Candidate pushes higher PST for pool

A Brandon council candidate says he wants the Manitoba government to raise the provincial sales tax to increase the city’s revenues in order to fund a new indoor aquatic facility.

Kevin Chambers, a former high school teacher and Hockey Brandon board member who is running in Ward 3, said the Sportsplex has been saved “from near death several times.”

“How about we work proactively in the meantime to get ourselves a pool with zero entry, so little kids can walk in, so grandmas can be with the kids, and parents can actually sit and watch their kids and not get splashed or have to take their socks off to sit on a bench right alongside the edge of the pool,” Chambers said on Monday.

Residents have brought up the topic multiple times during his canvassing, he said.

Chambers said he wants Brandon to be a place where people want to come and spend time, and that building a new year-round aquatic facility is part of that.

He said Brandon has the “steak,” with employers like Koch Fertilizer and Canada Packers, but “where’s the sizzle?”

“I’m not saying that an indoor family aquatic centre would be the be-all and end-all. But why are kids having to go to Souris for swim lessons? Why are our families having to go to Portage (la Prairie) for a waterslide?

He said he has heard of proposals to increase the PST so that a portion of that tax goes to municipalities, and Brandon could get a certain portion — based on its population — of the new tax share. That proposal, he said, would be in conjunction with a lower “negligible” personal income tax.

Currently, most of the city’s income comes from property taxes. Manitoba currently has a seven per cent PST.

“When the economy booms, what happens? More income tax rolls into the provincial coffers. When the economy booms, more people spend money, so more PST money rolls to the provincial government, but property taxes don’t increase or decrease with the economy,” Chambers said.

“We’re stuck on thinking about property taxes as a way to raise money, but we can’t raise money like that.”

He noted that the proposal “absolutely” still needs to be worked out.

Chambers faces executive adjuster Craig Shanks, realtor Quentin Derhak and former Westman Immigrant Services executive director Enver Naidoo in Ward 3 in the Oct. 28 election.

Ward 3 lies west of 34th Street and north of the CN rail line.

Chambers, who lives in neighbouring Ward 7, said he decided to run in Ward 3 because incumbent Ward 7 Coun. Shawn Berry and challenger Quentin Robinson are already running in that ward, and he wants to see “what those two guys have to say,” as they “see the city through a slightly different lens.”

“If Quentin (Robinson) hadn’t thrown his hat in, I would have ran against Shawn because democracy requires a good contest,” he said, adding that Robinson is a “strong guy,” citing his narrow loss in the 2023 provincial election, and that Berry has been a long-time community “stalwart.”

Ward 3 faces similar issues to Ward 7, Chambers said.

Chambers, who ran in Ward 1 in 2022 and finished second in a five-person race, said he also wants the city to increase recreational activities for youth.

He said the city should organize rec basketball or other sports in places like unused middle school gyms in the evenings, so that kids who can’t afford the expensive cost to play organized sports have an option to go out with friends.

“Put some money towards helping kids get off their Xboxes, get into the community and play some sports. I think that’s a win. And I don’t think it has to cost an arm and a leg,” Chambers said.

Such a program, he said, could rely on volunteers to organize.

He also highlighted the work the Calvary Temple is doing to build seniors housing in the ward, saying he wants the group’s proposed development to be built elsewhere.

“Put up a five-storey apartment block where it’s appropriate and earn the revenues from that if that’s the idea, or provide the housing for seniors that seniors desperately need. Absolutely, do it. But please consider the neighbours.”

Calvary Temple’s website says the “34th Street Village” will be a combination of affordable and social housing for seniors with fixed rates.

» alambert@brandonsun.com