Bowman’s game of mutually assured destruction

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This article was published 04/02/2015 (3929 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

You might not be able to build Rome in one day, but you sure can destroy Camelot in a matter of hours.

At the start of this week, Mayor Brian Bowman marked his first 100 days in office by highlighting all his good deeds since he moved into Sam Katz’s old digs.

A mere two days later, Winnipeg’s rookie mayor was effectively called out as a liar by the most popular man in the city, True North Sports & Entertainment chairman Mark Chipman.

The owner of the Winnipeg Jets, who appears to enjoy publicity as much as a Siamese cat revels in an ice bath, stood up in front of reporters on Wednesday afternoon and declared he’s disappointed with Bowman, regretted publicly endorsing the privacy lawyer during the 2014 mayoral race and then delivered a political gut punch to the rookie mayor.

You know that massive True North development proposal for a pair of downtown properties south of Graham Avenue? You know, the one Bowman has been demanding to hear details about since the middle of January? The one that has caused a vicious public airing of accusations and counter-accusations between the mayor and CentreVenture, the city’s downtown development agency?

Well, according to Mark Chipman, Brian Bowman has known about the $400-million proposal to build three towers and a public square since November, when the new mayor attended a Jets game with provincial cabinet minister Kevin Chief.

Not only did Bowman know, but he and Chief were shown a promotional video about the project in the True North chairman’s office, which offers a view of the land in question.

This creates a massive credibility problem for Winnipeg’s new mayor, who told reporters in January he did not meet with Mark Chipman and did not know much about the proposal beyond “rumours and rumblings.”

The proposal in question involves the construction of residential housing, office space, retail stores, a public square, a new hotel and two if not three skywalks on a Manitoba Public Insurance-owned surface-parking lot at 225 Carlton St. – optioned to True North partners since 2012 – and the former Carlton Inn site at 220 Carlton St., owned by CentreVenture. If all goes well for True North, it will also involve a new headquarters for Manitoba Liquor & Lotteries.

For three weeks, Bowman has blasted CentreVenture for signing an option on the Carlton Inn site while another corporation, construction company Stuart Olson, was obligated to build a hotel on that land.

Bowman denounced this option as a secret deal. He excoriated CentreVenture staff and board members. He declared city hall would no longer tolerate backroom conversations about real estate, especially in the wake of the Winnipeg fire-paramedic station construction scandal, police headquarters scandal and other Katz-era real-estate scandals involving lands swaps, unappraised property purchases and suppressed land valuations.

After nearly three weeks of silence, the usually reserved Chipman gathered reporters into the bowels of MTS Centre – the Excalibur-like source of his power and popularity – and called out Bowman for failing to disclose what he knew about the “True North Square” proposal and when.

One of the claims made by Bowman’s office – that it is unclear what land True North intends to develop – was destroyed by a video that clearly illustrates the construction of two towers 225 Carlton St. and a third on 220 Carlton St.

Quivering in frustration, Chipman said he could no longer stand by while his company’s reputation was impugned and compared the past few weeks to what he went through 15 years ago, when True North’s plan to demolish Eaton’s on Portage Avenue to make way for MTS Centre was met with a series of lawsuits.

Chipman said some of the most respected minds in Winnipeg assured him there was nothing untoward about signing an option on the Carlton site. He asserted city council has ordered CentreVenture to breach a contract by offering up the site to other developers.

Chipman vowed not to sue anyone, but said he’s now reconsidering the development until trust is re-established with city hall.

It’s unclear whether that is possible. Chipman also conceded he learned of the availability of the Carlton Inn site land while he was serving on CentreVenture’s board.

Chipman said he was only trying to resolve the Carlton Inn debacle for CentreVenture and create something positive for the city. Shindico Realty officials issued similar explanations when asked to explain why the real-estate firm got involved in Winnipeg’s fire-paramedic station replacement program.

Nobody comes out of this sorry mess looking good. Chipman faces a conflict allegation, even if he did recuse himself from the CentreVenture board and quit shortly afterward. Bowman appears to be a disingenuous liar, doing whatever it takes to appear to be righteous in the face of previous city malfeasance. Stuart Olson looks like a bad-faith actor in its commitment to build a hotel for RBC Convention Centre. The convention centre board looks like a bunch of amateurs for failing to sign a construction contract with Stuart Olson.

Sam Katz created a massive mess during his first few months in office by cancelling what’s now the Southwest Transitway. But even the distracted Katz couldn’t manage to alienate his biggest backer and drive a bulldozer through the reputations of so many well-regarded people as quickly as Brian Bowman has managed to do in the short time he’s served as mayor.

Perhaps he should have come to office with more politically experienced staffers. Perhaps he has no one at his disposal to offer tactical advice.

This is all fair comment, because whether or not you agree with Brian Bowman, it’s clear the rookie mayor had no end-game strategy in mind when he decided to engage in a game of mutually assured destruction with Mark Chipman.

bartley.kives@freepress.mb.ca