More Student Housing Outside University of Manitoba

Of the 15 major universities across the country with medical schools, the University of Manitoba has the fewest student housing option of any of those listed. The Fort Garry campus even up to the 1980s was a far into the suburbs as possible and even then it was light on residential units. In the 1980s, the University of Winnipeg closed down all their student housing. Brandon University and Canadian Mennonite University have been better for housing than the two biggest campuses in Manitoba.

Pembina Hall was added to the University of Manitoba to make way for major work to expand academic teaching space into Tache Hall. It was imperative for the university to build housing to unlock donation money that came in. That will has died off waiting for the next capital campaign. It has only been private investors who have filled the void and it has taken a while for these projects to get done.

The Toronto-based Campus Suites began the process eight years ago and acquired land and began to build the first of two 16 storey mixed use towers across from the University of Manitoba. At the southwest corner of Pembina and Bison Drive, the first tower began to take shape around 2017. A spectacular fire just as it reached the top floor delayed the project but eventually the ARC was completed. It made for a fairly bold skyline just at the curve on Pembina Highway was in front of the university.

The purpose-built student residence is the tallest apartment in front of the U of M but was not the only one built over the the previous years. Surrounding and bordering the Real Canadian Superstore are a series of apartments from 4 to 7 storeys. Students have moved into these apartments although they are not designed for them in the way the ARC has been. Part of the student housing is amenities such as furnished apartments as well as price point are a strong draw for U of M students, especially international students.

Over the last several years, the Chinese population along Pembina has grown substantially. The university has been one of the main reasons. With 368 units and 570 beds, the ARC represents a good chunk of new student housing within walking distance of the campus. The 2023 enrollment at U of M was over 30,000 with around 7,000 international students, a 2.9% increase. Were it not for the private apartments, the university would be in no less a jam than some others across the country.

The curved building of the ARC has a Little Pizza Heaven and a dentist office in it. And just open now is Meltwich. The mixed development is being seen in more and more apartments. The first floors of many places are often the least desirable for renters/owners, especially women. It would appear that some shops and restaurants are giving the first floors a chance.

The Arc now has about 70% student residents living there. It was so successful that Align, the second phase 16 storey tower 397 units and 554 beds will be ready just as school starts. A Dairy Queen and a Subaru dealership occupied the spot the two towers are on. A rail track runs behinds the buildings. The two towers share a similar colour scheme and are only slightly set back from the sidewalk. 

The 16 floors of total space are not the only apartments that have gone up in the last little while near the University of Manitoba. As mentioned, there are three building sites called Bison Pointe already completed by the Superstore. A number of condos and apartments have gone up on Chancellor Drive and further down Pembina Highway. The apartments further down are also 15 and 16 storeys.

It is the University of Manitoba that sits on the largest chunk of land. Their present footprint plus the former Southwood golf course represent one of the biggest opportunities of providing housing to the 30,000 students and growing Fort Garry area. It has been a painfully slow process and pretty much all concerned hope the first of a number of projects are announced. The biggest university can score a big advantage over others in Canada if nearby and affordable housing is available for students, faculty and others in the area. 

The Low Cost of Parking Permits in Winnipeg

The Globe and Mail in their editorial has commented on the below market prices set for street parking by cities across Canada. The permits for overnight parking are so low that even car supporters ought to be embarrassed. Think that most people would agree that curbside parking near where you live is valuable. How valuable? Well, so valuable that people will get very upset about cars that park in front of their house regularly even if there are no parking restrictions at all.

Think about your own streets and how many cars are parked out front each night every night. Even when someone has two parking spaces, they sometimes end filling their garage with stuff to store and end up parking on the street instead. Along many residential streets in Winnipeg, it is an unbroken chain of cars parked overnight every night, most without permits. Even where permits are required, the cost is so low annually that it likely costs more to issue documents than what comes in. 

Winnipeg charges $50 a year for an annual parking permit. Calgary is $30 a year. In Toronto, it is $300 a year. Any of those rates seems like a deep subsidy given the value of the roads. The cost of building nearly free parking is staggering and yet every city does it. Safe to say that if all overnight parking had a fee and that it rose every year then more people might actually park in their garages or seek other parking options. 

How is that short term parking pay high prices and end up being towed when in Winnipeg you can pay $50 a park all year. What's the point of parking in your garage? It is so cheap to pay for parking on your street. It is easier to save money not using a storage locker and fill a double garage than pay market rates privately.  And don't think that doesn't happen. There are so many garages filled with stuff and cars out in the street because the cost and consequences of it are so low.

The city is so cash strapped that giving this space away for free and having it occupied all the time so that it can't be used for deliveries or customers is costly in so many ways. The last time the city looked at this was many years ago. We clearly have a cars up and down every street even when people have space to park them. This should help make people realize there is a cost for this and the city will be able to bill people for the actual cost.

Manitoba Metis Federation Buys Two More Towers in Winnipeg

The Manitoba Metis Federation continues to put together quite the portfolio of real estate holdings in Winnipeg. The investments are very much a consolidation of space already being used by the MMF for their staff. The two towers with BellMTS logos on them will see MMF staff starting to move in right away. The towers beside the former Bank of Montreal building at Portage and Main which is being turned in a heritage centre are at 333 Main Street and 191 Pioneer Avenue. Bell is no longer supporting a large head office staff. Occupancy at 333 Main in recent year has dropped to about 68% vacancy. The towers were listed in recent years for sale by Artis in Winnipeg for about $33.5 million but the price of the sale this year has not been disclosed. As office workers start to move in, occupancy will rise so that the vacancy rate will be 32%. The MMF indicates that 160 workers will be moving in the taller of the two towers. A parking lot was part of the purchase.

Just down the street the MMF has offices in the the former Wawanesa tower at Broadway and Main as well as other offices in the former sport federation building. Wawanesa consolidated their five offices in a tower at True North Square. MMF has around 300 employees working out of the building at 200 Main Street. That office building also comes with both an underground as well as surface parking lot.

The MMF has other offices they have been using but as their leader David Chatrand explained, they have upgrades needed that need to be done. It is likely the move to to new BellMTS towers will be an upgrade on quality compared to some of the older buildings out there. As if to demonstrated the disrepair of downtown buildings, it was reported that the Canada Building is closed after flooding affecting Manitoba government offices.

The MMF is its own level of government as a Red River Metis, the leadership has chosen downtown Winnipeg as where their cultural, political and economic centre is. It is hard to peg how many employees they have altogether but at least 500 now will work along Main in the 24 floor 333 Main Street, the 13 floor 191 Pioneer Avenue and the 7 floor 400 Main Street location. The MMF have a total of 11 buildings downtown including 280 Fort Street, the former Carlton Club and Yoga Public location.

