The City of Winnipeg is poised to cancel a hotly contested plan to cut $2 million from community and neighbourhood grants following intense public backlash.
After about 200 people rallied against the cut in front of city hall Thursday morning, Mayor Scott Gillingham raised a successful motion to refer the plan back to council’s executive policy committee for further review next month.
Gillingham later told media he will seek ways to keep the total funding for such grants at the current $3.4-million level, instead of pursuing the plan to reduce it to $1.3 million in each of the next three years.
MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS Supporters of community organizations like ArtCity and Graffiti Gallery rallied at City Hall Thursday in an effort to reverse a cut to a sector they say is chronically underfunded.
“The goal is to… maintain the total overall envelope that is in the 2024 budget for future years but that requires discussion to do that as we go into the 2025 budget,” said Gillingham. “We have to identify funding sources.”
Many groups lobbied council to remove the cut, arguing it would hinder efforts to prevent crime and reduce support for the city’s most vulnerable people.
An organizer of the rally against the cuts said he believes several council members were ready to reject it due to the negative feedback.
“The vote that was going to happen… to make the cuts and the changes to the community grants program (would) have destabilized all of these organizations. Now that vote isn’t going to happen. They’re putting the matter off and we’re very grateful,” said Eddie Ayoub, artistic director of Art City.
Ayoub said many of the non-profit organizations that depend on the grants serve Winnipeg’s most vulnerable citizens, largely in inner-city neighbourhoods.
The cut would mean a long list of community organizations would compete for less funding, including the Spence Neighbourhood Association, Broadway Neighbourhood Centre, Downtown Community Safety Partnership, End Homelessness Winnipeg, Main Street Project, Art City and dozens of others.
During Thursday’s council meeting, several delegates were highly critical of the funding cut, with one arguing youth programs that save lives would be hindered by the changes.
“You want to know why our kids do drugs and drink and die? Because there is nothing to do. We take away pools from marginalized communities… Would our kids rather play a game of basketball in the park… or would they rather steal food from a store because their families are too poor to afford a school lunch for the next day?” said Michelle Dallman.
Coun. Sherri Rollins, chairwoman of the property and development committee, said she was prepared to reject the grant changes due to the funding cut, which she feared would reduce resources for key West Broadway organizations. Rollins (Fort Rouge- East Fort Garry) promised to fight for a guarantee the cut will be removed, not just postponed.
MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS The crowd swayed council to send the plan back to council’s executive policy committee for further review next month.
“I’m a pretty damn good negotiator and I think there’s a lot of willingness to return to a table and get something that works for community… I want council to be focused on social and economic development,” she said.
The mayor said he still wants changes to assess grant applications, which would aim to ensure these align with council priorities. While he had defended the proposed cut as one way to reduce a projected $40-million city deficit, Gillingham said the feedback led him to change his stance.
“I think hearing from the organizations, certainly, has made a difference in this case. When we’re trying to look at how we invest in front-line organizations, some of which are helping youth, for example, we want to make sure that we’re helping young people to get the services they need and activities that they need as one way to hopefully, make a dent in youth crime,” he said.
joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.ca
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Joyanne Pursaga
Reporter
Joyanne is city hall reporter for the Winnipeg Free Press. A reporter since 2004, she began covering politics exclusively in 2012, writing on city hall and the Manitoba Legislature for the Winnipeg Sun before joining the Free Press in early 2020. Read more about Joyanne.
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