Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - March 13, 2001, Winnipeg, Manitoba Focus a9 Winnizki Macii 2001 intercity housing Stock rent control removal not answer Low social assistance rent allowance help fuel housing problem by Tom Simms the removal of rent controls will not by itself improve the Quality of housing in the inner City because there Are Many factors that have contributed to the decline of housing in Winnipeg Core the 1990s was a decade of neglect of intercity housing in the Federal government with Drew from its role in Canada is the Only industrialized nation without a National housing the government maintained that the private and voluntary sectors could provide affordable housing for Low income Complete failure this approach has proven to be a Complete during the 1990s there were no resources to combat the growing housing crisis faced by Low income people and Low income the number of homeless people increased to lev Els that have not been witnessed since the great the Market value of housing in the inner City of Winnipeg in the North the average Sale Price of a House plummeted from in 1988 to in in the West the average Sale Price declined from in 1988 to in the number of boarded up houses grew and became targets for an epidemic of there was unprecedented growth in exurban housing development in communities outside the perimeter Highway during this same Winnipeg has essentially had Zero population growth Over the past As a any expansion of housing in suburban and exurban areas has further contributed to the development of a doughnut effect in our City new housing on the outer rim of the City and a vacuous Hole of decay in the Centre of the the general reassessment of prop erty that will take place in the City this year will see a significant shift in the Burden of property taxes from intercity neighbourhoods to suburban neighbourhoods due to the decline in the Market value of hous ing in the Core suburban tax payers Are now forced to pick up the Tab for intercity housing significant significant Public investment will be required in order that these neighbourhoods could once again be economically you cant renovate or build houses on streets where the average Sale Price of a House is the removal of rent controls will not remove the causes of intercity housing intercity landlords know that the social assistance rental allowance is the de Facto rent control in the intercity rental housing mar the social assistance rental allowance has not been increased in Manitoba since the Basic rent allowance disparity family size 1 2 3 5 6 Winnipeg Basic rent Saskatoon Basic rent Ken Giuliotti Winnipeg free press Archive a four building apartment Complex was recently shut Down because of numerous health there Are Good landlords and bad just As there Are Good ten ants and bad it would be important to ensure that landlords dont simply use an increased rental allowance to exact a greater return from their the govern ment needs to make sure that any policy approach to increase the social assistance rental allowance will serve to stimulate reinvestment in the upgrading of the housing it is estimated that it will Cost the provincial government million for every one per cent increase in the monthly social assistance rental this has become a very expensive proposition because of past neglect of this fallacy it is a to believe that the removal of rent controls will serve to improve the rental housing accommodations in the inner a singular focus on private Market considerations will not adequately address this Complex the state of intercity housing did not happen the situation will not be changed by a simple Quick fix or Sil ver Bullet the problem requires a Lon term commitment based on a Public and Volun tary sector partnership to address this Issue through a multifaceted development monthly rent allowance provided for a family of three is the aver age monthly Market rent for a two bedroom apartment in Winnipeg for 2000 was intercity landlords know that the removal of rent control is not the Dri ving Issue to address the challenges they the Law of demand and Supply dictates that you cant Supply housing for More than what families on social assistance Are allowed each month for their housing accommodate influence of the social Assis Tance rental allowance in the inner City housing rental Market is in the fiscal year the provincial government spent million in the private housing Market on social assistance rental the provincial govern ment is contributing about million a year to intercity housing renewal it is critical that this annual million government sub Sidy to private sector landlords for social assistance rent be provided in a Way that ensures the Money is being used to maintain and operate decent not slum the Case for increasing the rental allowance is since the last rent allowance adjustment in the annual rate of inflation has increased by per allowable rent regulation increases have been nine per a comparative analysis of the social assistance monthly rental allowance Between