The 280 Fort Street is planned as a 36 room boutique hotel. There will be many watching that with interest to see how well it goes. The $154 million in land claim money awarded in 2018 has helped spur these investments and some such as RV park near St. Laurent are starting to turn a profit. A tree nursery is also a business owed by the Metis.  The total value of buildings and parking lots bought total around $122 million.

The MMF has signed a $500 million agreement for housing and has recently built 20 units of transitional housing at old Bell Hotel location for $4.3 million. Elsewhere in the province they are building houses and retirement residences. It is likely we will see more housing as there is a limit to how much commercial buildings the Metis want to be exposed to. 

The next 20 years the critical area for development in housing and the Metis will likely be critical in building that housing. Of course much of this will be for the Metis community but like their commercial buildings, it will likely have tenants across the spectrum. The business success for Metis will continue to come from from the diversity of their businesses that serve all Canadians. Listening to David Chartrand, he seems to take Winnipeg's overall health as critical to the success of Metis health. He isn't wrong. Partnership is the way to go for prosperity and long term healthy success.

The hotel that is proposed for 280 Fort Street could be a new business area for the Metis. First Nations across Manitoba are having success in hotels and tourism. We could see more of these hotels in Winnipeg and other provincial towns and cities. Real estate has always been one area where enormous wealth can be derived but there is risk in the business. It will be interested to see how the Metis handle their portfolio.

Canada and NATO

Canada attends the NATO meeting in Washington DC this week and a lot is riding on many of the participants as the organization reaches 75 years old. For the U.S. all eyes inside and outside America are watching Joe Biden to see if comes back from the presidential debate low. Real fear in NATO is that if Biden is defeated that Ukraine and possibly NATO are cut loose.

The 32 member alliance has seen two new members join in Finland and Sweden. These two long time neutral countries have joined because of the growing threat from Russia and aggression in Ukraine and in other areas. The key metric for NATO countries to hit in military spending is 2% including 20% on new military equipment. In another post I point out how Canada has tripled military spending under Trudeau but we are only at 1.3% of GDP. The plan is to get to 1.7% by 2030.

This is simply not good enough for our allies, especially since 10 years from now the expectation is we still don't get to 2%. Liberal cabinet ministers still talk about soft power and sanctions but they clearly are not working. Bill Blair, the defence minister, is desperately saying more announcements will push it over 2%. He specifically is talking about Navy subs that are either diesel or nuclear. The Australians are buying nuclear ones at a cost of up to $368 billion through to 2050. This would buy between three and five Virginia-class nuclear subs as well as sub manufacturing capabilities. This is part of the Labor party Australia goal of 2% of GDP although the subs would be .15% of that total over the years.

Trudeau met with U.S. senators from both parties and a non-partisan group is pushing Canada to commit to 2%. Canada is being singled out as the riches country with the lowest spending. However, as one of the richer NATO members, it means in dollar amounts it is higher than a lot of European countries. Moreover, Canada commands a brigade in Latvia as well as fully supports Ukraine.

Both the Liberals and Conservatives have not said how they will get to 2%. Pierre Poilievre is pretty quiet on this because he does not want to detail how Conservatives will do that because it is not a vote winner. Certain groups have indicated that they believe we can't hit 2% without significant debt. 

The focus on Canada is making the Trudeau government squirm in ways that they likely hoped would not come. However, Trudeau should not be be surprised as his dad had the same thing happen and had to bring Canada's military spending up to avoid economic sanctions from our allies. Although the Pacific is not part of NATO, Canada has been left out of talks and alliances because soft power is not wanted.

Canada was a founding member of NATO and huge contributor to NATO. Few people were untouched by WWII. Many understood the implications of the Soviet threat and the fear Germany would rebuild and be involved in some way after the war. Soviet aggression through 1950s to the 1980s reinforced the view that NATO was needed. Canada kept forces in Germany thereafter until the 1990s when the Cold War ended with the Soviet Union break-up. Still, over the last 75 years Canadian financing of the military has ebbed and flowed. Sometimes it has been 2% and other times it has been below.

Canada's military is not the only one to be struggling. Britain has nearly 2.5% GDP spending and yet says it could not field a fighting unit for more than 30 days. Canada currently spends $27 billion a year on the military. Australia spends roughly $10-12 billion more than us and 2.2% GDP. It is no wonder Britain and the U.S. have nothing bad to say about Australia. As for Australia, they are terrified of China right in their back yard.

Canada ranks as 7th largest spender in dollars in NATO and 14the largest spender in the world. During the Harper years Canada spent .97 of GDP on defence despite big talks about how they were law and order party.  It could explain why they have not been all over the media criticizing Liberal spending which literally outpaces the Tories. Next year's election will probably not bring clarity on this. It usually warrants a single line in the policy platform with no elaboration from any parties.

The problem is that Canada's allies are cutting the country out. And some of this is going to hurt economically. Trudeau and his cabinet have seemed paralyzed by this. They think our good standing won't be affected by the slow walking of getting to 2%. The announcement that Canada will purchase up to 12 submarines with requests for proposals in the fall is going to be posted. Canada in the 1980s/90s said it would order 12 submarines but it always seems that four is what the end number is. We should expect no less this time.

With the announcement of the submarines, we can expect the Norwegian/German consortium, the Swedes, the Koreans and the Spanish will all be bidding. We can expect a certain amount of competition between these parties. The last submarines purchased from the British were the Victoria-class which at the time seemed like a bargain since they were built but retired because the British had switched to all nuclear fleet. In the end they cost $750 million and that much again in refurbishments and then a $3 billion sustainability program. They have been marked by human error, tragedy and technical issues from the beginning. And now they have a hard time fielding a crew for even one.

The issue of the submarines keeps coming up because all around the world countries are building or buying them because of the threat to waterways from powers asserting themselves to access resources. Canada's Arctic is such a place. It can't be lost on Canada that even small places like Singapore have four subs. So true of Brazil, Malaysia and soon The Philippines. 

Politico and Wall Street Journal have both blasted Canada and the BBC has done a story on it as well. The Sun newspaper chain blames Trudeau while never mentioning how poor the Harper government did while in majority. In Canada the blame game is usually one sided. There were cuts through Chretien, Martin, Harper and Trudeau's time. Procurement has been flawed for decades. Pierre Poilievre will have no less pressure from allies to state how he gets to 2% in next year's election.

The Trump assassination attempt is going to result in a very skittish United States over the next little while. Maybe a long while. There is not telling how the electorate will react. And it is uncertain if Biden can hold onto his candidacy after his poor performance in the debate. There could be severe consequences. Trump has already said there are few things limiting what he will do if president. And now the Supreme Court agrees.

 If Trump becomes the president in November, Ukraine will likely be cut loose and the U.S. might pull out of NATO. The implications for this are immense. If Ukraine falls, it will start a refugee crisis in the millions. Canada may see a huge surge of refugees. It will certainly put all of Europe in crisis. The movement among the conservatives in the Republican party is that they should withdraw from the world save for many two places: Israel and China.

