Winnipeg’s 2012 Preliminary Operational Budget lacks a central policy goal or cohesive vision for the future direction of the city of Winnipeg. This report from CCPA-Manitoba examines the details of the budget and finds that rather than offering Winnipeg a clear course of action, it goes madly off in all directions.
Municipalities and urban development
Council’s recent decision to increase bus fare by a total of 25 cents by June 2012 adds to a growing list of wrong-headed policies moving the city further away from the desires Winnipeggers expressed in OurWinnipeg, the City’s own master development plan. Not only does the policy quash hopes for more rational, environmental transportation, it wantonly disregards the plan’s stated goal of creating a more inclusive, equitable city.
For many Winnipeggers, the news from Main Street last week was long overdue. On Wednesday, city council voted in favour of a preliminary design to finally widen Kenaston Boulevard to six lanes of traffic between Ness and Taylor avenues. As noted in the Winnipeg Free Press, the plan is to expand the roadway on the west side by acquiring land from Kapyong Barracks, and on the east by demolishing about 50 homes.
October 26, 2011 was the deadline for developers to make proposals for seven large pieces of prime real estate scattered across Winnipeg. Unsurprisingly there were lots of proposals, although the City won’t let us see them yet.
The potential sale of so much public space should be of great concern to Winnipeggers. Why sell it? Who wins and who loses? What alternatives may there be to selling these properties? These questions need to be answered before any decisions are made.
This report looks at the city of Toronto’s annual budgeting process over the past five years and shows that the fiscal challenges facing city council this year are nothing new. Countdown To Zero: Balancing Toronto’s Budget shows how, without relying on transfers from other levels of government, city councillors can bring the budget deficit down to zero - doing the same kinds of things that city council has done in the past, with no need for drastic measures.
The 2010 Winter Olympics shone a light on one of the most fascinating experiments in transportation planning ever conducted in North America. Previously unthinkable measures were taken to keep downtown Vancouver and Olympics venues from being overwhelmed by gridlock.
Community Led Organizations United Together (CLOUT) is a coalition of nine community-based organizations providing direct service to inner-city children and families. They include: Andrew Street Family Centre, Ma Mawi Wi Chi Itata Centre, Community Education Development Association (CEDA), Native Women's Transition Centre, North End Women's Centre, Ndinawemaaganag Endaawad (Ndiniwe) Rossbook House, Wolseley Family Place and Wahbung Abinoonjiiag.
Remarks by Scott Sinclair to the Columbia Institute’s Centre for Civic Governance “dialogue session” held on June 3, 2011 in Halifax in conjunction with the Federation of Canadian Municipalities’ annual conference.
The election this month of a majority Conservative government will change Canada’s political landscape in ways that will be detrimental to most Canadians.