Brandon, Keystone deserve commitment

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 29/04/2022 (1413 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Barry Cooper: “Sitting in this beautiful Keystone Centre, I know there’s been a bunch of money put into it recently. There’s been some debts retired. That’s been a tremendous asset to this operation. This is a crown jewel in this province, not just in this city. An incredible economic driver for our community. How do we get to the point where we can have stable, consistent funding that is something that they can count on? And not just year by year. How do we get there?”

Heather Stefanson: “I think, obviously, we need to identify these gems in every community and see how we can work together. And that’s going to take a collaborative approach. I think it’s not just governments that need to be involved, but the private sector. And I know that that is the case in many different communities as well. That’s why we’ve doubled the Building [Sustainable] Communities fund to ensure that if there are more projects that need that funding in different communities across Manitoba, including here in Brandon, that there’s access to that. There’s also a new fund that we’ve started, the Sports Culture and Arts fund as well. So that will be $34 million this year as well — $100 million over three years. So there’s access to capital there as well.”

— Quotes from a question-and-answer session at the Brandon Chamber of Commerce luncheon between president Barry Cooper and Premier Heather Stefanson on Thursday.

It would appear that Manitoba’s second-largest city just got reduced in stature in the eyes of the province. Or at least, that’s the message that we’re taking away from the premier’s answer regarding the creation of a stable, reliable funding commitment for the Keystone Centre and its operations.

Nearly two years ago, then-municipal relations minister Rochelle Squires announced a $150,000 grant to Brandon’s Keystone Centre to launch a long-term sustainability study.

As we reported that July, the study was to help the venue identify necessary capital projects and help it attract major events in the future. That 2020 announcement also included a promise to continue giving the Keystone $375,000 in annual funding from the province.

At the time, Brandon City Council had just received a presentation from the Keystone Centre’s board chair and its general manager outlining the fact that the venue had sustained a loss of revenue worth $1.7 million due to the pandemic, and that it expected to lose another $1.5 million more between August and December of that year.

It was hoped the Keystone would have some definitive answers about a future funding arrangement with the province at the end of 2020. But those answers have not been forthcoming, even 21 months later.

It’s worth remembering the province had already given the Keystone Centre additional funding in 2019, receiving $375,000 on top of a $2.9-million injection of cash to help the centre pay down its debts.

Thankfully, that provincial cash was put to good use. Just last January, the Keystone Centre recorded a surplus of $181,785 in its 2021 fiscal year, a modest increase from the $22,881 surplus the facility managed in 2020 in spite of its pandemic woes. Of the nearly $3 million in revenues the Keystone pulled in over its last fiscal year, $1,195,315 was from the federal government’s Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy and another $20,000 from the Manitoba Bridge Grant program.

But according to Coun. Bruce Luebke (South Centre), the chair of the facility’s board of directors, the results of the $150,000 were not provided to the Keystone Centre — at least not as of last January. Presumably that is still the case, considering the premier’s answer yesterday.

As Luebke told us, the Keystone Centre has a limited ability to undertake necessary and outstanding projects to manage the increasing costs of operating the sprawling facility. In order to move forward on any kind of major, multi-year project, it needs the promise of stable funding, something you cannot get from a pair of one-off funding programs designed for one or two provincial budget years.

Yes, grant programs from the province and the federal government helped the facility replace the roof over the Manitoba Room and some adjoining hallways, and a few new pavilions were added to the green space outside the centre, along with a new outdoor tent space.

But Manitoba’s second city remains a growing business and entertainment hub for western Manitoba, providing a unique venue for important economic and community events — including the chamber luncheon and the recent Association of Manitoba Municipalities conference that the premier has attended these past two weeks.

Stefanson wants us to believe that her government is committed to economic development in rural Manitoba. We suggest she prove it by having her government cut a multi-year funding agreement with the City of Brandon and the Keystone Centre. Our region’s most important entertainment, agricultural and business venue requires that level of commitment.

Surely, Manitoba’s second-largest city deserves no less.