Trump thinks NATO members should be paying the U.S. actual cash for protection. The 2% is spending each country does for defence at home and for the NATO alliance. It isn't a transfer payment to the U.S. for protection. The U.S. receives the lion share of military spending contracts so they do very well in that regard. However, if Trump becomes President, he could bring about penalties immediately. Canada can't afford to have a plan that takes several years to realize. It could be a miserable four Trump years that Canada could take economic hits.

The Defence minister Bill Blair and those that previously served in the role need to make it clear to cabinet and the PM that they believe we don't have much time the avoid punishing responses economically and possibly terrible outcomes militarily. 

The U.S. receives value from NATO because they have been drawn into two world wars originating in Europe and they don't want to be drawn into a third. They have managed to stay out of one in part due to NATO.  

As for Canada, they will still face heat if they don't articulate in more detail what they are doing in defence. This past week it was revealed they bought a large hangar in Iqaluit that Russian and Chinese interests were looking at. The Department of National Defence had leased it in the past but foreign interest and the ability to land and shelter our new F-35 jets played a strong role in buying the hangar and lengthening the runway. 

One significant agreement between Canada, Finland and the United States will see the three cooperate on icebreakers. The details are slim but all three countries need icebreakers to counter the Chinese and especially the Russians who have nearly 40 icebreakers including four nuclear ones. The talk has been that possibly 90 icebreakers might be built. That would be a remarkable number if it holds up. The U.S. is in desperate need with only two top class icebreakers.

One of the other things talked about at NATO conference that Canada looks to bring itself up to 2% spending is NORAD and air defence spending. The threat from Russia in the north is not lost on the government. The purchase of the hangar in Iqaluit is an indication they really don't want Russian or Chinese to set up operation in the north and dominate the area nor travel through it without so much as a by your leave. The problem with the $38.6 billion in spending is that a lot of it comes in the 2030s. It does nothing for 2025 when we may see huge blowback.

To mitigate the economic effects of increased spending on defence the government is likely to look at industrial policy. A military cyber warfare operations center is tied to out economic wellbeing. It isn't just international crime rings but government intervention that tries to disrupt our economic function to take our innovations without compensation.  Runway expansions for military aircraft can double for northern access for civilian use as well. CFB Winnipeg and the Richardson Airport share the campus opposite one another. It is a policy that benefits both.  Only Yellowknife also have a shared airport.

NORAD needs a deepwater port infrastructure and tugs and icebreakers in the north. Three are under construction in Iqaluit, Pond Inlet and Qikiqtujuarq all in Nunavut. Only Churchill, Manitoba is a deepwater port with a railway and airport attached. But the port is largely abandoned. First by the military and then by government of Canada. In recent years the military has rebuffed any mention of Churchill or the north. And yet, the NORAD commitment would imply ships, planes and yes, troops up there and not just on summer break. Canada is upgrading Iqaluit, Inuvik, Yellow Knife and Goose Bay for the military. It is worth noting that we see next to nothing in American media about NORAD. It is probably why Canada has felt no real pressure until recently.

Canada's election in 2025 could have military spending as an election issue. Wab Kinew, Manitoba's premier, has said Canada should speed up NATO spending to not run afoul of a new government in the U.S. This remark came at the premier's conference when the group agreed that the PM should stay out of provincial business save for federal transfers with no strings attached. In recent days Pierre Poilievre says he won't commit to 2% because Canada is broke. He may not get that option if the U.S. government promises punishment. There is some indication that Conservatives might pull out of assistance for Ukraine if the the U.S. does.

It is all very complicated and the election next year in Canada and this year in the U.S. will make it even more complicated. And all the while this is going on, you have Russia and China wanting to buy assets in Canada's north.

The Seniors Residences of Oakdale

In 2021 many residents of Charleswood protested this 55+ housing development. While all agreed housing was needed for the area, the residents just didn't want it near them. The housing now approved against many of those wishes can be seeing al the William R. Clement Parkway, the road running from river to Grant and ending at the dogpark.

As seen in the above illustration, there are three apartment building being built. The tallest at 7 storeys is closest to the road. with two more apartments in a U shape beside it. One of them closer to the road and the other less so. The parking lot is in the middle. There will be 270 units altogether.

At the corner of Oakdale and Grant there are already four multi-unit apartments, one facing right out to Grant. There were objections to those as well. However, Oakdale Drive remains largely a quiet Charleswood street with very large houses and sprawling properties. 

The William R. Clement Parkway connects Grant to Roblin and extends to the Charleswood Bridge. The roadway runs through the old city owned Charleswood Golf Course which has extensive forested areas, especially on the west side. Despite how many cars are taking the parkway, it is has mature as well as newly planted trees, pedestrian crossings and walk and bike paths everywhere. The streets running parallel to the parkway are decidedly low density.

Charleswood has very low rise apartments along some of its busier roads. Across from the Charleswood Mall are several apartments that are actually taller than three floors. Most of the places built are more than 30 and even 40 years old. Newer places for seniors with mobility issues or wanting other amenities are nowhere to be found. A three floor walk up is just not what a senior with bad knees needs to wants.

A property held by a religious group with a large parking lot became available. There are some who wanted it divided into four or five large house lots with enormous back yards. This would have been wholly a poor use for the size of the property. Even a very active church would have had detractors on the street. It seemed inevitable that the land would be looked at for multi-unit housing.

Generally, there is resistance to any change in a neighbourhood. Even changing colour of a house can be disruptive. If it wasn't in the neighbourhood initially, a lot of people don't want it. It is why places like Bridgwater have multi-unit housing right from the start. No one complains because they were there when the detached houses were built.

The Charlewood Active Living Centre which was in need of a new home will be locating within the facility. They will occupy 4000 square feet in Building B which will serve between 500-600 members. The residents of Oakdale will have access to the facility. Presumably, there will be parking for those going to the Centre. The 55+ residents of Oakdale will also have common rooms and a gym.

There will be quite a buffer of trees between Oakdale and the apartments s well as north and south of the property. Understandably, the 7 storey building is higher the tree-line perimeter but the building is it set far enough toward the road. It is clearly visible from the parkway. This does have to be a problem. There are some lovely neighbourhoods where the second or third floors can see into surrounding yards. River Heights comes to mind. Most of the city is like that. Even Charleswood with deep lots doesn't necessarily have wide lots except maybe on Oakdale.

If you were to have a choice on types of housing that would nearby a 55+ apartment would be top of the list. Having retired or near retirement people living nearby means they don't keep the same work hours as the 9 to 5 crowd. No school bus coming to pick up kids at the apartment. The McDonald's at the mall is likely to have seniors there drinking coffee early morning. The traffic on Oakdale is probably going to less geared to rush hour.

