Events

West Broadway Community Organization is pleased to present a workshop about the history of social housing in West Broadway. The workshop will include three brief presentations from local housing experts and historians Doug Smith, Mike Maunder, and Lynne Fernandez.

Following the presentation will be an open discussion to learn more about how and why social housing was created, the role that it plays in our community, and how we can get involved to support social housing in West Broadway.

The workshop will be held at the Cornish Library, 20 West Gate, on Tuesday June 11^th. The venue is accessible, but parking is limited to the street. Doors open at 5pm and the workshop run from 5:30pm to 7pm. Light refreshments will be provided. Seating is limited so please RSVP by emailing [email protected].

Doug Smith is a Winnipeg writer and author of numerous books on political and social issues and Manitoba labour and political history. His new book, Property Wrongs: The Seventy-Year Fight for Public Housing in Winnipeg (2023) traces the early history of proposals for decommodified and state-sponsored housing in Winnipeg, and sheds light on the power struggles that fought for and against these proposals.

Mike Maunder is a local historian and a correspondent for West Broadway’s community newspaper, The Leaf. His research has cultivated a rich history of West Broadway’s housing and the people who have made West Broadway their home. Publications include Living on Furby: Narratives of Home, Winnipeg, Manitoba, 1880-2005 (2009) and Divided Prairie Neighbourhood: West Broadway Story of Hope, Challenge, and Resiliency (2020).

Lynne Fernandez is Co-Chair of the Education, Employment and Social Inclusion Research Stream of the Manitoba Research Alliance and a CCPA-Manitoba Research Associate. She is co-chair of the seniors working group for the Right to Housing Coalition. Her report Thinking Inside the Box: Rediscovering How to Build Social Housing in Manitoba (2024) demystifies the housing crisis by looking back at tried-and-true strategies for social housing in Canada and abroad.