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The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are winning on the field this season, but the deal to build their football stadium has left the Province of Manitoba at a loss.
The provincial government has placed a $54-million loss provision on the largest of the loans that helped build Investors Group Field
There is a provision on the loan that covered $160 million of the initial cost of building Investors Group Field, the 33,214-seat football stadium that opened on the University of Manitoba's Fort Garry campus in 2013.
Under the terms of the deal to build the stadium, the non-profit Winnipeg Football Club is responsible for paying back $85 million of that loan by 2058, plus interest. To date, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers have met their financial obligations.
The remaining $75 million, plus interest, was supposed to be covered by municipal and provincial property taxes generated by the former Canad Inns Stadium site at Polo Park.
However, the only new development on that plot of land is a now-empty former Target store. Over the past four years, the old stadium site has generated a total of $3 million in property tax revenue, according to figures provided by the City of Winnipeg.
The former stadium site was supposed to generate $7 million of property tax revenue a year.
The slow pace of development gave provincial finance officials no choice but to reduce the province's expectations of getting paid back the $75-million portion of the stadium-building loan.
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More changes are coming to health care in Winnipeg, the latest aimed at reducing the number of people who go straight from hospital to care homes.
But the NDP and union leaders say they're worried the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority's new Priority Home program is another step toward privatization.
The service is meant to provide transitional home care to clients who might otherwise end up in long-term care.
The health authority also says much of the work is being contracted out to two private companies, due to the program's roll-out timeline.
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This weekend, residents in the city can place gently used items they no longer want on their front curbside as part of the Curbside Giveaway.
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Road improvements are coming to the RM of Mossey River.
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The Manitoba government is investing in infrastructure in the Swan River area.
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Beginning today boat inspections for aquatic invasive species are going on.
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The water break the RM of Dauphin has have working on is much more significant than anticipated.
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Tomorrow is the first planning meeting of the Manitoba Maple Syrup Festival.
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The Grandview Fire Department is hosting their first ever awards banquet.
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The RM of Dauphin Rural water distribution line experienced a break last night and two crews are out and have isolated the area.
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The Manitoba Federation of Labour says it's time to raise minimum wage in Manitoba.
Dozens rallied at the Manitoba Legislature on Tuesday afternoon to call for an increase in the province's minimum wage to $15 an hour, a $4-per-hour hike from the current minimum wage of $11 per hour.
The Federation States that the province needs to follow in the footsteps of others like Ontario, which has proposed legislation to boost minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2019, and Alberta, which has promised to do the same by October of next year.
British Columbia's NDP govenrment has also said it has plans to get to $15 per hour by 2021, and raised minimum wage by 50 cents this year to $11.35.
The rally was held during International Basic Income Week, a week of action for the concept of basic income that started in Europe in 2008 and has spread worldwide.
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