Turn Main Street into urban reserve: candidate

Arlene Jones has novel idea to save Main Street strip

Arlene Jones says a good way to revitalize the north Main Street strip is to create an urban reserve there.

“No one else is talking about it,” says the nurse and community activist. “We have a very high aboriginal population here, wouldn’t it be great if there were aboriginal businesses, restaurants, education centres here.”

Jones is one of five candidates vying for votes in Mynarski, and she says two of her top priorities are revitalizing businesses and storefronts on Main Street and keeping a constituency office open there.

Main Street has suffered a number of recent business closures, including major banks and long-time neighbourhood store Kern-Hill Furniture Co-op.

Many businesses are boarded up or in a state of disrepair.

She is currently the only Mynarski candidate with a campaign headquarters not out of her home, having taken up residence at the corner of Main Street and Inkster Boulevard.

She says just being there a few weeks has proven to her an office in the constituency is needed.

“People are coming in just to chat, to tell me their concerns, they notice that we’re here.”

She seems to be right - a gentleman walks in after the interview to wish Jones luck and drops off cookies, much to the staff’s delight.

Jones says even the simple efforts she and her family have made to improve the storefront (a fresh coat of paint and flowers in the windows) has resulted in inquiries about whether the storefront is for rent.

“It just goes to show there’s so much potential here.”

Jones, a longtime resident of the North End, says her platform is simple - safe and secure neighbourhoods, a clean environment and healthy living, and following Plan Winnipeg.

“The city has a plan, it’s called Plan Winnipeg, and it’s being ignored. I don’t know if simply some councillors aren’t aware of it or what,” she says, adding Waverley West wasn’t in Plan Winnipeg.

“It’s a vision that shouldn’t be ignored.”

Jones says Point Douglas in particular is desperate for services and businesses, adding even finding a mailbox can be a challenge.

“We’ve got young people moving in here...into this interesting area, and it’s wonderful, but we need to support that. We need more people moving in here.”

City-wide issues such as rapid transit and Oly-West she hasn’t completely made her mind up on.

“I actually think our transit system isn’t that bad,” she says, adding she uses it frequently, but said she’s willing to look at improvements, especially to adding newer, more accessible buses and later route times.

As for the proposed hog processing facility, she says she’s not worried about smell so much as the way the facility was presented to constituents.

“There definitely should have been more in the way of community consultation...and if the City can afford to give away $11 million in tax breaks...can you imagine what that money could have done for here?”