As for Charleswood residents, a 55+ apartment gives them a choice when a they reach an age where the detached house is just too big and too much. Presently, people in the area don't have a lot of choices or none at all. They often have to move way out of the the neighbourhood to places like Tuxedo. It is only then that some realize just how hard it is to stay in the area you might have lived for 30 or more years.

It is likely not going to take very long for the importance of this housing will be in the neighbourhood. Oakdale itself will remain a very desirable street to live on and it not likely the majority will notice any real traffic problems. The fears that the street would be ruined by loss of the golf course were assuaged by the handiness of using the parkway and having traffic stop using the other side streets. Likewise, getting the Charleswood Bridge made the neighbourhood more convenient rather than less convenient.

The city desperately needs more apartment and especially in areas like Charleswood where the population is nearing or is at retirement. The developer paved the road from the entrance of the apartment out to Grant and did other improvements totalling $2.5 million to persuade council to approve. They added a new sidewalk and made sewer improvements. In all, council got the developer to do what was needed to not have the city on the hook later. 

It takes far too long for developments to get built. Some have delays as long as ten years that seem confounding. It is not difficult to see that this new 55+ apartment will have a line-up of new residents wanting to move in. It was also open up detached housing for those unwilling to move until they had this option available. They get to remain in their beloved, safe and green neighbourhood.

How is it Britain Can Transition Government in One Day?

Victoria Jones PA, 10 Downing Street London

It always amazes me how fast a British prime minister is moved in and out of the official resident 10 Downing Street. In the recent general election in Britain July 4, 2024, it took one day for Rishi Sunak of the Conservatives to move out and for Sir Keir Starmer of Labour to move in.

Britain is a small country in size compared to Canada and one assumes we don't have that fast transition because in the old days, an MP would be back in their home riding and even if they were the leader with the most seats and their to form a government, they might take days of travel to get to Ottawa. Now, it seems doubtful it would take more than 24 hours for an party leader and future cabinet to not not make it back to Ottawa to be sworn and take up their duties.

Only four times in the last 45 years has there been a change from one party to another in Britain and a one day conversion of 10 Downing Street. In Canada it took 16 days for Trudeau to transition to PM after the Harper government was defeated. Of course, compared to Americans we are unbelievably fast. Even provincial transitions of the same party remains in power take a minimal of a few weeks!

A long transition can lead to problems as the new Wab Kinew government has found. The last PC government tried to slip some major initiatives through that did not have the authority of the new government. This is unacceptable. Still, as we have seen in the U.S., a government in transition must respond to emergencies and threats to security and have the freedom to do it. The legal authority exists in place but as we saw from end of the Trump presidency, many cabinet members decamped and there did not seem to be anyone to ensure a smooth transition.

British prime ministers have been sworn in since 1721. In Canada, it has only been formalized in the last 40 years. The transition time has been said to be good for prime ministers to assess who among their newly elected caucus should be in cabinet. In Britain, the law only allows for 21 paid cabinet members. The finance Lord Chancellor and Attorney-General are paid separately. Canada has 35 ministers who are all paid. Since Trudeau, it has been evenly split between men and women.

In Canada, there has been a tradition of regional top cabinet ministers from each province. The party in power has a chief lieutenant represent the province that doles out the money. Nowadays, this can be a man or a woman in the party. A change of political party for a new government continues the process. The point is that the prime minister appoints people to cabinet who not only can run their portfolio but who also keep the juniors MPs in check and contribute to the power politics of getting things done.

Is it possible to get a PM and cabinet sworn in less than 24 hours in Canada? The answer is yes but a lot of planning has to take place. In Britain, moving vans are hired for whatever outcome. The permanent staff work with the political staff to determine who will be moving into 10 Downing Street in the event of a win and where furnishings of the departing PM will go. The past PM had kids and the incoming PM has kids. Even the kid's bedrooms have to be packed up, cleaned and painted all in short order. The PMs with kids usually choose 12 Downing Street next door which has four bedrooms for their home. Packing up requires an army of staff and a great deal of sensitivity. 

There also needs to a measure of realism. The present and past prime ministers have to rely on staff but have to prepare themselves and family for the whirlwind transition is like following election night. Even while votes are still being counted, both leaders have to prepare for the outcomes. A change of government means that there is no time to sit and think about things. Or help pack and unpack. A visit to the king is in order and then a news conference outside 10 Downing and then throughout the day the new cabinet is sworn in and a cabinet meeting.

The old cabinet is out of their offices just as fast. The reliance on the permanent staff is complete at this time. The party political staff will have been working with the permanent staff for some time about every eventuality.  If Canada was to replicate this, it would require a level of planning requiring of the civil service and political parties not seen before. It is worth keeping in mind that 10 Downing Street is not only a residence but a working office as well. In that, it has more in common with the Whitehouse than the former 24 Sussex Road or Rideau College. The only time news conferences that were held outside Rideau was during Covid. However, at 10 Downing Street, it common practice for the PM to address the people from a podium outside the doors to the house.

In Canada, the Office of the Prime Minister is across the street from the House of Commons in what was known as the Langevin Block. Because of the association of Langevin to residential schools, the name has been dropped. However, the building today is home to the PMO and the Privy Council. The prime minster has two offices inside as well as all his staff.

What most people don't know is that behind 10 Downing Street is 70 Whitehall which is there the Cabinet Office is and that there is a back door to that office where officials can go back and forth. The Cabinet Office has more than 10,000 staff members and are mostly civil servants.

In terms of moving a prime minister into an official residence in Canada, it seems entirely possible to do quickly. But much more advance work would have to be done to know before winning office who the cabinet members would be. Presently, it isn't always obvious that the shadow cabinet or critic portfolios will actually take a ministers job after an election. For the Trudeau cabinet, some ministers have changed jobs at least four or five times. Some were dropped from cabinet with no explanation. Some were elevated to cabinet shortly after election.

Given the problems of a long transition that we have seen even in Manitoba, it would be worthwhile for a committee in federal and provincial legislatures look at a more speedy process of a handover. The old arguments about travel logistics, selecting a staff and a cabinet no longer have nearly the same weight. Even an MP in the far reaches of the country, should be able to get to Ottawa in 24 hours if made a minister. In the meantime, we can only watch Britain in wonder.

1100 Corydon

Over a long period of decades Corydon from Confusion Corner to Wilton has become more commercial and has seen higher density residential units built along it. It has been fairly organic and neighbourhood pushback on things has only had a few flashpoints such as the drive-thru at Stafford or the long ago Days of Wine and Roses street festival.

The Italian restaurants and others that made the street walkable remains in place but the area but more businesses such as beauty shops, medical and dental clinics and law offices. More housing would also be welcome but that doesn't seem to be in the plans which is a shame.

