Winnipeg's mayor and CAO have too much power: left-wing think tank

Too much power is concentrated within the offices of Winnipeg's mayor and chief administrative officer, the union-affiliated Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives concludes in a report about democracy at city hall.

Winnipeg's current political system hands the mayor enough power to ensure city council passes almost any legislation desired by the mayor while the CAO's office is imbued with enough power to rival that of council itself, University of Alberta post-doctoral fellow Owen Toews writes in a report called Winnipeg Free For All: Towards Democracy At City Hall.

"To the extent that the mayor and the CAO are given a significant amount of power, the two could hypothetically pursue a bold vision for remaking the city according to the needs and aspirations of the majority. But this has never been the case," Toews writes in the report.

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The left-of-centre Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives produced the report with the financial assistance of Winnipeg's largest union, the Canadian Union of Public Employees, Local 500. It looks at the city's governance over time but also takes a snapshot of the current structure, where Brian Bowman sits in the mayor's chair and Doug McNeil serves as the city's chief administrative officer.

The power afforded the mayor "is one of the most glaring barriers to democracy in civic governance in Winnipeg" because the mayor can appoint whomever he likes to executive policy committee and kick those councillors off if they don't agree with him, Toews writes.

"By appointing a city councillor to EPC, the mayor automatically increases that councillor's access to information, public notoriety — an advantage for reelection purposes — and salary. If an EPC member disagrees with the mayor, the mayor can remove them from the EPC and immediately reduce their salary, access to information and notoriety," Toews writes. 

"In effect, this means that the mayor pays EPC members to support the mayor's position, and as a result the EPC almost always follows the mayor's lead. Once the EPC forwards a recommendation to city council it is very likely to gain approval since the number of city councillors on EPC may be as many as one fewer than a majority on council.

"This means it is only necessary for the mayor to gain the support of one more non-EPC city councillor in order to pass a by-law or resolution. The mayor's authority to appoint — and remove at will — both the deputy mayor and acting deputy mayor gives the mayor a good chance at achieving this."

The chief administrative officer has too much power, Toews says.

"With the authority to supervise city departments and to guide their implementation of city council decisions, and with the authority to control the flow of information and recommendations from city departments to city council, the CAO may possess just as much if not more power than city council itself," he writes. 

"To vest this much power in just one individual is extremely undemocratic and prone to petty corruption."

Toews also writes critically about:

• Wards that are too large to allow citizens adequate representation.
• Barriers to voting for Winnipeg residents who are not Canadian citizens.
• The power handed to quasi-governmental agencies such as CentreVenture and the Assiniboine Park Conservancy, which are run somewhat like private businesses.

He advocates greater community participation in government as an antidote.

Bowman dismissed the report, noting it was sponsored by CUPE 500.

"Let's be honest with Winnipeggers about what's going on here," the mayor said. "There are very powerful interests — unions and certain wealthy developers — who used to call the shots at city hall. They're highly motivated to go back to the way things are run.

"There's a reason they're going to be attacking me: because they're not calling the shots anymore."

When informed the report does not mention him by name, Bowman said he supports the idea of a governance review at city hall.

Lynne Fernandez of the Canadian Centre of Policy Alternatives said she was disappointed by the mayor's response and urged Bowman to read the report.

The criticisms in the report echo those made by several city councillors, including Janice Lukes (South Winnipeg-St. Norbert) and Shawn Dobson (St. Charles), both of whom have advocated for a governance overhaul at city hall.

Winnipeg last made significant changes to its governance in 1998, when the so-called "strong mayor" system was instituted and the CAO replaced a body of public servants called the Board of Commissioners.