Pincott might not have done his research, but that's not necessarily a bad idea. Let's say we take the $52 million per year, and dedicate it for 30 years to paying off a capital project. The Alberta Capital Finance Authority uses the province's (excellent) credit rating to get a better debt deal for municipalities. The current rate for a 30 year loan from them is 3.89%.*
Long story short if we committed that 52 million to debt payments, we could borrow $911 million right now. (assuming we have that much debt room, even if we don't I bet if the mayor made it a public campaign the province would fold).
That would get us a good start, and would probably qualify us for matching funds. Once the north/se line is started, it'll get political momentum, imo.
*
http://www.acfa.gov.ab.ca/nav/rates.html