City hall should build, not block

Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 13/07/2023 (820 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

‘Misfeasance in public office’: city ordered to pay $5M for deliberate delays in development project — Free Press headline, July 7

Why does the City of Winnipeg never have enough money to deliver first-class service to taxpayers? Why are the taxes we pay to own property much higher here than many other Canadian cities? Why will taxpayers soon see another property tax increase?

All of those questions can be summed up by the above headline. Development of everything and anything is painfully slow in Winnipeg. When opportunities to generate income for the private sector are killed by snails-pace city bureaucracy, opportunities for tax revenue are lost.

I remember the feedback I received from many people in this community, when the idea of building a downtown arena on the site of the old Eatons store was controversial. It meant tearing down a building that had been the centre of so much of city life for a long time.

But the truth was, Eatons was out of business. I got into trouble with many old-timers and city politicians who fear them. I declared it was time to put the empty ancient big box store out of its misery.

In the summer of 1987, the president of the United States wanted to end what he called the Evil Empire, the Soviet Union.

He travelled to what was then West Berlin and planted himself in front of the wall that separated the free world from the communist world. Six words in Ronald Reagan’s speech at the Brandenburg gate shook the world and warmed my anti-communist heart, “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!”

On CJOB radio, I urged the City of Winnipeg to “Tear down this building.”

Like a lot of our civic issues, we had been talking about a new hockey arena for decades. Had it been completed in the ‘80s, we never would have lost the original Winnipeg Jets. Replacing the old Winnipeg Arena was going to give us the best chance of getting them back.

Just like a lot of fans, I’m not happy about how the Jets played just a short time ago when four Manitobans wearing Las Vegas jerseys killed this year’s chase for the Stanley Cup. But I can hardly wait for the puck to drop again at Portage and Donald.

It’s not as sexy as playing for the Stanley Cup, but I am looking forward to the development of Andrew Marquess’ vision for his Fulton Grove development on 47 acres of the former Parker Lands in South Winnipeg.

What will take most of the next 10 years to build includes nearly 2,000 apartment units and much more of what goes into developing a new community, only minutes away from two of the most popular box stores in Winnipeg — Ikea and Costco.

If it wasn’t for the city ragging the puck for the better part of a decade, the development would now be finished.

But because of the destructive behaviour of the city, we will likely have to wait until 2033 for people to move in.

Even though the court has told the city to compensate the developer with $5 million, it doesn’t make up for the opportunity he’s lost because he was callously put through a bureaucratic meat grinder. The project can finally happen after a lot of reckless and needless bureaucratic high sticking, cross checking and spearing.

That’s not my judgment. That’s coming from Manitoba Court of King’s Bench Justice Shauna McCarthy.

Instead of objectively looking at the well-thought-out strategy of Mr. Marquess, two city planners have been put in the penalty box for allowing themselves to be influenced unfairly by Coun. John Orlikow.

His politics triggered needless delays, cost the developer multiple millions, and cost the city taxpayers the opportunity of making multiple millions in property taxes and other revenues which come from development of housing, shopping, and recreation.

Forgive me for not channelling David Suzuki.

But there is nothing on those 47 acres, except birds, bugs, brush, and rocks. Taxpayers pay $5 million in fines and two planners have their careers stained.

But since Orlikow wasn’t named in the developer’s lawsuit, he faces no consequences.

At the moment he is even reluctant to face public microphones to apologize for his role in taxpayers getting rolled.

Less than two years ago, Orlikow was seriously thinking of running for mayor. I give him credit for choosing not to.

He likely did some research to discover that birds and bugs don’t vote.

Charles Adler is a longtime political commenter and podcaster.

charles@charlesadler.com