Winnipeg councillor calls for termination of top civil servant

A Winnipeg councillor has called for the termination of chief administrative officer Michael Jack over the response to a multimillion-dollar court judgment against the city.

Transcona Coun. Russ Wyatt says he's upset that the city has not fired city planner Michael Robinson. 

Robinson is one of two city planning employees who King's Bench Justice Shauna McCarthy found "liable for misfeasance in public office" for deliberately slowing progress on developer Andrew Marquess's efforts to develop 19 hectares on the former Parker lands.

"It sends a message to the entire civil service of the City of Winnipeg, that you can break the principles of your profession, you can break city policies … you can break the Planning Act, and there's no consequences," Wyatt said in an interview.

McCarthy awarded Marquess $5 million in damages. A hearing to determine court costs has been set for Sept. 5.

The lawsuit also named former chief planner Braden Smith, who has since left the city. Wyatt says Jack's failure to remove Robinson has caused him to lose confidence in the city's top civil servant.

Wyatt says he has also seen messages indicating that Jack is considering filing an appeal of the judge's decision, which he called a "delay tactic" that could potentially expose the city to an even greater legal penalty.

"I think this is an indication where we have the most important position in the public service, being the CAO, not acting," Wyatt said.

"We need a change. We need a new CAO and we need to start removing some of some of the dead wood that exists in senior management."

Process to be followed: mayor

The City of Winnipeg did not grant a request for an interview with Jack.

In an email, city spokesperson Felicia Wiltshire wrote the city does not publicly discuss human resource matters regarding specific employees.

"The city is taking the decision of Madam Justice McCarthy very seriously," Wiltshire wrote in the email.

"We continue to determine our next steps, and until this matter has concluded, it is still before the courts so we are unable to provide any further information."

Mayor Scott Gillingham said the city's legal team is still reviewing the decision and whether to file an appeal. 

Regarding Robinson's continued employment, Gillingham said "there's a process for unionized employees to be followed."

The roots of the conflict between Marquess and the city go back more than a decade to 2009, when members of city council's property and development committee approved a land swap between the city and Marquess.

The developer gave up a small parcel of serviced land in Fort Rouge that Winnipeg Transit needed for a new garage. In exchange, Marquess acquired the Parker lands, a larger triangle of unserviced city land in Fort Garry.

Jack was appointed CAO in 2021. 

Wyatt says the handling of the Parker lands lawsuit decision is just one of several concerns he has with Jack's performance.

Other issues he cited include the city's proposed settlement with a towing company accused of defrauding the city for $1 million worth of courtesy tows that never happened; the handling of a settlement regarding the construction of the police headquarters; and ongoing problems within the civil service, such as a shortage of 311 staff.

If the city does not act by removing either Robinson or Jack, Wyatt plans to bring forward a motion calling for the CAO's termination at the first council meeting after the summer break in September.

This is not the first time Wyatt has called for the termination of a Winnipeg CAO.

In 2017, he demanded the resignation of former CAO Doug McNeil over issues regarding land assembly to extend Abinojii Mikanah (at the time named Bishop Grandin Boulevard).

Prior to that, in 2013, he called for the city to fire then CAO Phil Sheegl over an audit of city real estate transactions.