined the 2024 feeder main break.

This release matters. Calgarians deserved answers about what happened to a critical piece of water infrastructure, and where the public money was spent.

Accepting the report did not end Council’s responsibility to ask hard questions. This inquiry into the compensation of the panel ensures better governance over independent reviews as we move forward.

We want to know how funds were used and how this model can be more accountable in the future.

The numbers

The information released sets out the renumeration paid to the Panel over 9 months:

• Original budget: $2,000,000
• Panel Member Fees: $2,150,414
  • Panel Chair Compensation: $1,752,414 (Hourly rate)
    • Additional $36,000 for the advisory group serving from March 1 to June 30^th 2026
  • Panel Member’s Compensation (6 members): $79,600 per person (Fixed fee)
    • Additional $18,000 per person for the advisory group serving from March 1 to June 30^th 2026
• Incidentals/ equipment/ consultants: $121,287
• Over Budget: $305,690
• The Chair and Panel produced a final report of approximately 86 pages (cover to cover).
  • This is the driver behind the 74% water utility rate increase approved by council on October 27^th 2026.

Background

Following the June 5^th 2024 Bearspaw South Water Feeder Main Break, The City of Calgary underwent a number of reviews and investigations, that are still ongoing. That said, this is not a new problem, and a number of reviews followed the historic 2004 McKnight Feeder Main break. In other words, the Independent Review Panel in question, is one many:

• Pipe investigation (Presented December 11^th 2024): 
  • Undertaken by Associated Engineering and Pure Technologies, this contract investigated the factors of deterioration of the feedermain. The review of the design and operations also confirmed the original design of the pipe was consistent with the proper guidelines of the time and operations of the pipeline were well within the design parameters of the pipe. See the report here: Bearspaw South Feeder Main Pipe Investigation Findings​
• APEGA (Presented May 7^th 2025):
  • The Associatation of Professional Engineers and Geoscientist of Albeta investigated The City’s engineering practices, producing a ~600 page report. The report found that The City’s engineering practices are in line with APEGA’s standards, and left the City with recommendations. See the report here: APEGA practice review
• Independent Review Panel (Presented January 7^th 2026):
  • See the report here: Bearspaw Feeder Main Independent review
• Government of Alberta Inspection (Coming December 2026)
  • Minister of Municipal Affairs, Dan Williams, commenced an inspection into the governance and management of water infrastructure, specifically around the City’s response and implementation of recommendations following the water main break. See the announcement of the inspection here: Municipal Inspection of the City of Calgary: Into the Governance and Management of the Bearspaw South Feeder Main

In the days following the Bearspaw South feeder main break, Mayor Gondek and called for an independent review, but the administration's early draft guidelines told a different story. Under that proposal, a panel of 5 industry experts would be hand selected by City Administration to recruit and hire a board chair. In a Calgary Herald Article from July 3^rd 2026, I am quoted saying “We have the challenge of transparency and openness with Calgarians, and we start out looking like we’re hand-picking the start of the panel, If we really want an unbiased opinion, we should be looking across Canada to really evaluate our processes.” In that meeting, Council directed administration return on July 30^th with a new report that includes the option of hiring a 3^rd party recruitment firm to appoint the panel members.

The CAO came back on July 30^th advising council that three prominent leaders in Calgary "stepped forward" (Dawn Farrell, Wayne Stensby, and Dr. Edward McCauley), who would select a recruitment firm to help them choose the chair of the independent review panel. This report back was accepted unanimously by council at that time.

Even with that structural shift, the process fell short of a fully open, public recruitment model. Because those three selectors were still identified and set up by the City Administration rather than through an open public application.

Why transparency matters

Public service is different from private-sector board service. People who serve on public panels, boards, and reviews are doing work on behalf of Calgarians, using public dollars. Independent expertise has a role in public decision-making, but independence does not exempt a review from public scrutiny. Calgarians paid for this review, and they are entitled to see exactly what it cost.