WINNIPEG: At Winnipeg city hall today, the Canadian Taxpayers Federation spoke against the $220,000 bailout package for the Burton Cummings Theatre; this package comes on the heels of a bailout for the Pantages Theatre which received $110,000 last week.

"It is astonishing that council is even having this discussion," stated Provincial Director Adrienne Batra. "This year alone the City's operating deficit is sitting at $18 million, we cancelled street repair because there was no money, we couldn't reduce property taxes because there was no money, yet miraculously there are hundreds of thousands of dollars available for the arts community," she said.

The Burton Cummings Theatre will receive $110,000 in both the 2006 and 2007 fiscal years. "For years council have foregone needed capital investments and preventive maintenance costs to our infrastructure in favour of short-term payback for areas such as arts funding and other special interest initiatives," added Batra, "at some point taxes are going to be raised if we continue down this irresponsible spending path."

The City of Winnipeg's current debt is nearly $428 million, with $60 million going for debt servicing costs this year alone. In the budget, a mere $2 million is allocated for potholes, while property taxpayers hand over $3.6 million to the Winnipeg Arts Council. "Aside from the blatant waste of public dollars, what is disconcerting about this decision is that Mayor Katz spearheaded the bailout, this is the same mayor that ran on a platform to be fiscally responsible with taxpayers' dollars," Batra concluded.