As the City of Flin Flon looks to upgrade the Aqua Centre, Coun. Colleen McKee is shedding new light on an old provincial promise.
In meeting with Finance Minister Greg Dewar recently, McKee said she reminded him of former premier Gary Doer’s pledge to pump dollars into a new or revamped swimming pool for the community.
McKee said the response from Dewar, whose name is pronounced the same as Doer’s, was succinct: “Well I’m not the Dewar.”
McKee’s response? “No, but it is your party.”
McKee relayed the exchange at last week’s city council meeting.
In April 2007, while on the campaign trail in Flin Flon, Doer mentioned the need for a new pool.
“I don’t want to say on Broadway what’s best for people in Flin Flon,” Doer said at the time, “but I do say there’s money there and political will and commitment to build facilities in the North, and we are absolutely committed to that Aqua Centre, however it may be set up.”
Doer then told councillors he wanted to sit down with them after the 2007 election “and identify the scope of the project and the amount of money that we should be investing in it.”
In his public comments, Doer did not commit to a specific amount of funding.
Doer won re-election as premier with the help of Flin Flon constituency voters. He resigned in 2009 to become Canada’s ambassador to the United States.
Options
A city-ordered study released last year found that area residents are more interested in upgrading the existing Aqua Centre than in an entirely new building.
Of six options considered, Option 4, which outlined upgrades to the existing facility and the addition of revenue-generating features, was recommended based on a feasibility study and surveys. It was also the preferred option when the audience of an open house was polled.
Option 4 carries a price tag of $7.7 million. If adopted, it would see the Aqua Centre’s pool basin remain the same, with changes to surrounding areas that include enlarging the deck and weight room and adding a viewing area, therapeutic pool, classroom and yoga room.
The plan also includes larger change rooms and the addition of a family change room.
Dewar and two fellow cabinet ministers, Deanne Crothers and Melanie Wight, met with city council in Flin Flon on Friday, Feb. 27.
Sales tax
Council also sought Dewar’s opinion on a municipal sales tax. Coun. Leslie Beck said Dewar indicated the province likely would not support such a tax.
McKee said council is not looking to implement its own sales tax.
“It’s just something that we had talked about a number of years ago and we had never really received an answer from [the province],” she said.
Another topic, Coun. Bill Hanson said, was Flin Flon’s “inability…to access funds from surrounding neighbourhoods for our regional structures” through a regionalization model.
“As somebody was saying today, ‘Oh, you know, it’s too bad that the population of Flin Flon is going down so drastically,’” said Hanson. “Well I don’t think our population has gone down so drastically. It’s just spread out, you know, outside of our borders.”
How receptive were Dewar and his colleagues to council’s statements?
“They didn’t really have a whole lot to say back to us,” said Beck.
Added Hanson: “Hopefully there’s some fruition from those talks.”