What does seem to be happening is small sections of the street being transformed from single floor shops and restaurants to a mix of retail/restaurants and commercial tenants of up to three floors. This is happening a little bit at a time but changes in zoning means less setbacks from the sidewalk and more opportunity for balcony and rooftop stuff.

Corydon and Wentworth, just before Crescentwood Community Club, is the last stretch on commercial before angling into River Heights where commercial stretches are spotty at best. One such building at the corner aforementioned was Ralph Cantafio's Custom Tailors was a single floor shop that existed in River Heights since the 1950s. It has been rebuilt as a three floor, four commercial unit building that has no setbacks. It comes right to the curbside and extends to the end of its lot. It is an attractive building.

It is the two buildings next door that are now being redeveloped in much the same way as Cantafio's. The former comic book store and hair salon and a house next door that looks like it was used for offices are going to be demolished. In its place will go up a three storey building with three commercial units facing out to the street and two floors of offices including a rooftop terrace.

Put together with the Cantafio building next door, it is a continuous commercial curb side development. It has a street front profile. Anyone walking down the street has reason to window shop. The difference between Corydon and Osborne Street until recently was that almost no apartments existed directly on Osborne as it went through the Village. Corydon has always had apartments and houses on it and this should remain so.

If Covid has shown us anything it is that neighbourhoods that are all offices or all retail will suffer without people living close by. Neighbourhoods such as Bridgwater which are more mixed use and have transit within them tend to do much better. Corydon is mixed use for blocks but these occasional tweaks will make more a fuller neighbourhood experience.

The economy and growth rate in Manitoba is improving although it is still hard to see it. Population growth is up and GDP growth as well. Productivity is still in need of improvement. However, one of the ways to improve productivity is logistics. Try to ensure the every neighbourhood has what it needs to be sustainable makes it a more productive place to live. Not to mention move livable. No grocery stores or pharmacies means you have to leave to find those things.

The new building seen above features two floors of window facing the street on the second and third floors. The first floor will be the three shops which may include a restaurant. As seen in the pic, the building blends into the corner building. The highlight if the rooftop terrace.

There are still gaps in Corydon which could could use a re-fresh but organic growth means, it is a small piece at a time. Likewise, we are not likely to see a Day of Wine and Roses festival in full throated street party as in the past. Even Osborne has found that it can interfere with business as much as support it. What does work is a consistent organic upgrading. 

The city planner can help by not mandating setbacks from the sidewalk. It is uninviting to shopkeepers and a waste of space in general. There are a few other places along the street getting touchups but nothing so quick as to alarm. However, it is interesting to note that when people who have been away from the city from a year or two come back, they notice the changes. This is markedly different than when the city went through long periods with few changes to areas. In some cases, showing a bit of wear and tear. This is no longer the case for some streets such as Corydon.

Edit: A reader reminded me that the corner in question is Wilton, not Wentworth. She mentioned the shop next to Cantafio's was Sandy's, a candy store. The house in the picture was mentioned as Dr. Schwart's dentist office in the past.

Across the street was the Belgian Bakery and the opposite corner Sal's, Mclean's Tomboy Waugh's Annex General Store. Before it was Sal's it was the Purple Parrot. She recalls a soda shop and a small shop with hardware next door. Today massage therapy clinic and yoga places are on the corner.

Corydon Hardware further down Corydon which is closing is part of a bygone era. The only grocery further down is Foodfare.

25 Station Street - Jubilee Station Apartment

The shovels in the ground are finally happening and the politician invitees were there to do the honours. The southwest transit corridor took some time to build and opened during the pandemic in 2020. It has seen a number of apartment units go up along especially where the former Fort Rouge Yards CN rail site was. This was the goal all along to create density along a former industrial area from the core to the University of Manitoba. It all started back with phase 1 for the blue line. Like all projects in the city, it took 12 years to complete. This is simply too long and if the Transcona phase takes this long, it will be some time in the 2030s when it gets done. Other routes will likely not get done or even started for decades.

A revolution in travel is not likely to have much patience with Winnipeg's timetable. Regardless of what the city plans, they will have to contend with aging infrastructure and construction inflation. Building six lanes of freeways all over the city in not practical or affordable. We have seen many neighbourhoods reject them. Meanwhile bridges like the Arlington Bridge are closed with no solution in place for its replacement or demolition.

In recent days, media has been focusing on the desperate need for housing across Canada and what has led to the shortages and meteoric rise in prices. Extremely low interest rates did nothing for curbing prices. If anything, it led to people buying larger houses, farther away and commuting everywhere. Neighbourhoods were set up to have only detached housing with no retail, commercial offices, duplexes, apartments or anything other than a house with garage facing out to the street. For some this is idyllic until they look to downsize and then they have no choice but to move out of the area they may have lived in for decades. It is possible some people dreamed of moving to a warm retreat and some do. For many though, it might be that they haven't planned for anything other than the house they are in. And that can be a problem as people age.

The reconstruction of the underpass at Jubilee and road work on Pembina and along Jubilee has been painfully long. More than two years of slow work. Even as that was going on the southwest transit corridor was being phased in. By 2020, it was all starting to shape up but the pandemic meant a lot of the housing plans slowed down due to shut downs, supply chin issues, rising interest rates and and slow zoning approval added years to getting anything built.

The Jubilee Station has had open land ready to go for some time so this week, all the politicians came to shovels ceremony for a project by Carrington Real Estate. It is a 16 storey apartment with a 3 storey townhouse right across from the bus terminal. The apartment will have 156 units and the townhouse will have 10.  The federal accelerator program is assisting housing along corridors the city and the Feds wish to see have more housing. The three year program has $122 million to be used for this type of housing. Portage Avenue is also considered for this funding.

Winnipeg really didn't see a boom on Graham when they made it into Winnipeg Transit corridor. There was some nice commercial areas along it but no  support for housing by any level of government and zero interest from the private sector. It took the True North people a multi-year effort to have housing built both north and south of Portage. Only then came some assistance but there are still huge empty gaps of surface parking.

The new apartment building will be the tallest and most significant project in that area along the Fort Rouge CN rail line. It hasn't been without it's critics. Many of those living in the area complain there is too much traffic. They have a point but there have also people who complained that it is obstructed their clear view looking west. That isn't a legitimate complaint about what was industrial land.

It was the right move to build a transit corridor along the rail line. It took far too long and the dogleg through the Parker lands has taken ten years to sort out. The apartments that were planned for it were obstructed and it took a court to tell the city they were wrong. It appears things are back on track and if construction can happen this year, it will go a significant way to reducing the chronic shortage of housing in Winnipeg.

Tomorrow's affordable housing is what goes up now and every year from now. It is about 20 years that brings stable pricing. The country can't take huge breaks in building sustainability. Zoning issues that take ten years are a scourge all over the city. Bylaws on size of house, setbacks, how many parking spaces, how many stairwell often have nothing to do with safety or aesthetics except in the most not in my yard type of view. It can be tough seeing houses being torn down for tall, for or three floor houses. However, we are seeing more and more houses reach 100 years of age. Not all in great shape. Nor are they likely to be built exactly like what was there before.

