The following column by Colin Craig from today's Sun speaks volumes. Add in the CMHR and the Winnipeg Stadium to the equation. This seeming complete aversion to development in Winnipeg has me baffled. I understand that significant tax dollars have to be invested for some development to proceed. And I understand that maybe there is better use of those monies.
Yet any time a new development is announced the blades come out in Winnipeg and we send the developer scampering away, tail between his legs, maybe never to return. Is this attitude unique to Winnipeg? I believe it is. I wonder why we fight so hard against development?
Yet any time a new development is announced the blades come out in Winnipeg and we send the developer scampering away, tail between his legs, maybe never to return. Is this attitude unique to Winnipeg? I believe it is. I wonder why we fight so hard against development?
Remember the "whack a mole" carnival game at the Red River Ex? That's the game where a plastic mole pops up through a hole and you have to hit it on the head with a giant mallet.
Many developers and entrepreneurial ideas in Winnipeg have been treated a lot like the mole in recent years. It seems every time a good development idea comes along, it gets whacked on the head by the city, the province or the ever-present anti-development crowd.
Consider the recent proposal to build two new apartment towers on Whellams Lane in North Kildonan. That proposal would have seen a $50-million investment in our city generating approximately $500,000 in annual property taxes. As we're in the middle of an economic slowdown, most cities in North America are frothing at the mouth for that scale of development.
But due to opposition from a vocal "not in my backyard" crowd and a lack of council support, the proposal was pulled by the developer. Certainly some kind of compromise could have been worked out prior to that result. Not surprisingly, the developer is now looking at investing in Alberta or Saskatchewan. Whack! The Olywest pork plant proposal from a few years ago is another great example. That project would have invested $200 million in our city and created hundreds of new jobs. We all know what happened to that initiative. Whack!
Who could forget the idea of putting "condos in the parking lot." It was such a "green" development idea, even David Suzuki probably would have supported it. Had it proceeded, rarely used parking lot space at the south end of the zoo would have been turned into a small condo development. Proceeds from that project could have been used to fix up the park.
As we all know, shortly after the idea was floated, the anti-development crowd whipped people into a frenzy and began a fear-mongering campaign that the park's beautiful green space was going to get scarred by development all over the place. To this day, few people know that not a blade of park grass would have been uprooted by that proposal. Whack!
Perhaps the most surprising "whack" in recent years was against the proposal to build a new condo building beside the remains of Upper Fort Garry in downtown Winnipeg. After all, for decades, people have been clamouring for more condo and apartment units in the downtown area.
Even though the developer was extremely accommodating in preserving the existing ruins, people still found a problem with it. Suddenly Winnipeg needed a park downtown more than new condo units. Whack! Whack! Whack!
Were each of those projects perfect? Perhaps not, but consider the recent "bend over backwards" customer service that Ikea received from the city and provincial government. All kinds of capital upgrades like the widening of Kenaston are being sped up to help move the project along. It's probably fair to say that there have been dozens of phone calls and behind-the-scenes meetings to make that project move forward. If only other projects got that level of "let's make it work" support government and the "anti-development" crowd in this city. Hopefully it's a sign of times to come.
-- Colin Craig is the provincial director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.
Last edited by grumpy old man on Tue Dec 30, 2008 1:26 pm; edited 2 times in total
