September 26, 2006

Winnipeg will receive an additional $50 million in provincial funding over the next two years for
road-improvement projects, which will quadruple provincial funding for city streets and provide additional funding for bicycle routes, Premier Gary Doer announced today.

“The province has made significant investments in streets, roads and transit through the Building Manitoba Fund since 2004,” said Doer. “However, it is clear that Manitoba needs to accelerate our commitment to roads and continue to deliver on Manitobans’ priorities.”

Manitoba currently provides $159 million to the City of Winnipeg in grant support for various programs and priorities. Through this support, $7 million each year is invested in Winnipeg’s street renewal program through the Building Manitoba Fund. Today’s commitment will increase current provincial funding for Winnipeg streets by four times that amount in 2007.

“This is an unprecedented level of funding that starts to address the priorities of Winnipeggers,” said Mayor Sam Katz. “I want to thank the premier for the strong commitment made today and for working with the City of Winnipeg to address our major infrastructure challenges.”

“Manitoba is making an investment in regional streets, recognizing that these roads carry 80 per cent of Winnipeg's traffic and are the economic routes going through Winnipeg,” said Doer. “The City of Winnipeg currently spends $30 million per year on its regional street program. Our commitment will allow the city to nearly double the amount of work done on Winnipeg’s regional streets by 2008.”

Doer noted the province is committed to a new federal-provincial infrastructure program that will help address infrastructure needs in other areas that will build on previous projects like the Kenaston underpass and Waterfront Drive. Additionally, Doer said future support for transit will be incorporated into the city and provincial budgets in 2007.

Doer also noted that in addition to today’s investments the province is committed to affordability of property taxes. Budget 2006 eliminated the provincial education support levy (ESL) providing a total of $62 million in provincial tax savings for Winnipeg homeowners.

Today’s announcement enables the City of Winnipeg to put these investments to work for the 2007 construction season. New projects will be announced as they are tendered over the coming months.

- 30 -