The new apartments will cost about $1300+ which isn't exactly cheap but does include utilities and WiFi. Geo-Thermal heat and cooling is part of the design. This isn't an insignificant add on. And if the residents don't have a car or only make do with a car co-op, they could see substantial savings. A lot of renters could save a lot of money if they did not have to drive everywhere. But that would mean more work and places to live along safe and active transit routes.

The Station Street development by Carrington is one of a few projects they anticipate doing around stations over the next five years. We surely could use it. They have talked about speed in getting things done as did some of the politicians present. Think there is acknowledgement that development companies specializing in multi-unit places can't be sidelined for year after year. Many companies that built the apartments of Osborne or along Henderson Highway or Portage were cooling their heels for decades because the city seemed only interested in detached housing suburbs. Many of them had not a single multi-unit place even next to them. Contrast that with Seasons of Tuxedo or Bridgwater which have that type of housing built right along with the development.

In 2025 quite a lot of housing will come on stream and more in 2026. It can be difficult because a lot of people believe in housing until it is a suburb going up near them, or an apartment or someone's granny house out back. The city has to be sympathetic to design, traffic and infrastructure needs but when it can't even get anything built on empty land, it is simply a total failure of governance. Let's hope the Station Street apartments are the first of many built to help create capacity, make rent stop its meteoric rise and to create corridors of transportation that have the population to make them convenient and safe.

We Need Aldi Grocery Stores in Winnipeg

Aldi is the name of the hypermarket grocery from Germany that has transformed European and American grocery stores. A Canadian branch of the store seems as elusive as ever. Homegrown versions have not really emerged. The grocery sections of Giant Tiger and Dollarama help but they only offer so much. 

The Canadian government is seeking out discount grocers but so far seem to have had no success. The reasons are varied. One big one is that there are far more dominant grocers here and they have been found to price fix with help from suppliers such as bakeries. Dempsters was recently fined $50 million over this but it took 13 years of investigation and no further actions were contemplated. Another investigation into meat prices is underway but it is anyone's guess how long that takes. Likewise, there is an investigation about property being used to keep competitors out but if it takes a decade to decide, it doesn't encourage companies like Aldi who see the roadblocks.

Alternatively, Aldi has bought grocers in the United States including some big ones such as Winn-Dixie and Trader Joe's. In Canada, there are enormous food groups where there is very little in the way of sellers. It is quite possible that a company like Aldi might make an offer on a group like Giant Tiger.  However, they are not going to come to Canada if they feel the fix is in. Everyone is well aware of the fiasco of Target. Most of the other food ownership groups are massive. Even the Save on Foods group in the west is buying U.S. grocers so there are no easy entries for newcomers.

Corporate concentration has always been a problem in Canada but the Sobeys takeover of Safeway often left two stores of the same company across the street from one another. Not much competition if both have the same advertised sales. While some stores were forced to be sold, there were no price leaders. For example, Red River Co-Op that purchased some stores does not lead as a price leader on gas or groceries. It hopes that cash dividend is enough to attract shoppers but the starting price point can be high. Save on Foods moved into the Winnipeg area and while they offer different grocery experiences, the price point is a higher one than say Superstore or Walmart.

Some Safeways and Sobeys have become franchises of Freshco. They have owners but are part of the supply chain of Safeway/Sobeys. They can be cheaper and offer some local selection but there are not enough of them and they still remain part of large food group organizations. Likewise, No Frills are too few to really make a difference and are part of the Loblaw's/Superstore food organization. Local ownership of these stores does not make them similar to a true discount store with their own supply chain.

We actually have some locally owned stores in Winnipeg such as Foodfare and Family Foods. They fulfill important roles in having stores where others don't have them such downtowns or smaller stores than the typical Safeway and the like. Specialty stores and ethnic stores are also important in having different supply chains from Africa, Asia and Europe. Most of the small stores are simply not located where a discount store like Aldi needs them.

Aldi likes to be where the other stores are. They are not afraid of Walmart, Costco or any other grocer. They are 15% less than those grocery stores. Ideally for Aldi, they would be able to get a place in the big box store malls close other grocery retailers. The problem is as has been described by those who follow this is that big grocery groups in Canada take holding positions in real estate for these big malls and ensure that no other competitor can come to that mall. That is inherently anti-competitive and is being looked at as something that has to be remedied. But how long that takes is anyone's guess. In the U.S. I suspect the Justice and Commerce department's would be engaging anti-trust right away.

Aldi started in 1961 in Germany and actually is two different companies from two brothers who operate under same name with slightly different logos. They first opened in the U.S. in 1976 in Iowa and have been flying below the radar until recently. They are opening hundreds of stores a year in the U.S. now and have reached 2,000 stores. A typical Aldi carries mostly it's own brands. They are about 18,000 square feet and carry around 1,600 products but no fresh meat, bread of cheese. Other grocery competitors are 35,000 square feet or bigger and have 40,000 products.

Aldi does have a world rival modelled after itself and now larger world-wide. It is Lidl, also of Germany. They are rapidly expanding in the U.S. but will have a long way to go to catch up. They have as wide a reach all over the world as Aldi. Alas, Canada is not on their horizon. With a population of 41 million and growing, Canada is not a tiny market nor a mature one. There is room for a discount grocer.

Aldi started in a small state. Perhaps it is time they looked at a small province and got things started in Winnipeg.

Apartment Plans for 2023 McGillivary

It isn't lost on anyone how long it takes housing projects to get approved. The 2023 McGillivary project is a decade long process. It is exhausting. Initial protests were against any housing. Then it was constant changes and delays. Meanwhile, McGillivary got busier and busier in part because the municipality just a short distance down the road kept adding industry inside the perimeter and housing just outside. The fears of road capacity from apartments within city limits were no match for the capacity that McGillivary was already facing. However, it was the housing within city limits that was facing obstacles while there were few just meters down the road.

So what happened? Well, the people in neighbourhoods like Whyte Ridge and Linden Woods were getting older and their housing needs began to change. As kids moved out, parents were looking at three or four bedroom places that were too large for their needs or their lifestyle. However, the choices for staying nearby were slim. This is a problem for many in places like River Heights, Charleswood and several other neighbourhood with no multi-unit homes. People end up having to move a fair distance away which is disruptive for those who still love their old haunts.

A total of four buildings are planned. A seven storey closer to the road and three townhouses of three storeys closer to the fence line of Whyte Ridge. This is by design. Concerns in Whyte Ridge have been about taller structures just outside the fences that might overlook the yards of houses. The taller building closer to the road is the solution and the three townhouses closer to the fence offer residents different amenities. A combination of underground, under main building and above ground parking is included, visitor spots and bike lock-up.

