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Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION

A multimillion-dollar blitz

Money showered on city projects

By: Larry Kusch

Posted: 11/28/2009 1:00 AM | Comments: 0 (including replies)

An interpretive parkway will be developed along Sturgeon Creek near Grant’s Old Mill off Portage Avenue. (KEN GIGLIOTTI / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS)

While Americans shopped like crazy on Black Friday, politicians went on a major spending spree in Winnipeg.

All told, federal, provincial and municipal politicos showered millions of dollars on projects ranging from community club and wastewater upgrades to film production and fisheries education.

The total bill to taxpayers was more than $35.7 million, with the bulk of the money -- up to $33 million -- going to improvements for the city's South End Water Pollution Control Centre (see accompanying article).

Here are the details:

Learning about fish

The province gave the Manitoba Wildlife Federation $120,000 to develop an interpretive parkway along Sturgeon Creek near Grant's Old Mill off Portage Avenue.

The MWF will use the money to build a walkway along the fish ladder it constructed a decade ago that allows more than 30 species of fish to climb over the weir beside the mill. There will be signage explaining the importance of the ladder in providing fish with access to some 65 kilometres of feeding, spawning and wintering habitats from the mill north to Grant's Lake.

"What's important about this project... is that it's in an urban centre," said Gary Morlock, a vice-president of the wildlife federation. "It explains the extreme importance of fishways in urban areas."

The wildlife federation is contributing some of its own money and a lot of volunteer time to the project. It's also hoping for a $40,000 grant from the City of Winnipeg.

Wildlife federation volunteers and school groups have done a lot of work cleaning up garbage and removing invasive plant species from the creek's banks. And the city has begun improving walking and bike trails along the creek.

Money for movies

Manitoba's film industry got a $2.5-million boost from the federal and provincial governments. The recipient was On Screen Manitoba, a local industry association. It will use part of the money to develop filmmaking in the province's francophone and aboriginal communities. (See details on page C6)

Community centre cash

Two Winnipeg community centres will get close to $140,000 in federal cash for renovations under a recreational infrastructure program.

The Garden City Community Centre gets $85,926 to replace its soccer field turf, upgrade its electrical system and install air conditioning.

Meanwhile, the Red River Community Centre will receive $53,456 to replace a baseball backstop and put asphalt on two outdoor rinks.

-- with files from Kevin Rollason

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition November 28, 2009 A10

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