Kevin Klein campaign responds to latest failure by city administration
Winnipeg, Man. (September 2, 2022) - It has been brought to our attention that recently an organization representing the industry giant, Amazon, approached the City of Winnipeg to hold discussions about the construction of a new large facility in an industrial area of Transcona. As part of their proposal, Amazon requested that an underpass be built at Dugald Road and Ravenhurst Street. The City of Winnipeg saw no benefit and declined. A second proposal was then made by the group, this time with Amazon offering to cover the cost of the underpass and potentially with the city issuing a TIF over several years to cover some of the cost. Again, the city saw no value in the opportunity and declined. As a result of the city’s inability to engage in negotiations and the apparent lack of vision for the future of our city, the facility will now be built outside Winnipeg. This means an estimated 2,000 jobs have moved outside the city, as well as all the money the city would have earned with multiple years of property taxes.
As disturbing as the above, city councillors were left in the dark. No information was provided to elected officials. The ongoing negotiations were not brought to members of the city council.
“As a councillor who is on the Standing Policy Committee for Property Planning and Development, I was never made aware of the road blocks or any details of the ongoing negotiation with Amazon,” says Winnipeg mayoral candidate Kevin Klein. “This is totally unacceptable. Such large losses and the lack of transparency and accountability, would not happen under my watch as mayor. People want to live in a successful and prosperous city, and a large Amazon facility in Winnipeg sends a message to other large multinationals that we are 'Open For Business.' I believe I’m the only candidate with the experience to make necessary changes after October 26th to build large opportunities for a better Winnipeg – not chase them away.”
For more information about Kevin Klein and to learn about his campaign, please visit this website.