The Wrap: Upper Fort Garry, planning review, no walk-in clinic and Jets attendance

A project to build an interpretive centre near Upper Fort Garry has been delayed for so long, it’s time the City of Winnipeg considers taking steps to get the land back, Coun. Brian Mayes said Monday.

The group that promised to transform the surface lot at Assiniboine Avenue and Fort Street in 2009 continues to collect parking proceeds — about $100,000 annually as of 2020 — from the property adjacent to the historic site.

When the city made the donation to The Friends of Upper Fort Garry, the expectation was that the interpretive centre at the site  — a provincial park on the banks of the Assiniboine River — would be built within five years.

A slew of amendments made to the City of Winnipeg Charter and The Planning Act between 2018 and 2023 are up for statutory review, and broad consultation with municipalities, the development community and the public is scheduled to get underway this spring.

The review focuses on two bills — Bill 37 and Bill 34 — both of which were opposed by municipalities, owing in part to new powers given to the Municipal Board to hear appeals of local council land-use decisions.

The province is expected to get an earful when it begins consultation.

Patients aren’t able to walk in at a walk-in clinic in Winkler, Man.

The C.W. Wiebe Medical Centre’s urgent care clinic became appointment-only during the pandemic, shutting down accessible walk-in options for the nearly 14,000 people living in the area.

It’s still appointment-only today because the area is so low on doctors and nurses that they can only see about half of the patients they used to in a day, a doctor who practises there told the Free Press.

The situation is so bad, the doctor’s own daughter had to visit a local emergency room to get care recently for a suspected case of strep throat.

There is plenty of worry right now when it comes to the future of the Winnipeg Jets.

Jets attendance has taken a nose-dive this season, which is raising alarm bells within the NHL’s head office.

In an attempt to cut through some of the white noise that is out there, hockey writer Mike McIntyre answers some burning questions.