Have blog, will travel

Elmwood

Winnipeg

When Michel Durand-Wood started a blog on municipal financial issues, he didn’t know where it would take him — but what a journey it has been.

On May 20, Great Plains Press will publish You’ll Pay For This!, Durand-Wood’s first book, which is also the first in The City Project, a series edited by Durand-Wood and his wife Emma Durand-Wood, which will tackle “the components that go into making a thriving city.”

“I never did think it would get to this,” laughed Durand-Wood. “I’d been sort of interested in city finances, following the closure of the Kelvin Community Centre in my neighbourhood. Why were we closing stuff and why was stuff not getting fixed? You have money for everything, you don’t need to prioritize things. So why don’t we have enough money?”

Chair of the Glenelm Neighbourhood Association, Durand-Wood has been involved in grassroots initiatives such as ReImagine Elmwood, which have had a direct positive impact on the neighbourhood he calls home. In 2018, in response to the failed referendum to open Portage and Main up to the pedestrians, Durand-Wood launched the blog DearWinnipeg.com with the intent of debunking myths about municipal finance.

“That was a wake-up call,” Durand-Wood, a father of three who blogs as the ‘Elmwood Guy’, said. “My goal was to educate my fellow Winnipeggers on the financial backdrop to all the policy decisions that we make in the city, be it transportation, or housing, or recreation.”

Since then, Durand-Wood has written regularly on his blog, which has gained a broad readership not just locally, but also internationally. The blog has led to speaking engagements both in and Winnipeg and beyond. (Interestingly, the city has since come around to opening Portage and Main to pedestrians.)

“Now, probably 60 per cent who read the blog are from outside of Winnipeg,” Durand-Wood said. “That’s cool to see. We’re writing about Winnipeg, but it’s also writing about common struggles of the North American city.”

You’ll Pay For This! will also be available in the U.S. and U.K. on June 24, proof that Winnipeg isn’t the only city grappling with institutional financial issues. The book, Durand-Wood explained, is intended to be an introduction to municipal finance for the layperson.

“This, in broad terms, lays out the same topics I’ve been writing about, in a nice approachable book that you can get through on a Sunday afternoon and learn about how money flows through a city and what are the things we need to pay more attention to in order to have a city that can pay its expenses sustainably,” he said. “What are the things we need to understand, essentially, as the owners of the city? We’re not customers. We’re the owners, and we need to understand if our city is doing well or poorly, and if it’s the latter, how can we turn things around.”

While Durand-Wood admits there is much to bemoan when it comes to the issues facing our city, he is ultimately hopeful.

“We didn’t get here overnight, and we’re not going to get out of this overnight,” he said. “It’s going to take a lot of effort, both individually and collectively. We can change how we approach things. The agency rests with us. We can do something about it. We can’t wait for someone to rescue us. Nobody is coming. If something is going to happen, it’s going to have to be us. Everyone has a role to play. It all adds up and works together.”

The local launch of You’ll Pay For This! will be at McNally Robinson Booksellers (4000-1200 Grant Ave.) on Saturday, May 31 at 7 p.m. Hosted by Patty Wiens, a.k.a. the Bicycle Mayor of Winnipeg, the event will feature games, a small talk from Durand-Wood, a Q&A period, and a book signing.