Premier won’t reveal Manitoba’s financial support for True North

Premier Wab Kinew said Tuesday he won’t reveal how much the province of Manitoba has agreed to pay to lease 265,000 square feet of space in a new medical tower expected to rise above Portage Square in Winnipeg.

True North Real Estate Developmentthe real estate arm of the company that owns the Winnipeg Jets, exercised its options Monday to buy the struggling downtown shopping center.

This paves the way for a $650 million rehabilitation project that includes a new medical tower on the east side of the property and a new residential tower on the west side.

All three levels of government are investing in this major project, but the Prime Minister refused to reveal the financial terms of Manitoba’s support for the project.

This provincial investment is primarily in the form of leases entered into by Manitoba Shared Health and the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority for a primary care clinic, mental health and addictions services.

There will also be a clinic Pan Am expanded, as well as spaces for surgery, diagnostics and kidney dialysis, among other medical services

Wab Kinew responded that he would not reveal details of the agreement, for an important commercial reason.

I won’t do it, for an important commercial reason, namely that you shouldn’t say publicly what you pay, otherwise everyone will charge you the same rate Kinew said, at an unrelated news conference in Winnipeg’s Tuxedo neighborhood.

We have several relationships, as a government, with different owners.

Call for transparency on health-related spending

Kinew’s statement follows last week’s approval by the City of Winnipeg of a $40 million package in tax breaks and grants for the redevelopment of Portage, as well as the Government of Canada’s commitment to provide up to $27 million in funding.

It also comes after Jim Ludlow, president of True North Real Estate Developmentestimated the annual value of provincial leases in the health care tower at tens of millions, that’s for sure.

According to the director of the Canadian Center for Policy Alternatives in Winnipeg, Molly McCracken, To be publicly accountable, the province should disclose specific healthcare and lease expenses for True North Real Estate Development.

The Prairies director of the Canadian Taxpayers Association, Gage Haubrich, agrees.

When taxpayers’ money is spent on anything, it should be the government’s responsibility to clearly state where that money is goinghe explains.

How are taxpayers supposed to know if this is a good use of money if the government refuses to release the numbers?

Mr. Haubrich explains that the province should imitate the City which has clearly specified what the City gives money for and what it expects in return from development.

Critics have criticized the NDP government for not disclosing the financial terms of the province’s 35-year lease in the future tower.

Manitoba’s official opposition has urged the Kinew government to be more transparent in its support of a project launched when the Progressive Conservative Party was still in power.

Responsible and transparent are two words that this government does not necessarily have in its toolbox declares the interim leader of the Progressive Conservative Party, Wayne Ewasko.

In April, Mr. Kinew estimated the additional cost of operating the tower at $77 million. However, on Monday, the Prime Minister revised this figure upwards to $106 million per year.

This figure includes the cost of operating medical services as well as rent paid to True North Real Estate Development.

With information from Bartley Kives