Winnipeg mayor sends wish list to potential premiers

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This article was published 21/09/2023 (749 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Winnipeg Mayor Scott Gillingham has sent a pre-election wish list to the leaders of Manitoba’s three main political parties.

In letters to provincial Progressive Conservative Leader Heather Stefanson, NDP Leader Wab Kinew and Liberal Leader Dougald Lamont, Gillingham asks that each do the following, if elected Oct. 3 to become the province’s next premier:

— Create a joint plan to address homelessness and addiction;

— Create a municipal funding model that replaces “arbitrary grant amounts” with a designated share of growth revenue (such as provincial sales tax or income tax);

— Increase provincial funding for the north end sewage treatment plant upgrade, Winnipeg Transit bus purchases, the South Winnipeg Recreation Campus and the renewal of the St. James Civic Centre to help cover inflation and construction cost hikes;

— Work with the City of Winnipeg to develop a comprehensive community safety plan that focuses on crime prevention;

— Provide additional funding to expedite Winnipeg’s Transit Master Plan.

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“Manitoba is unique among the provinces, as our capital city represents such a significant share of our population and economic activity,” Gillingham said in a news release Thursday.

“Manitoba will only succeed if Winnipeg succeeds first, so we have to work as a team with our provincial leaders to address these pressing issues. Together, we can make major progress on shared goals, like improving community safety and growing our economy in a sustainable way.”

The requests reflect some significant recent cost hikes on some of the city’s largest projects. For example, the north end plant upgrade is expected to soar by $482.3 million, bringing the tab for the entire project to $2.336 billion. Previous tri-government funding agreements on that project don’t account for the latest increases.

The city also secured funding agreements with the province and feds for Winnipeg Transit, the South Winnipeg Recreation Campus and the renewal of the St. James Civic Centre, which Gillingham believes should be adjusted to split inflationary costs between the governments.

joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.ca

Joyanne Pursaga
Reporter

Joyanne is city hall reporter for the Winnipeg Free Press. A reporter since 2004, she began covering politics exclusively in 2012, writing on city hall and the Manitoba Legislature for the Winnipeg Sun before joining the Free Press in early 2020. Read more about Joyanne.

Every piece of reporting Joyanne produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.