CURRIER: Is Winnipeg a city residents can be proud of?

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Are you proud of your city? It’s a serious question and one that we all need to ask ourselves from time to time. If the answer is “yes” then that’s a good thing. If it’s “no” then we need to ask why not.

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Typically our answers will oscillate from one to the other. We’re certainly proud of some aspects of Winnipeg but when it comes to the look of parts of the city, not so much. The potential closing of businesses due to crime doesn’t help.

Our downtown has been a sore spot for decades and continues to be so. We can only hope that recent acquisitions by the Manitoba Metis Federation and the Southern Chiefs will bear fruit in the years to come. That’s a wait and see. Meanwhile, partly thanks to COVID-19 and mostly due to other factors, Winnipeggers are reluctant to embrace the downtown area as they did once upon a time.

As for residential areas we have some of the most beautiful in Canada. Wellington Crescent, despite what one may think of the modern houses that have replaced the heritage structures,remains one of this country’s jewels. There are many other neighbourhoods worth driving through for a look.

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Others, though? Well, yeah. Empty houses present a poor image and attract vandalism and other crimes. Back in mid-March a man was shot and later died from his wounds in one of those houses, which continues to see fires set. Mayor Scott Gillingham is hoping to be able to ameliorate the problem by disposing of some vacant lots to not-for-profit groups but a major issue has been the delay in getting demolition permits from the Property Planning and Development department.

The owner of the aforementioned house says he’s been waiting for three months for a permit to demolish the house and sell the property. It seems PPD has two speeds, slow and stop. Doubtless excuses would flow like effluent from a busted sewer pipe but excuses don’t solve the problem. The company contracted to handle the demolition says it’s sitting on more than 40 permits, awaiting approval from PPD.

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We’re back to a previous column in which it was pointed out that if department heads aren’t getting things done their heads need to roll out the front door of 510 Main Street. If the department is truly understaffed (trying to give the benefit of the doubt) then hire enough people to make things happen.

But the glacial pace at which business is conducted in our city is creating an atmosphere of discontent. It’s not possible for the citizens of this fair burgh to feel proud if they lack confidence that the city is being run efficiently.

Every city has its share of vacant properties but we have nearly seven hundred of them and there’s no sense that there’s going to be a resolution to the problem any time soon. It’s disheartening to think that we might get more discussions, more studies and maybe another layer of bureaucracy to handle the scourge of derelict properties in Winnipeg.

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This is a prime opportunity for Mayor Gillingham and the administration to prove they are people of action. Permits must be granted in a timely fashion, demolitions must occur so that the local firebugs don’t get there first and new homes erected for families looking to build a life in a city of which they can be proud.

There’s that world again. We return to the initial inquiry, which is, are you proud of your city?

— Geoff Currier is a former Winnipeg broadcaster.

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