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CBC
a day ago
- Business
- CBC
Transcona affordable housing project at risk as federal funding in doubt
Social Sharing The future of a Transcona affordable housing project, meant to help people with disabilities and those transitioning out of homelessness, is in question after a federal funding program it was counting on ran out of money. The Winnipeg Housing Rehabilitation Corporation, which spearheaded the project, secured the land from the City of Winnipeg. Last year, it submitted an application for $25 million in funding from the affordable housing fund, a national $15-billion program created as part of the federal government's national housing strategy. "Everything is in question right now," said executive director James Heinrichs. Plans for the 154-unit apartment building at 145 Transcona Blvd. began about six years ago. At an estimated cost of $45 million to $50 million, the project would include 68 deeply affordable units, with rents at 69 per cent of the median market rate. It would also include 31 fully accessible units, and 55 median market units. In its application, the housing rehabilitation corporation hoped to receive a $14 million loan, as well as an $11 million grant. However at a meeting of the Canadian Housing and Renewal Association last week, Heinrichs learned the affordable housing fund had received more applications than it could provide. The potential loss of that funding could delay the project, putting it at risk of losing other government funding, including $5 million from the housing accelerator fund, which has strict completion time limits, Heinrichs said. "So there's a lot of different pieces that are flowing into the development of a project of this nature, but everything has to come to fruition in order for it to all work," he said. "And now with the announcement that was just recently made, [that] there's no additional funds through the affordable housing fund, now we're kind of left of what do we do, right?" 'It ties our hands' The organization had made significant progress in its plans, spending about $775,000 of its own money, including architectural renderings of the building. "We're always looking at developing housing that is deeply affordable for the people that have probably some of the lowest incomes in the province and we want to help house them. That's what we want to do," Heinrichs said. "Losing that amount of money … would hamper us on developing other projects as well. It ties our hands." A spokesperson for the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation told CBC News in a statement that the affordable housing fund "has attracted significant interest and success, resulting in numerous high-quality applications." "With the significant demand for funding, CMHC continues and is committed to working with our clients and partners to process as many [affordable housing fund] funding applications as possible," the statement said. WATCH | Federal funding doubts put Transcona project at risk: Christina Maes Nino, executive director of the Manitoba Non-Profit Housing Association, said many more projects could face funding shortages. "They are getting projects ready. They're putting in applications and now there's this uncertainty, and so they're really just waiting to know what's going to happen." Transcona Coun. Russ Wyatt fears the impact could go beyond the province. "My guess is there's projects right across Canada that are now being jeopardized, or basically not being able to be funded," Wyatt said. Colin Fast, spokesperson for Winnipeg Mayor Scott Gillingham, told CBC News the city is looking into the issue and waiting on further information from the federal government. In an email, City of Winnipeg spokesperson Kalen Qually said the city housing accelerator funding remains committed to the project. "We know many of the projects approved for [housing accelerator fund] funding are relying on additional CMHC commitments," Qually wrote. "Without securing all funding sources, it will be a challenge for projects to meet timelines under our agreement. We will continue to work in partnerships with the non-profit housing proponents as their projects move forward."
CBC
23-05-2025
- Politics
- CBC
City council OK's renaming park after family of Transcona police officer despite concerns about process
A park in Transcona will be renamed in honour of the family of a former Winnipeg police officer, but the proposal to do that generated concerns from some city councillors about the process for commemorative renamings. Council voted in favour Thursday of changing the name of Kildonan Meadows Park to Lucki Family Park. Joseph "Joe" Lucki started working as a police officer for what was then the City of Transcona in 1959. He retired from the Winnipeg Police Service in 1989. That same year, his daughter Patricia died when she was hit by a drunk driver. "I'm a little jittery," Joe Lucki told reporters at city hall before Thursday's council vote. "It's quite an honour to be more or less selected to have a renaming of a park." Transcona Coun. Russ Wyatt brought forward the motion, which he said had widespread community support. His motion included attached letters of support from the late Nello Altomare, who was the MLA for Transcona, as well as Winnipeg police Chief Gene Bowers and former police chief Danny Smyth. Lucki choked up when speaking about the death of his daughter, who worked as an early childhood educator and is honoured with a memorial award from Red River College Polytechnic. She went overseas to do humanitarian work, and was killed