Taking Back the City: Winnipeg 2014 Alternative Municipal Budget

Please join us for the official launch of Taking Back the City: Winnipeg 2014 Alternative Municipal Budget. The Alternative Municipal budget outlines what the City of Winnipeg could do if it were truly committed to social justice, environmental …

Community Development Manitoba-style

By Molly McCracken For fashion trends the world looks to Milan; Copenhagen has become synonymous with urban planning; but for community development, Manitoba is increasingly the source for inspiration and cutting edge policy. Manitoba’s home-grown approach to community …

It’s Time the Change the Budget Channel

By Lynne Fernandez and Christina Maes Nino The City of Winnipeg has released its proposed operational and capital budgets for 2014. As in previous years, it is hard to see the vision in this budget or the direction …

Cities to gain new tool for creating affordable housing

by Josh Brandon The ability of municipalities to regulate, permit or prohibit certain types of development activities within their boundaries is one of the most powerful tools of local government. Through proper planning, local governments can help encourage …

Change Ahead: Winnipeg’s Future Housing Policy needs to Combat Poverty

By Alex Bartmanovich This is a summary of a paper on potential impacts of Winnipeg’s new housing policy on neighborhood renewal corporations (NRCs) and the communities they serve. The original work is based on interviews and academic research …

Asking the Right Questions about P3s in Winnipeg

PDF version by Elizabeth Blackwood and Lynne Fernandez On Tuesday, June 11th, Winnipeg’s Property and Development Committee reviewed a proposal to buy out the Private Public Partnership (P3) agreement for the South District Police Station. In 2012, the …

Housing Housing Everywhere: One way to make some of it affordable

PDF version by Sarah Cooper The Province of Manitoba recently introduced a bill that would allow municipalities in Manitoba to encourage or require new developments to include affordable housing. This step will hopefully lead to a wider range …

Keeping them at bay: Practices of municipal exclusion

PDF version Full report by Ian Skelton Control over the use of land is politically charged, and has frequently led to cases of unfair treatment in the courts and human rights tribunals. Rulings have found that many cities …

Tax Increment Financing and Social Enterprise: Promoting Equitable Community Revitalization in Winnipeg

PDF version by Erin Knight Currently, Manitoba is one of only two provinces in Canada that utilizes Tax Increment Financing (TIF) as a means for financing community revitalization projects in municipalities, although it has a long history of …

Closing the Divides – First things first

by Errol Black In early July the Social Planning Council of Winnipeg announced that it was seeking to obtain money to fund a study to determine the feasibility of relocating the C.P.R. yards that geographically currently divides the city. …