The main building is U-shaped which is getting to be a common design. This is to put in as many windows and balconies as possible and fewer blank walls. The developer has said they will be putting in a fence at the back which would be a second fence since since there is one already in place for Whyte Ridge. Trees and shrubs would border the back, front, sides and parking lot. This would buffer sound as well offer more privacy and less of a concrete jungle feel. The entrances would be on the west side on Post Street and the developer paid for that as no one wanted people turning in and out from McGillivary.

The colour of the building are of the more common variety of whites, grays and blacks. Large windows and balconies can be seen from all directions. Fewer parking spaces that were first proposed are included in the plan although still remains high at 364 spots. However, 36 spots were reserved for visitors to prevent people from attempting street parking. 

Costco is immediately across the road so grocery, pharmacy and gas are seconds away, even walkable. Shopper's Drug Mart is also walking distance away. Walking cross McGillivary and Kenaston is not recommended as it is a three ring circus of danger and that doesn't look likely to change soon. Still, the residential apartments being built might be the sweet spot for living close to shopping and the amenities of Whyte Ridge and Fort Whyte.

There will be 280 units in the four buildings altogether. They will feature one, two and yes, even three bedroom configurations.  Three bedrooms in Canada have such a long waiting list that there are very few available anywhere. These are likely to be snapped up as soon as they are available.

Statistics Canada has reported inflation has gone up again and one of the things cited as causing it to rise is rent going up. The only way rent is going to stop rising is to approve more projects for housing, especially multi-unit housing. Cities and provinces can't go on a 10 or 15 year break and build nothing and then watch older units get demolished from aging, fire or converted to other uses without replacement, In Winnipeg, we have a whole bunch of houses reach 100 years of age every year for years to come. Many will be lovingly kept up, others will be demolished. What can't happen is for it to take so long to get projects approved. Moreover, we have to look at zoning that may no longer be applicable to today's buildings. Some of the rules around those go back 100 years as well. The rules are single family dwelling only neighbourhoods are pushing people out as there is no place for them to stay as they age.

It might seems like a lot of housing going up recently but the population has been rising and the right type of housing is too slow to come to market. There is simply not enough being built of any kind to keep up with demand. Changes to zoning and building codes are painfully slow. Let's hope this housing gets approved so we can see it start going up this year.

RnR Restaurant (former Perkins) to Become Apartments

Portage Avenue was the site of a Perkins at 2675 Portage for many years until the restaurant group faltered under its new ownership and switched over to RnR Restaurant just before the pandemic along with two other locations. The year 2019 was terrible for Perkins which went bankrupt and only exists in Ontario in Canada now. The total in North America is likely under 250 locations. RnR took over three locations and now it is just down to the Portage Avenue location.

RnR Portage continues to operate but the location is just too big for 2024. The huge breakfast crowds and late night crowds don't exist anymore. The land they occupy has become far more valuable.

The low density along Portage Avenue has been very surprising given that it is the High Street of the city. It is a very long line of commercial buildings but surprisingly many are just one or two floors. A lot of times we see strip malls with parking in the front. There is a striking lack of apartment buildings along the entire length from Portage and Main to Headingley. For example, there is very little housing in the downtown area along Portage. The West End is spotty at best. Multi-residential units were recently built where the Palomino Club is.

St. James is where you see apartments of some size on both north and south sides of the street. In the 1960s and the 1970s, the apartments drove public transit and commuter demand up and down Portage Avenue that continues today. Since that initial construction, apartment building along the St. James stretch has been sporadic. Developers generally have shied away from already developed land in favour of land from closed schools and the like. Or on the fringes north of Ness.

The fringes just don't have as good road and public transit or developed. In Headingley there are a ton of apartments going up in the area beyond the Perimeter Highway. 

Elsewhere on Portage, it isn't easy to acquire land even when some places remain empty such as the former Robin's on Portage. Some of the strips of commercial land on Portage are surprisingly narrow. There is also quite a lot of zoning setbacks from the road which waste a lot of space. The city expects buildings to be built back 20 feet from the sidewalk. Many builders could use that space for more units.

In the above picture you can see the Courts of St. James to get an idea of scale of the new place. At 7 floors and 150 units it is not crazy big. And the building comes right to sidewalk. It gives the building street presence. An apartment of similar size is across the street with a parking lot in front has no street presence at all. A commercial unity is promised for the new apartment but I have no idea where it is based on the picture.

While restaurants are an important part of Portage Avenue, single floor buildings with vast parking like The Keg take up a lot of space. It should be interesting to note that The Keg was building a new location downtown as part of an apartment building when financing fell through. It was going to rely on parking in the surrounding area rather than having a surface lot. There are parts of Portage that have underground or parkade parking for their commercial or apartment buildings. Superstore is a good example.

Parking is in the back of the new apartment building with lane access. There are fewer parking spaces than units. There are many bike storage units in the underground parkade. The design is U-shaped.

Contrast the new apartment with the Courts of St. James and their mall next door with their setbacks. The city has pushed development back from the sidewalk for no discernible reasons. It isn't needed here.

Manitoba has the fastest percentage growth in 2024 than any other area except Alberta and Yukon. Every apartment that goes up is filled almost immediately. The city should move quickly to approve this build. As for the former Perkins now RnR, it will harken back to a time of larger breakfast focused casual dining places of a different era. Could that time come back? Anything is possible but restaurants seem to be decreasing their footprint and as we are seeing in other cities, restaurants on main roads are being bought for higher density buildings.

Quebec's Mistake, Manitoba's Gain in Film Industry

 Watch about any movie in the world and you are likely to see the above logo. B.C. often shows up too, less so Ontario. Quebec and B.C. are visual effects superstars. It appears that Quebec has made a big move that will cost them thousands of jobs right away. The service production tax credit which brings several thousands jobs to Montreal is being capped at 65% of a production whereas before it had no limit. The credit itself will go from 20 to 25%. Those in the industry were out of work in the thousands right away. All attempts to amend or change the law with the provincial government have struck out. Workers who have been in the industry in Montreal for 20 years are looking to move.

Quebec's mistake might be Manitoba's gain. Manitoba already has one of the best tax credits for film and television in North America. A few tweaks and they could capture much of the loss of the 8000 jobs in Quebec. A few foreign-owned companies doing vfx in Montreal are looking to move. B.C. is already a crowded market, Ontario is an expensive one. Manitoba might be perfect. We benefitted from film and TV changes in Saskatchewan in the past and this could be another area where we stand to benefit.

In case anyone thinks Manitoba can't compete, looks at the numbers of newscomers to the province. As a percentage from the beginning of the year, Manitoba ranks third in 2024.

