Well, let's be realistic here.
Winnipeg has three large post secondary school; pretty good for a city of it's size. One of them has always has it's enter system present downtown; the U of W. Now another one (RRC) is planning to expand downtown. This is excellent news.
Two out of three large post secondary presences downtown is a huge factor to consider; how many other Canadian cities have this going for them?
So if the U of M is not located downtown, to me, it's not that big of a deal. This University belongs where it is. It's filling it's niche. Two other post secondary institutions are filling the gaps downtown.
Let's just be thankful for this, shall we?