Infrastructure investments to be tied to evidence of economic return: Murray

Mayoral hopeful Glen Murray told the MHCA Board of Directors that if he becomes Winnipeg’s mayor October 26, he’ll work to see that decisions around investments in infrastructure are strategic, tethered to evidence of their economic returns.

Murray met virtually with representative of the Board August 30, to discuss his platform and ideas that will work to grow Winnipeg’s economy. A Probe poll of 600 Winnipeggers, conducted in late July, found Murray held the support of 44% of respondents, well beyond that of any other candidate.

He said he supports the MHCA position that City Council needed to appoint a senior manager with robust authority to guide investments for economic development.

The MHCA submitted a list of suggested priorities for City Council, post-election, and a questionnaire for candidates for council and the mayoralty on the issue of economic development and infrastructure investment. The MHCA priorities brief recommends Council:

• Resource the Manager of Economic Development position to a level equivalent, or reporting, to the CAO; assign the development of economic growth strategies to EPC or a Standing Policy Committee of Council (SPC); make the development of policies to grow the economy a very public and deliberate priority effort
• Focus on a strategic infrastructure investment plan to grow the economy, to leverage its returns to support operating revenues for critical services and programs

Murray said he agrees with the suggestion, and would go further.

“You either build the tax base or you build the tax burden,” he said.

Winnipeg needs to adopt a system to make the right investment decisions to ensure development and infrastructure projects return maximum value to the economy. Choosing options for infrastructure investments must be based on the return on investment, not on people’s favourite project.

He said he was part of a study that created a model for investing in development and infrastructure projects based on level of economic return. The model looked at where to invest, how to optimize a project’s ROI, the key design elements, what value would be spun off from the development and the avoidance of cost that would add to the City’s structural deficit.

Such a model would be the foundation for Council decisions on expending public funds for higher-cost developments and infrastructure projects, he said. As examples of good and bad infrastructure planning, Murray pointed to the Disraeli Bridge (bad) and Waterfront Drive (good), contrasting how, respectively, the two suppressed or spurred community, commercial and residential development.

“Disraeli was very important but we couldn’t have designed it worse.”

It cannot be assumed that every road built automatically spins off ROI and will more than pay for itself, he said.

Other commitments Murray made included

• Making trade growth a priority for Winnipeg
• Ensuring trade routes and transportation regulations are protected
• Establish a collaboration relationship with Broadway
• Turn Winnipeg’s Parking Authority into a Mobility Authority, respecting people’s rights to choose mode of transportation
• Set a different tone at City Hall, to ensure the public service and private sector work together, respectfully

Murray also said he liked the MHCA suggestion for the City to strike a Design Specification and Resource Management committee to consider research on and adoption of materials specifications used to build roads, along with their environmental and resource management impacts.

The mayoral candidate also spoke at length on how to expand housing for unsheltered citizens, returning abandoned houses to the market, supporting community resources to fight crime, and treatment options for those with addictions.

MHCA President Chris Lorenc said the meeting was a good opportunity to canvass the candidate’s ideas and thinking of strong economic development, as well as his vision for the city.

“We had a very engaged discussion on economic development, which we consider the first priority of all levels of government, but also looked at a variety of issues, such as homelessness and crime and what are the tools in Winnipeg’s hands to address these problems,” Lorenc said.