Winnipeg Minute: Community Committees, Intersection Timeline, and Housing Progress Continues

Winnipeg Minute - Your weekly one-minute summary of Winnipeg politics

This Week In Winnipeg:

• There are several community committee meetings this week. On the agendas for several of these meetings are rezoning proposals, occasional liquor permits, and traffic issues. The City Centre Community Committee and the East Kildonan-Transcona Community Committee will meet today at 9:30 am. Tomorrow, the Lord Selkirk - West Kildonan Community Committee and the Riel Community Committee will meet at 9:30 am. On Friday, the Assiniboia Community Committee will meet on Friday at 9:30 am. There are also several Board of Revision Committee meetings throughout the week, as well as an Appeal Committee meeting on Wednesday at 9:30 am.
  
  
• On Thursday, there will be a City Council meeting at 9:30 am. Council will receive the End Homelessness Winnipeg 2023-24 Annual Report, and discuss the installation of a new plaque near the existing monument of Dr. Jose Rizal at Waterford Green Common. The plaque initiative is part of the “Welcoming Winnipeg: Reconciling our History Policy” and acknowledges Dr. Rizal's advocacy for Philippine representation and rights. The plaque itself will be donated by the National Historical Commission of the Philippines.
  
  
• The Ten Commandments Monument, previously removed from Assiniboine Park for construction purposes, may be publicly displayed again. The City's Executive Policy Committee has tasked the Chief Administrative Officer with working alongside the Assiniboine Park Conservancy to find a new location for the monument. The monument, donated in 1965 by the Fraternal Order of Eagles, has been in storage since 2017. While some support its return to a public space, the park conservancy had initially planned to remove it, but now agrees to collaborate in finding a suitable site.

Last Week In Winnipeg:

• Winnipeg has set an aggressive timeline to reopen the Portage and Main intersection to pedestrians. Following decades of closure and a failed 2018 plebiscite, Mayor Scott Gillingham announced plans to reverse course due to financial losses from keeping the underground concourse open. Construction is expected to begin in mid-November, starting with the removal of barrier walls and updates to the traffic lights and sidewalks. The City aims to reopen the intersection to pedestrians by July 1st, 2025, alongside launching new transit routes through the area. Completion of all construction is projected by June 2025.
  
  
• The City said it is making significant progress toward its goal of approving 8,000 housing units by December 2024, with 7,603 units approved as of early September. However, only 123 of these units are designated as affordable housing. The City expects this number to rise once grants from the federal housing accelerator fund are distributed. While overall housing starts have decreased by 18% compared to last year, officials are attributing this to factors like high interest rates and labour shortages.
  
  
• Community groups in Winnipeg succeeded in overturning a proposed $2.1 million cut to the City's community grants program. Initially, the City planned to reduce the fund from $3.4 million to $1.3 million and limit how the money could be used, sparking protests from dozens of organizations. The Mayor and the Executive Policy Committee unanimously voted to maintain the current funding level and allow grants to be used for operational costs.