Winnipeg and Saskatoon is in the average monthly Market rent for a two bedroom apartment in Saskatoon was while in Winnipeg it was there is a great disparity Between the two cities regarding the monthly social assistance rental allowances As indicated in the accompanying Tom Simms is executive director of the Community education development fill if th8 free press welcomes letters from they must include the authors address and Telephone letters May be letters to the 1355 Mountain r2x fax email let Buzz Hargrove buy versatile let me see if i Canadian Auto workers Union Leader Buzz har Grove blows in from Ontario and demands that Manitoba new democrats nationalize versatile tractor Plant takeover nationalize ver Union Leader March this is the same Leader who bashes Howard Hampton Leader of the Ontario new takes swipes at Alexa Mcdonough Leader of the Federal new and femoral izes and fragments the labour move ment raids unionized workplaces and who now expects All of us in Manitoba to shake in his Wake and gladly bail out a troubled give me a Why Doest the big and powerful Hargrove take Caw Money and buy out versatile then he could be the benevolent employer and Settle the and if one of his employees at versa tile says something he Doest he can just fire As he would have Premier Gary doer do to a staff Mem Ber who Bow to Hargrove and say what he wanted to Janice Chase Union representative local Seizu Winnipeg tax regime Way to attract business the Best Way to attract business to a province is to implement a tax regime that is the most attractive in the coun try Buhler defends threat to move tractor March giving taxpayer dollars to a company makes no in a company that would not take advantage of free Money from a government would have no versatile tractor Plant owner John Buhler had offered to go to binding arbitration and the Union Burner has put million into versa tile industries and has every right to do what he pleases with his if he decides to move versatile to the United the Only ones to blame Are the Union fat cat Bosses who refused binding arbitration and the inept government that was so obtuse As to not place any conditions when giving away Robert Bruce Winnipeg Buhler not alone in eyeing i feel that if John Buhler decides to move the government loan should be paid i would also like to see All the government funding paid Back that was used to subsidize University education Stu dents seek tuition March 8 for the students who received their professional degrees in our try educational system Only to decide to practise then profession in the United states because our try Doest pay them As Buhler is not the Only one moving for higher Della Burton Winnipeg Drivers both have rules a sure sign of the approach of Spring is a letter in the paper regarding the eve present problem of cars and cyclists As weather give cyclists March you were Al when you said cars need to allow space for a few years ago our son was hit by a pro truding Side Mirror of an Howe i would like to take this Issue one step there Are rules of the Road out there that should be obeyed at All no More cycling on the wrong Side of the sailing through Stop signs without a moments travelling the wrong Way Down a one Way failing to wait for a Green Light at traffic signals of giving your Best Friend a even sometimes on your steering the while you wobble in and out of when we complain about the appalling driving habits of Manitoba car we must remember where these habits and attitudes Are Stephanie Marian Winnipeg dont remove vital esl lifeline the cuts in program funding announced recently will affect 800 students 30 teachers receive Lay off notices after esl funds new canadians Are grateful and Happy to be in they Are Strug gling to learn the English so they can get work in the Impact that the cuts in funding will have on the people deserves More then Mere spec to a new a lifeline is the help they Are receiving in a class room where dedicated teachers care about their it is a won Drous sight to How their faces Light up when they grasp the meaning of a new thank you is heard very Why would the province reduce esl funding at a time when immigration is increasing dont take away this vital lifeline now they need it so Joan Gayle Petroff esl Winnipeg Arena or underpass lets build one Here we go again with another great Arena last weeks news about the downtown Arena project looks like another round of playing with Peoples and the same old arguments Are coming for am getting tired of the excuse that if we use pub Lic funds to help build a new Arena then an underpass at Kenaston Boulevard will be in it seems to me when we were trying to save the this same argument came up guess no jets and still no underpass at should it the underpass have been built already since we didst allocate those dollars to a new Arena five years ago How Many times can this argument be discussed either build a new Arena or get an done this time and lets move on with Colin be cuff Winnipeg doonesbury by Garry Trudeau invitation tem Chi Cut Ping just aka i ;