View From the Legislature

On Monday of this week, I was honoured as Manitoba’s Deputy Premier and the MLA for Steinbach to announce that the provincial government and the federal government have reached an agreement to provide nearly $17.5 million to the City of Steinbach to support the construction of a new event centre in the city.

For nearly 30 years residents of Steinbach and the southeast have been dreaming and planning for a regional event centre. The growth of the City of Steinbach and surrounding communities has meant that many local events could not be held right here in our region. As well, some tournaments and events could not be hosted in the southeast. Local hockey teams, like the Steinbach Pistons, operate first rate organizations but they are not able to hold their games in the type of home arena that meets modern standards.

During the past many years, various City of Steinbach councils have been purchasing land around the downtown area. This has resulted in the building of a new curling rink and movie theatre to help form the basis of an entertainment district, but the goal of an event centre has been elusive. It has been difficult to bring the various levels of government together with private sector investment around a unifying project. Special thanks have to be given to the Southeast Event Centre Committee that has worked on this project for so long and to all of the private investors, including Hylife Foods, for committing their vision and their resources.

Over the years various local municipal, provincial and federal representatives have extended their own efforts to bring an events centre to Steinbach. At the announcement on Monday, I was very glad to be joined by former Mayors Chris Goertzen, Les Magnusson and Helmut Pankratz to see this dream move a giant step forward to reality. Member of Parliament Ted Falk was also present, demonstrating his support for the project along with Hanover Reeve Stan Toews.

The past many months have been difficult ones for all Manitobans and Canadians. And while there have been many challenges every day, there has still been a vision towards the needs of communities and residents for the future. I have been especially grateful to work with local representatives like Mayor Earl Funk and Deputy Mayor Michael Zwaagstra to keep a steady priority on this project. I also appreciate the efforts of Manitoba’s Minister of Central Services Reg Helwer and the federal government in ensuring this project continued to be seen as important to local residents and Manitoba as a whole.

Last Monday was a very special day for Steinbach. I was honoured to be able to make the announcement on behalf of Manitoba and to be joined by my own family, because the event centre will ultimately be about family and memories and community. And it is now, finally, becoming a reality. Congratulations and thank you to all those who have had a role over the past many years in making this project a reality.