This year the film and TV industry is doing quite well in Manitoba. The repeat business is a testament to the locations, crew and tax credit. Both PCs and NDP have been part of this successful program so there is no reason to think it will not continue. The only reason Quebec has dropped the program is because they believe money going to foreign service production needs to go to Quebec French language production. The loss of 8000 jobs though doesn't suggest this is a good strategy.

Manitoba keeps adding to the things that make the region attractive to film and TV. Additional soundstages to complement the locations that production companies want. Direct flights to Los Angeles and now Atlanta, two big movie territories, are extremely attractive to foreign service productions. And Winnipeg has direct flights to all the other TV and film centers in Canada. Equipment and crews are locally sourced and experience grows every year on various tiers of production. Locally sources actors are increasingly recognized world-wide due to the amount of work then get.

There are many different components to TV and film, Drama, comedy, reality and documentary as well as animation are some of the main categories. Visual effects is a very large area as well and Canada has done well in it. It is the one area Manitoba is not big in. Frantic Films used to pre-visualization and effects but sold that part of the company. They are now mostly reality and variety shows like the Winnipeg Comedy Fest. Many of our home production companies have gotten good at reality and documentary TV. Others have become good at producing Canadian TV series both comedy and drama. 

Can Manitoba be the new home to VFX for people leaving Montreal? I don't see why not. The big question is: Is it on anyone's radar? Have people been approached? This probably requires work from the premier and mayor's office plus Manitoba Fil and Sound. But then how many times does 8000 jobs suddenly come up for a move?

NDP Take Tuxedo in Historic Byelection Win

 

Some ridings are so consistent in supporting one political party that other parties put in a placeholder candidate often from outside the area. The sacrificial goat is to show the flag but no real resources are thrown into it as there are more winnable ridings in need of people and money.

Byelections are where a lot of resources can be thrown in. The focus is often on the individuals running and less on the overall party and leadership, The NDP chose Carla Compton to run against three other candidates including PCs, Liberals and Green Party, The PCs had a contested nomination and lawyer Lawrence Pinsky was chosen. Liberal chose foster parent advocate Jamie Pfau and Green Party leader Janine Gibson ran as well. In the end it was not even close. 

Carla Compton won by 600 votes with less than 50% turnout. PCs will be shocked this morning and are blaming a snap election but they knew Heather Stefanson was leaving and have been sleepwalking about the leadership race, policy direction or figuring out what happened in the general election and how to be relevant again. The party seems on the verge of a takeover by less established forces on the right. Perhaps they are hoping for some Alberta or Saskatchewan conservativism to bring them success again. However, even Saskatchewan after a two terms in office is trending downwards. It is the inevitable result of  having a record warts and all.

The NDP is solidifying it's popularity now. Wab Kinew is trying to look and act the part of premier. There has not been a major scandal or failure so far that can't still be tied back to the previous government. It won't always be that way. A major storm and poor response, a failure tied to present health policies, crime that is tied to inaction now will whittle away at support. There is an expiry on governments in terms of creativity and energy. They can revitalize but it requires new people in and not just an appearance of change but actual change.

The present government will face no real opposition for some time to come. The best bet for them to get things done is now but change can be glacial. Approving new hospital work can take years to get underway. In many cases, a successful project is completed after a political party is defeated and the incoming party receives the rewards. Examples can be hydro projects, water diversion works or urban development programs. A successful government just tries to make sure they articulate an agenda and set out to it successfully. Even when they do something successfully, it might not be remembered at election time.

For the next three or so years, Tuxedo will be in NDP hands. It will be up to the new MLA to build a team and resources there because in a general election, the party won't be able to send teams of people in as they during the byelection. It is possible that happens. But we can expect the Progressive Conservatives to re-build and if they can't win back seats like Tuxedo, they will spend a long time in the wilderness.

St. Boniface Hospital Emergency Room Expansion

Hospital construction is never cheap. Or easy. Or convenient. St. Boniface Hospital tried to renovate its emergency room over the last few years but with only three emergency rooms in the city, the hospital has really reached beyond capacity for what comes their way. The Conservatives realized that squeezing the heatlhcare system was making their election success more unlikely too late. They authorized St. Boniface work so that it's completion would only be 2025 at the earliest. Perhaps they thought the start of it would inspire confidence but the long waits in ERS only caused the public further hardship.

The cost of $141 million is funded through federal transfer payments and based on patient load at the hospital will be much needed. There is not much room for building at St. B. so they are building out towards Tache. Part of an old low-rise building was removed and a parking lot. This will be the 86,200 square foot new construction. There will also be a renovation of 18,000 of existing space. The 10 ambulance bay is also part of the plan.

In recent days the enormous estate of Miriam Bergen announced a $10 million donation to St. Boniface Hospital in part to the building of the ER. The overall estate is $500 million so we are likely to hear these type of donations for years to come. Her father and mother had also donated through the Martin and Ruth Bergen Cardiac Centre for $3 million. For a time St. Boniface Hospital had a out of town CEO. As being top executive of the hospital depends on meeting donors, living in Montreal seems a long way out of reach. Too may top executives living elsewhere have been phoning it in.

Sometime next the new ER wing will open up and then the focus will be to ensure it is staffed and ready to go. The Urgent Cares all need investment as well. These projects never happen quickly. The cuts can happen quickly but the build up is never quick. And building the ERs usually means, must mean building up investments elsewhere in the hospital but also to personal care homes. 

For St. Boniface the issue now and in the future is likely parking. The parkade is too small both across the street and underground. Cars are parked in private lots all over the neighbourhood. There are a few potential surface lots that could be converted by they aren't cheap. They start at $50 million and need to be maintained and secured. They often make people who have to work or use the hospital parkade bitter. But free parking would likely be filled day and night. Such is the woe if you build it, they will be come...and stay.

I don't know how parkades get paid for. Misericordia added another floor to their parkade recently but never heard how they did it. Even hospitals like Seven Oaks, Concordia, Grace and and Victoria don't have unlimited space. Hospitals are like large businesses. They are constantly fundraising in ways that just weren't seen 50 years ago. Most, like HSC, have built out to the road and upwards. St. Boniface is doing the same but the river and two bridges and parks limit how much they can extend themselves. It seems inevitable the build across Tache.

It seems ironic that there are better bus terminals for malls than there are for hospitals. Bike paths are not going to quite cut for the bulk of traffic going to hospitals. Ambulances need clear paths to get in and out. The city doesn't seem to plan for hospital traffic except to put parking meters up. Where is the bus terminus? As we have more buildings go up including medical school buildings, the bus or public transit question will only increase. Not to mention, where are the multi-unit houses close to hospitals? Not nearly enough. This means far too many staff and those who need medical treatment so far away.

In 2025 we'll have the new emergency room but will we planning nearly what we need to do have our hospitals and the locations they are serve the community better. Will HSC and St. B be like fortresses, inconvenient to get to, scary to stay at and awful places to work or will we be making them better for staff, patients and people who live next to them?