June 2017
Benches? Readers may think I have finally run out of things to talk about. Far from it! I think an update is in order on the work done to install new benches (at $1,500 each) in various parks and walkways throughout St Vital ward. These benches are often placed after requests from area residents (sometimes seniors, but not always) who are active but need a resting place. During my first term of office I was pleased to approve funding for benches along the new Seine River trail (south of Southglen), as well as adding benches to the south St Vital trail, and in Forsythe Park – home of the “very south” St. Vital trail as we know it in my office (south St. Vital trail runs east/west just north of Warde Ave, while “very south” trail runs east/west south of Aldgate. We also added in a bus bench on Meadowood in response to seniors from Meadowood Manor asking for a resting spot when they were walking to the St. Vital Centre. In my second term of office I have joined with Councillor Matt Allard to fund some benches on the Louis Riel Senior Trail (in St Boniface ward, but easily accessed from St. V ward via Bishop Grandin Greenway or the John Bruce footbridge). On the St Vital side of the Seine, opposite the Louis Riel Senior trail we opend the Sentier Gabriel Dufault in fall, 2016 including some new, already well-used benches. And Brentford Park (which includes a very fine play structure I funded along with then-MLA Theresa Oswald) also had benches added. Opening on June 16th the new Sentier de la Giclais (connecting Twickenham to Frobisher, just above Perimeter) will feature two new benches. Once we formally name and open Shirley Render Park and Nancy Allan skatepark I will have some more benches to add to the list. I can’t fund all of the requests that come in, but I look forward to steadily increasing the number of new benches in our parks and trails. These are not big, flashy announcements – but the new benches do help promote fitness and add to the quality of life in St. Vital.