Winnipeggers descended on City Hall on March 17 to voice their thoughts on the 2008 preliminary operating budget.

The Executive Policy Committee meeting was the last chance for public input into the budget before the draft document goes to City Council for approval, and 30 delegations took full advantage of the lobbying opportunity.

Rapid transit emerged as a hot issue. Winnipeg is the largest city in Canada without some system of rapid transit, and while a savings fund has finally been established as part of this year's proposed budget (along with $2.75 million to go in it), transit advocates have their eyes on a bigger prize - $18 million in federal infrastructure funding, available to Manitoba if the province publically commits to a specific plan by March 31.

Paul Hesse, chair of the recently formed Rapid Transit Coalition, presented a petition signed by over 3,500 Winnipeggers and urged the city to work together with the province to match the federal funding and make something happen.

"With respect, we don't agree that money should be saved each year in the hope that, decades from now, we'll break ground on a rapid transit system," Hesse said.

The coalition wants to see action taken on phase one of Winnipeg's bus rapid transit system, which involves building a designated corridor to link downtown to Jubilee Avenue. Mayor Sam Katz said it's up to the province to take the necessary step of informing the federal government of any intentions in writing.

Molly McCracken, executive director of the West Broadway Development Corporation, reiterated the request made by the city's housing steering committee to double Winnipeg's contribution to local housing initiatives from $1 million to $2 million.

McCracken said while "fragile improvements" have been made, she knows of youth pitching tents in parks, men sleeping under the Maryland Bridge, and women staying in unsafe situations because they have nowhere else to go.

"That money is definitely needed to stem the tide of homelessness in Winnipeg," she said. "The benefits are huge - for our health and for our safety."

Several delegations pleaded for the reinstatement of funding that was slashed during the budget process. Others - such as Steve Wilson, executive director of Graffiti Art Programming Inc., and Patrick Ross, a local artist - appeared in the hopes of accessing new money.

Following up on the recommendation of the city's planning committee, Wilson asked EPC for a $100,000 annual grant to assist with operating costs, as well as a one-time, $500,000 grant that would enable the community arts organization to buy the Higgins Avenue building it currently rents.

The Graffiti Gallery affects neighborhood safety and changes lives by using art as tool to help inner-city kids realize their potential and make positive choices, Wilson said.

A walking success story, Ross told EPC he enrolled in GAP after being released from Stony Mountain Penitentiary in 2004. The 28-year-old now teaches at GAP while pursuing his own artistic goals.

"My life is now full of exciting potential," he said. "Art and how I was taught to use it through art programming has really saved my life."

In response, Katz lauded GAP's work, but stopped short of making any promises with respect to funding.

Delegations will now have to wait until March 26's city council meeting to find out if their appeals to EPC made any difference.