Days after a city report recommended the three levels of government create a new core-area initiative to rejuvenate downtown, a group of inner-city leaders is calling on them to fund a similar initiative to help with the poverty and addictions crises.
The 40-page report, called Visioning a Just Transformation in Winnipeg’s Inner City, was authored by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives Manitoba, a left-leaning advocacy group.
The report calls on the City of Winnipeg, and the provincial and federal governments, to renew investments in “equitable social and economic development” to address the lack of housing, as well as food insecurity and the toxic drug crisis.
MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS FILES
A view of downtown Winnipeg from the roof of 7 Evergreen Pl.
“We hope that the report sparks action: after years of disinvestment and austerity policies, the inner city would benefit from some carefully thought-out investment to support the communities that already live there,” Sarah Cooper, the report’s lead author and an assistant professor in city planning at the University of Manitoba, said in a statement.
“The current crisis in the inner city is a result of years of inadequate investment. A healthy, safe and happy inner city needs action led by the community and funded by all three levels of government.”
The report also calls on a table of Indigenous and community leaders to be convened to identify the strategies and structures needed for public investment to address the problems plaguing the inner city.
The city announced more details about CentrePlan 2050 last week. The plan calls for residential development to be kick-started by removing some development fees, the transformation of surface parking lots into residential towers, a revamp of the Graham Avenue bus mall and the addition of parks and green spaces.
One of its recommendations is for the civil service to explore whether the three governments can come together for a type of core-area initiative to help pay for the features in CentrePlan 2050. The Core Area Initiative agreements of the 1980s prompted the construction of Portage Place and the housing behind it, as well as the creation of The Forks.
The inner-city report was released at Circle of Life Thunderbird House on Main Street this morning.
kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca
Visioning a Just Transformation in Winnipeg’s Inner City
Kevin Rollason
Reporter
Kevin Rollason is a general assignment reporter at the Free Press. He graduated from Western University with a Masters of Journalism in 1985 and worked at the Winnipeg Sun until 1988, when he joined the Free Press. He has served as the Free Press’s city hall and law courts reporter and has won several awards, including a National Newspaper Award. Read more about Kevin.
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