Grassroots women’s mayoral forum sheds light on key issues

By Mareike Brunelli On October 8th, over 60 women gathered at the Circle of Life Thunderbird House on Treaty One territory to share their views on municipal issues and address mayoral candidates. This forum was different than any …

Fixing our Divided City: Lessons from Youth and Elders

By Shauna MacKinnon The Winnipeg Free Press headline “A City Divided” (Oct 7, 2014) and the revelation that “75 percent of Winnipeggers believe the division between the aboriginal and non- aboriginal communities is a serious issue” doesn’t come …

CEO Sleep Out: Charity not Change

By Molly McCracken Last night several dozen business leaders, politicians and high profile Winnipeggers spent a night at Portage and Main in the annual CEO Sleep Out to raise funds and awareness about poverty and homelessness. However if …

Winnipeg mayoral debate on environmental issues

Winnipeg’s all-candidates mayoral forum on the environment will take place September 30th at the First Unitarian-Universalist Church (603 Wellington Crescent). The forum will give voters the opportunity to hear how candidates would address major environmental challenges facing Winnipeg …

Outsourcing Under Scrutiny

By Lynne Fernandez There has been a greater tendency for governments to outsource, and the City of Winnipeg is no exception. Outsourcing can be complex and lack transparency, particularly when public-private partnerships (P3s) are used. Under a P3, …

The High Cost of Low Taxes and Urban Sprawl

By Lynne Fernandez Much of Winnipeg’s infrastructure is in desperate need of repair or replacement. The City’s 2009 administrative report found that just to maintain our existing infrastructure in its current state required $2.1 billion be spent over …

Rooming Houses to Rooming Homes

By Molly McCracken   [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4n-Hv3_QXk?feature=player_detailpage&w=640&h=360] In Winnipeg’s inner city, and especially in West Broadway and Spence neighbourhoods, older homes converted to rooming houses are an important type of housing for many people living on low incomes. However, …

Municipal Budgets: You Get What You Pay For

Winnipeg’s mayoral race is now officially underway. Any serious contenders are going to have to convince a very skeptical public that they can turn around what really has been a winter of discontent with City services. Unfortunately, problems …

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 …