Winnipeg Free Press > Opinion > The View from the West > Where have all the visionaries gone?

The View from the West

Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION

Where have all the visionaries gone?

By: Margo Goodhand

2/06/2009 1:00 AM | Comments: 13

It's a photo of a construction crane in a muddy field at The Forks, but to Gail Asper, it's an icon.

It's iconic not just because the crane appears to soar into a wide-open Prairie sky at the site of the future Canadian Museum for Human Rights. But because it's something more -- something we haven't seen in this overly self-deprecating city in a long, long time.

"It's such a powerful symbol of hope," Asper told the Free Press editorial board last week.

She knows about the power of hope.

It has taken her years to set that crane in motion.

The museum is an uncharacteristically ambitious project for this city, with a price tag of more than $250 million and counting; a "build it and they will come" dream to be the first national museum outside of Ottawa; a mandate to somehow tell the stories of every human rights issue encountered by Canadians of every race.

We don't build projects of this size and scope in Winnipeg.

But last week, as piles were being driven into the Red River gumbo, Asper was relatively sanguine about reports the museum will need another $45 million to get built.

"We'll just have to keep on fundraising," she said.

It's going to be a beautiful piece of architecture, and -- again, uncharacteristically for Winnipeg -- they are refusing to compromise on the design.

The glass will be shipped from Europe, the specialty steel from the U.S., they will not cut costs by lopping off the tower by renowned architect Antoine Predock.

"We want something iconic that will draw people to Canada," explained COO Patrick O'Reilly.

Like the little city of Bilbao, Spain, which had the chutzpah to build the Guggenheim Museum a decade ago and became a global destination, Asper dreams that one day, the CMHR will put Winnipeg on the map.

Late last week at a business luncheon, an ad for the CMHR noted that when the Guggenheim was first announced, many questioned the choice of Bilbao, population 350,000. But the museum has transformed Bilbao since it opened. In one year alone, 2007, it pumped more than $300 million into the Basque region's economy, the CMHR ad claimed.

"What would $312,000,000 mean for our local economy?" it asked.

Gail's brother David Asper was the guest speaker at that luncheon, which fell on his sister's 49th birthday. He spoke about the power of inertia.

"I was born here a half century ago when they first started to debate rapid transit," Asper pointed out. "Half a century later, we still don't have a rapid transit system."

It's taken years to get a new stadium built for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers football team, he said, and the deal is still not done. The building of the arena was a Titanic struggle, as was the downtown ballpark.

Asper calls it "policy paralysis," where every movement toward change is studied and debated and studied again until it goes nowhere. "There comes a time when the talking has to stop," he says.

His vision is a "COD" (Control Our Destiny) tax -- a two-point hike in the PST aimed directly at raising millions for legacy projects in Winnipeg. No, he didn't say the fund would buy a stadium for his beloved Bombers; he spoke of upgrading the zoo, sprucing up downtown Portage Avenue and the Exchange District, and building a rapid transit system.

Priorities would be decided by the people of Winnipeg who paid into it, he said, and not tied to the whims of government, or the wealthy.

As it is right now, anybody who tries to build something great in the city has to "be prepared to damn the torpedoes, and suffer," he warned.

Think "suffer" is a bit melodramatic? Take a look at just one of the responses we received to his COD vision: "We would all like to live the way Mr. Asper does but life is not like that so tell him to round up his high-class buddies with their high-class ideas and pay for these things themselves if he is so concerned about our Winnipeg. If he is so embarrassed about what our Winnipeg has to offer, then move on."

That was one of the printable comments.

This city was once home to some of the biggest dreamers and boldest visionaries on the continent. But even the biggest dreamers can lose faith and move on.

I can remember not so long ago when you could not find a crane in downtown Winnipeg.

Sunday night at that one muddy site at The Forks, I counted five.

These days, when the city seems full of people who think small, my money's on Gail Asper.

She knows about the power of hope.

