Simard glad for Park CC inclusion in throne speech

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 23/11/2023 (1042 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Brandon and Westman came up a few times during the NDP government’s first speech from the throne since the provincial election, but the Wheat City’s representative in Winnipeg identified a shout-out for the Park Community Centre as one of his top highlights.

Lt.-Gov. Anita Neville made reference to the NDP’s Westman cabinet office in Brandon, expansions to spinal surgery capacity at the Brandon Regional Health Centre and investments in the downtowns of municipalities like Brandon while seated in the throne in the Manitoba legislature on Tuesday.

“We will work with the child-care sector to retain and recruit early childhood educators and create new, high-quality child-care spaces at workplaces and community hubs like the Park Community Centre in Brandon,” Neville said during the speech.

It was the first throne speech for new Brandon East NDP MLA and Sport, Heritage and Culture Minister Glen Simard, who told the Sun by phone on Wednesday that hearing the lieutenant-governor read out his government’s agenda “really puts into focus the task ahead of us” heading into the first legislative session of the four-year term.

Asked what he thought of what was promised for Brandon in the speech, Simard said both the Wheat City and the province share priorities like improving health-care wait times and education.

“But specifically, Brandon’s Park Community Centre being mentioned, I think, is a significant shout-out to the community to know that we’re on the government’s radar,” Simard said. “It was a significant campaign promise.”

In August, then NDP leader Wab Kinew and Simard visited the Park while on the campaign trail to promise that if elected, an NDP government would commit up to $1 million toward the rebuilding of the community centre.

For years, the centre has been operating below its original capacity due to significant structural issues. Brandon City Council has gone back and forth on whether to repair the facility, demolish and replace it with green space or demolish and replace it with a new building.

The city put aside $1.2 million in this year’s budget for the replacement of the centre, but when bids were solicited, the lowest was at $1.5 million. That spurred the city and the centre’s board to look for other options.

A small boost to the project was provided by Heritage Co-op in June, contributing $85,000 toward building a commercial kitchen at the new facility and $15,000 toward building a new garden shed and purchasing gardening tools.

Simard said that while the project is on his government’s radar and will include a child-care component as identified by Kinew in August, there aren’t any further details on what the new facility will look like just yet.

The centre’s rental co-ordinator and a member of its board of directors, Eldon Schmitz, told the Sun on Wednesday that the board is hoping to meet with the new government sometime in the new year and was glad for the inclusion in the speech.

He said he hoped that construction on the new facility would be able to start in 2024 and that since a daycare component is involved, that perhaps federal funding could be secured for the project as well.

“We also have to find a provider for the daycare centre,” Schmitz said. “We have to get in talks with some local people and find out who would be interested in that.”

After years of the centre’s future being in limbo, Schmitz said the progress made has been encouraging.

Regarding potential investments in downtown Brandon, Simard said he was looking forward to working with Economic Development Minister Jamie Moses and Housing Minister Bernadette Smith on items that benefit both businesses and vulnerable people.

With the Brandon Neighbourhood Renewal Corporation’s Blue Door program still looking for a new home after a proposed move to the former Red Cross building on Rosser Avenue was nixed by the city’s planning commission, Simard said he was going to speak with Mayor Jeff Fawcett on the subject.

When the NDP announced the establishment of a Westman regional cabinet office in Brandon earlier this month, it drew the ire of the Progressive Conservatives. Spruce Woods PC MLA Grant Jackson told the Sun on Tuesday that governments of both parties have been operating similar offices since the Gary Filmon years.

Simard said the Tories had an office, “but perhaps we’re going to do a better job of inviting people in to have their voices heard.”

» cslark@brandonsun.com

» X: @ColinSlark