just a month after returning home, her father said. "She was killed by a drunk driver close to our home, just a block away, with another friend of hers, Kerri Campbell," he said. Report on policy coming But several members of council said they were uncomfortable with nominations for renaming coming directly from council, as the city is in the process of overhauling the mandate of the Welcoming Winnipeg committee — the body responsible for advising the city on the naming of public spaces. Earlier this year, a report commissioned by the mayor's office found members of the committee, which was created to increase the use of Indigenous place names, were frustrated and confused about whether the work of the committee aligned with its core purpose. A report recommending changes to the city's policy is expected later this year. Mayor Scott Gillingham, along with council speaker Coun. Devi Sharma, voted against suspending the rules to allow a vote on Wyatt's motion, but later voted with the majority of councillors supporting the name change. "Here's a gentleman who's served the City of Winnipeg and the people of Transcona diligently as a police officer for decades," Gillingham said in a news conference. "And so when we're honouring public servants, people who've done good work in our community, I think we should be supportive of that." Process 'unfortunate' St. Boniface Coun. Matt Allard said it was "unfortunate" that councillors had to discuss the merits of the nomination and concerns about the process while Lucki was seated in the public gallery, suggesting "a modicum of vetting would be good." St. Vital Coun. Brian Mayes said the vote to approve the name change would lead to a "land rush" of other nominations from councillors who had been waiting for the city to complete its review of the Welcoming Winnipeg policy. Mayes, along with councillors Sherri Rollins and Cindy Gilroy, voted against the renaming. Wyatt said he was motivated to push the nomination forward due to Lucki's age. He turns 91 in October. "I was told [to] wait until the [Welcoming Winnipeg] policy comes out and then bring it forward, and I was told that that will be July — and we know that sometimes that can become September, October, "said Wyatt. "I didn't want to miss another season for the very nature of this dedication, because of Mr. Lucki and his youth, let's put it that way." Gillingham said the Welcoming Winnipeg report was initially expected in July, but could not say for certain it would be ready by then. Downtown councillors worry about loss of parking meters Two downtown city councillors also expressed concern Thursday that a city plan to remove all parking meters this summer, and instead rely mainly on the PayByPhone mobile app for payment, could leave some people who lack smartphones without a way to pay for street parking. The city announced on Wednesday all parking meters would be removed by Aug. 31. Gillingham said the idea has been discussed since 2018, and the change is needed because Canada is phasing out the 3G network, which the meters rely on. But Rollins said while 80 per cent of people pay through the app, a significant number still use other methods. "So I really think before we put an obstacle for one in five folks that are visiting the Exchange District or the downtown that we should have had a conversation," the Fort Rouge-East Fort Garry councillor told reporters at city hall on Thursday. People who want to pay with cash will have to purchase prepaid booklets from one of three locations: the 311 counter at city hall, the Parking Store at 495 Portage Ave., or the Access Centre at 170 Goulet St. They'll be available as of July 2, which is when the city will start removing meters. Daniel McIntryre Coun. Gilroy said the city needs to make those booklets more widely available. "There is no plan in trying to get those into stores to distribute so people would have easy access to them," she said. The councillors also worry the shift to relying on the app for payment could open the door to dynamic pricing, charging customers more to park during busy times, while potentially offering free parking at times of low demand. Finance committee chair Coun. Jeff Browaty said there are no immediate plans to move in that direction, but it could help free up more on-street parking. "[At] some future point years down the road, as we move even more heavily into an app-type setup, I think that would be an opportunity to potentially look at changing hours, changing rates," he said.
Winnipeg Free Press
22-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Winnipeg Free Press
Spotlights shine on local productions at Asian-Canadian film festival
Faustina Dalmacio spends her workday behind the counter, but the Transcona pharmacist has always dreamed of getting behind the camera — to fill the frame instead of filling prescriptions. Two years ago, she bundled up in the January cold to shoot her debut short film, a comedic odyssey of two sisters (Riley Gregorio and Quinn Paredes) lost in Winnipeg's West End after the final bell rings in the halls of the fictional Victor Wolfe Elementary. To make After School, Dalmacio relied on a $10,000 Cinematoba grant from the National Screen Institute and the Winnipeg Foundation, an award accompanied by ongoing mentorship from producer Rebecca Gibson of Eagle Vision. SUPPLIED Director Ian Bawa (left) speaks with Mandeep Sodhi, star of The Best, during filming. 