 

margo.goodhand@freepress.mb.ca

 

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition June 2, 2009 A10

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13 Commentscomment icon

http://blackrod.blogspot.com/2009/06/winnipeg-city-full-of-visionairies.html

Some strong feedback and analysis of the public's reaction to the $45M museum budget shortfall.

praise Jesus (of suburbia) and Mike P: Amen! (although you could also include Vancouver in your list).

the museum is a great project. it should be built. the only problem with the museum is that the feds are paying for operating costs but are not going to have creative control. this is as problematic as turning assiniboine park over to the plutocrats. federal funding should entail that the museum is run by neutral, dispassionate civil servants. hopefully, the concerns of naysayers will be proven incorrect (i.e. that this is a vanity project that will be pushing a certain political view of human rights; the kind of view that thinks Steve Harper deserves an award for his record on human rights)

@gepinniw - that Bixi bike-rental system looks pretty cool, thanks for pointing it out!

As for the museum, I just hope it does a better job with Human Rights than the Orwellian "Human Rights" commissions/tribunals in Canada.

The visionaries have mostly all gone to Calgary, Toronto and Montreal - places that engage new ideas, move swiftly, act and plan creatively, and foster dynamic cities.

They have left because Winnipeg is dominated by people with small, short-sighted attitudes. Because this place values potholes instead of developing vibrant, dense urban neighbourhoods, cars instead of LRT.

This museum will be great for Winnipeg.

Like the arena and ballpark before it, the naysayers will eventually retreat to North Kildonan or St. James and watch more Friends re-runs.

Seek greatness.
Always.

Thank you for your commentary gepinniw - I completely agree with what you have said.

Margo - just because we don't agree with what is happening regarding this CMHR doesn't mean we are automatically small thinkers. Enough money has come from the public purse to fund this project. At this point, the fundraising folks need to tap into their contacts in the private sector to obtain the additional funds needed. It would be intersting to see how well shareholders would react to having to share their profits.

Why else would the Free Press have provided the technology for us to express our opinions??? Small thinkers....absolutely not.

No one is calling for a royal commission.

If there is a shortfall, then they should disclose how much is really needed, once and for all. The monthly $1.5M increases should be examined to see if this expense has been accounted for in their $45M figure. This should be easy to check. Just ask them.

A firm deadline should be established to raise all the money.

There should be no blank cheque for this project. Just a deadline to demonstrate that society truly wants this and is willing to pay or not.

This project is a private-public partnership, unique among national museums in Canada. The amount of accountability to date has been demonstrably inadequate. Confidence in the managers of this project has eroded. Run a poll and see for yourself.

It's a question of priorities, Margo. Many of us simply feel the public monies directed at this museum would be better spent elsewhere. (Didn't philanthropists used to do all the actual philanthropy without asking the taxpayers for handouts?) It's a simple difference of opinion. But your side won, so good luck to you. But if you fail, please don't try to pin it on those of us asking tough questions.
And here's my next question. What next on the agenda? Surely the visionaries have more to accomplish after the "Titanic struggle" of building a sport facility.
Montreal just announced a $3 billion expansion of their already sprawling metro system. This is something that will directly benefit all citizens of that fair city. They also just installed a huge network of cheap rental bicycles with solar-powered docking stations (it's called Bixi, look it up). I guess meat and potatoes stuff like this doesn't get millionaire philanthropist-types (and their journalist admirers) too excited these days. Oh well, hey, have a great time a the ribbon cutting, and have a glass of champagne on me!

Wow, Jesus et al, you just proved Margo's point. Bravo!

Earl, give it a rest. Over time, construction costs rise. It happens all the time. There is no need for a royal commission.

"It's such a powerful symbol of hope"

Yes I agree Margo.

I HOPE that the laughable attendence figures come true.
I HOPE that people outside of Winnipeg are aware it exists.
I HOPE construction costs won't continue to skyrocket.
I HOPE the building won't be as ugly as the drawings.
I HOPE yearly operating (taxpayer) costs don't increase.
I HOPE the Feds don't ever cut off said operating grants.
I HOPE Gails cronies make up future cash shortfalls.

But most of all I HOPE that Margo and the rest of the Free Press editorial staff put down their pom-poms, take off their rose coloured glasses, push themselves away from the Asper supplied Kool-Aid and start asking some hard and serious questions about this money pit of a white elephant.

Yeah ! Like thats going to happen.
But hey ! A guy can Hope right??

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