Go support @manitobaskateboarding @theotherskaters 👍🏽 this skatepark shouldn't be gate keeped away from youth and skateboarders. Not good. That building should go back into public hands. The youth for christ organization has failed in making a safe space for all youth and all people. #Repost @manitobaskateboarding --- Public funds going towards a private, inaccessible operation. This is colonization in the modern era. —————- The $14 million building is financed by public contributions of $6.6 million, with $3.2 from the federal government Infrastructure Stimulus Fund and $3.4 from the City of Winnipeg. In addition to the City funding, the City of Winnipeg gifted Youth for Christ the Elmwood fire hall building to enable them to sell the property and use the funds towards the new site. Youth for Christ has a responsibility for the public dollars they received, to take proactive steps to listen to the concerns from the community. The city of Winnipeg, federal government and citizens have a responsibility to hold them to account and be truly accessible to the Aboriginal community and local youth-serving organizations. If this cannot be achieved, then perhaps the public money should be repaid and invested in the many Aboriginal and youth organizations that use a decolonizing approach. We need to look no further than across the street at Circle of Life Thunderbird House, an Indigenous cultural and spiritual centre, which continues to struggle for operating dollars. - Hugill, David and Owen Toews. 2014. - ————————- Several community groups in Winnipeg focused on the sport of skateboarding are raising funds to construct a new, indoor skate park, claiming the only indoor alternative is currently engaging in discriminatory practices. Morgan Modjeski reports for City News Winnipeg #Winnipeg #Skateboarding #WinnipegSkateboarding #wpg #yfccauseharm #landback #newskatepark