'It was inspired by an experience I had as a child,' says Dalmacio, 30, who moved to Manitoba from Bulacan, Philippines, in 2006. After a cousin's basketball game, she got separated from her sisters and temporarily stranded before one of the team parents drove her home. Her new home was harsh in climate, but welcoming and generous in spirit. That diasporic experience drives Dalmacio's short, one of 13 Manitoba-made pictures set to screen at this weekend's FascinAsian Film Festival, a multi-city event celebrating Asian-Canadian contributions to the film and media landscape. After screenings in Calgary and Edmonton earlier this month, the national festival wraps up in Winnipeg as Asian Heritage Month nears its end. Throughout filmmaker Ian Bawa's career, the festival has been a constant source of support for his projects, including his latest short, The Best, an 'accidental sequel' to his upcoming feature-length film Strong Son, itself an adaptation of an earlier short that's currently in post-production. SUPPLIED Filmmaker Faustina Dalmacio. Bawa will be interviewed by CBC's Faith Fundal during a Behind the Movies conversation and retrospective on Saturday (11:15 a.m.) at the WAG's Ilipvik Learning Steps. Bawa, whose films have screened at festivals such as the Toronto International Film Festival and Slamdance, says FascinAsian continues to help Asian filmmakers feel empowered to tell their own stories in their own voices. 'Sometimes I feel alone, telling stories about a turban-wearing guy, but then I watch 10 other films with characters like that,' says Bawa, whose short will screen Sunday alongside Dalmacio's in the Family Matters showcase at the WAG. (1 p.m.). 'People want these stories now, and it wasn't like this 15 years ago when I started. Now I know I'm not alone in this.' Also screening Sunday afternoon is a profile of local drag artist Ruby Chopstix. Becoming Ruby tells the story of the Vietnamese-Canadian queen, who in 2023 became the country's first drag artist-in-residence, working out of the Winnipeg non-profit Sunshine House. SUPPLIED After School is a comedic odyssey about two sisters. It's the latest short by documentarian Quan Luong, whose works includes Tailor-Made, about Ellice Avenue stitchmaster Tam Nguyen. 'For me as a filmmaker, I try to only make films that otherwise wouldn't be made, so stories like these really pull my attention. Luckily, Ruby and their family opened up to me,' says Luong, a 27-year-old Manitoba filmmaker who was born in Ho Chi Minh City. While the film will be having its local première this weekend — both in Sunday's program and at a special Saturday screening (11 a.m.) at the Park Theatre, with both Luong and Chopstix in attendance — Becoming Ruby recently screened at Toronto's Hot Docs International Film Festival and at both Edmonton and Calgary's FascinAsian showcases. Themes of travel, American dreaming and queer identity come to the fore in filmmaker Razid Season's Elijah, which was inspired by the director's volunteer work with the South Asian trans community through New York City non-profits. Weekly A weekly look at what's happening in Winnipeg's arts and entertainment scene. Set in the Big Apple, Elijah follows Bengali Muslim cab driver Haider (Ajaz Alam), who deals with the plummeting value of his taxi medallion as his daughter Shoshi (Mithila Gazi) embraces her trans identity. SUPPLIED Becoming Ruby focuses on Vietnamese-Canadian drag artist Ruby Chopstix. 'Stories like these are often invisible. It's fiction, but it's inspired by real people,' says Season, 38, a Bengali director who was raised in the United Arab Emirates before studying film at City College in New York. Other festival offerings include Fateema Al-Hamaydeh Miller's Mawtini, about Nawal, a young Palestinian woman, and Tanya, an Indigenous senior, who battle their building managers to plant a garden on their apartment block's lawn (Saturday, 1:45 p.m.). On Saturday at 4 p.m., after the screening of Paper Flowers at WAG-Qaumajuq, stars Olivia Liang (Kung Fu, Legacies) and Kapil Talwalkar (Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist) will join audiences for a virtual Q&A moderated by radio programmer Iris Yudai. SUPPLIED Filmmaker Razid Season. SUPPLIED Elijah is set in New York City. SUPPLIED Mandeep Sodhi in Ian Bawa's film The Best. Ben WaldmanReporter Ben Waldman is a National Newspaper Award-nominated reporter on the Arts & Life desk at the Free Press. Born and raised in Winnipeg, Ben completed three internships with the Free Press while earning his degree at Ryerson University's (now Toronto Metropolitan University's) School of Journalism before joining the newsroom full-time in 2019. Read more about Ben. Every piece of reporting Ben produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press's tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press's history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates. Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber. Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
CBC
14-05-2025
- Automotive
- CBC
Winnipeg city councillor raises concerns about potential fire threats
A fire tore through an industrial area along Gunn Road in Winnipeg's Transcona neighbourhood on Monday, sending up plumes of black smoke and triggering explosions at an auto parts business. While no injuries were reported, the blaze has exposed safety concerns. One city councillor is now calling the site a 'ticking time bomb,' warning that it's only a matter of time before a more catastrophic incident occurs.
CTV News
12-05-2025
- General
- CTV News
Winnipeg firefighters battle large blaze in Transcona
Firefighters battle a large fire on Gunn Road in Winnipeg's Transcona neighbourhood on May 12, 2025. (Jamie Dowsett/CTV News Winnipeg)
