Discussions

I have always wondered why doesnt Brandon have any or not many statues of the city founders or war heros or any special brandonites or even canadian people all over the city, also we dont have many fountains, I have only seen one at Princess Park but they dont even turn it on very often, I know its usually covered in snow but in summer they could turn it on, also not many things that make the city better looking I mean after all we are the biggest city in westman and second in all over the province (I might be wrong). Why does it feel that out local goverment doesnt do anything other than place flowers in some major avenues, that looks nice but its not enough, like we pay lots of taxes where is all that going? I know there is social services but like at least one year can they dedicate some money to build something nice for our city? Not like those rainbow zebra walking paths that was horrible, I mean like real decorations, make a festival, the summer fair is good but they could do more.  
I apologize for my poor English.

Cost , vandalism probably many other reasons

I agree that it costs a lot of money and at the same time vandalism will happen to it. To be honest, statues are thing of the past really. No one simply cares about that stuff anymore, and some are even taken down or having to rename city streets because those that were recognized with a statue actually should've never been recognized.  
 
If you want to know more as to where our tax dollars is going I highly recommend attending city of Brandon meetings or subscribing to their Youtube channel.  
 
As of right now, we are going to a major issue for sewage and water which the city did not plan well over a decade for. This is where most of the tax payers money will be going. The city NEEDS to grow commercially BIG time, but everything costs $$$

https://ebrandon.ca/messagethread.aspx?message_id=1055825&cat_id=3

I can't think of anything I'd be less interested in my tax money being spent on than this.  
 
If any politicians read these threads, spend tax money on an idea like this and lose my vote forever.

just picking up garbage keep things tidy can make a huge difference does not always have to be anything huge or cost alot of $$  
 
Edited by rubyred, 2023-04-15 11:23:10

mmm... Im not sure about that, I mean, Brandon has very little to offer to tourists to be honest and if someone that is driving past the city ask where to go, what would you recommend other than the discovery centre and the very small museum that's always closed or the very poor art gallery? Statues represent history for good or for bad and they give the city a sense of pride also fountains make our city beautiful and more welcoming, that makes travelers stay or at least don't just drive past the city and that grows business and leave dollars here that other wise will be spent on near towns that has other things to offer. At least that's what I think.

I’ve travel a lot, and I can honestly say, I give 0 hoots about any statue, in any country or any city  
. Majority of the statues have rose-coloured stories about them, and in the end they’ve actually done horrible things….. statues are a thing of the past, and I can confidently say the next generation will care less about this type of thing than myself…

i have seen other city's where you have to have a more notable contribution to then just growing up in the city. more of a name that will leave a lasting contribution to society. also normally there name or statue get tied to a facility that is tied to there field, and is normally funded by a group which want to preserve there notable contribution in history

Unless we’re talking a many hundreds of thousands if not millions of dollars larger than life statue, I’m not sure it’ll accomplish what you’re hoping. I doubt many pile into the car just to have a look at the Hawerchuk statue in Winnipeg as nice as it is and as much as it probably gives the community a little more identity.  
 
Core point that there aren’t many impactful draws for tourists is I’d think right… though the Disc Centre has taken some real nice steps over the last few years to heading more and more in that direction. You’ll see some in the water park crowd, something I’ve always thought would be great for this kind of thing for at least part of the year as long as it’s at least cost neutral. I think for attracting families, even a nice next level playground. I know there have been a lot of new ones lately that are all quite nice but there’s a next level multi-storey style of playground that some cities have been building that’s got so much going on that it’s a party every time you go. The kind of thing kids ask “mom and dad, can we go to Brandon to check out the playground.” Of course that’s going to be hundreds of thousands of dollars itself but maybe there’s opportunity to combine funding from the next two or three playground builds into one super playground?  
 
At the end of the day funding doesn’t grow on trees and anything that relies on borrowing right now with where rates are at and with the big spend the city just signed off on would probably need to be urgent!

I think if we're going to spend money on a statue, let's make it as big as Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro. 125 feet tall including the pedestal, and have it towering over the TransCanada Highway between 1st and 18th streets.  
 
But seriously, no more statues! Most of the statues I've seen in this country are for some pretty dubious characters. And unless it's 125 feet tall, I really don't care about it. If it is 125 feet tall, I'm going to curse it as a grotesque waste of money when we have so many bigger problems to solve.