City of Winnipeg property chair wants province to remove 'antidemocratic' powers from government appointees

The City of Winnipeg's property chair is calling on the province to repeal what she calls "antidemocratic" legislation that allows an unelected provincial board to overturn city council land-use decisions.

In 2021, the province granted additional powers to Manitoba's municipal board, a quasi-judicial body that used to spend most of its time settling disputes over property assessments.

The board, made up of people appointed by the Progressive Conservative government, now has the power to reverse Winnipeg city council decisions about a variety of land-use decisions, including those governing developments planned for years in advance.

In October, the municipal board quashed Winnipeg's decision to allow a 199-unit apartment building to rise on Roblin Avenue in Charleswood. That was the first council decision to come before the board after the new legislation — the Planning Amendment & City of Winnipeg Charter Amendment Act — came into effect.

As a second city decision heads to the board — this one governing a proposal for three residential buildings on Shaftesbury Boulevard in Tuxedo — city council property chair Sherri Rollins (Fort Rouge-East Fort Garry) is appealing to Premier Heather Stefanson's provincial government to strip the board of its new powers before, Rollins says, lasting damage is done to Winnipeg's economy.

"I definitely feel the chill and it's not just me," said Rollins, who argues the board's ability flip city council decisions creates more uncertainty for developers already suffering from the combined effects of supply-chain disruptions, labour shortages and high inflation.

"We can't have things in the way of our economic progress as a city or as a province."

Rollins is among several councillors who complain the municipal board is less accountable than city council committees, which publish development proposals no fewer than five business days before committee meetings, open meetings to the public and post live video of those meetings to allow residents to watch from anywhere.

After council committee meetings, those videos are posted in perpetuity, along with records of what happened at those meetings.

'A weird accountability problem': councillor

The municipal board also opens its hearings to the public and publicizes its meetings even longer in advance — no less than two weeks before the hearings take place, said Erin Wills, the board's secretary and chief administrative officer.

But the board doesn't post video records the way the city does. Most contentiously, it does not communicate its decisions to anyone other than the City of Winnipeg, at least not in the short term.

Provincial legislation does not allow the board to divulge its decisions until city council passes bylaws about the development in question — something council has no choice but to do.

"They are required to make a decision that conforms with the report/recommendation of the municipal board," said Brant Batters, a spokesperson for the Progressive Conservative government.

Rollins said it is uncomfortable for councillors to be forced to abide by the board's rulings and also communicate those decisions on the board's behalf.

"There's a weird accountability problem that makes it just plain antidemocratic," she said, noting the board members don't have to answer to the public because they are not elected. 

"We have an unelected, unaccountable body making decisions where their rationale is not communicated."

Winnipeg Mayor Scott Gillingham said the municipal board ought to be at least as transparent as the city.

"The city makes information about development proposals — including reports, hearing dates and decisions — easily available to the public. The municipal board should be doing the same," Gillingham said in a statement. 

"I've already said I disagreed with the board's decision about 4025 Roblin Blvd. [where the 199-unit apartment building was proposed]. 

"Investors need certainty and the only way that's going to happen is if board decisions are transparent and based on objective criteria."

'An independent body': province

Batters suggested the absence of elected officials on the board makes it free of political influence.

It "was configured to be an independent body — not influenced by government, municipalities and other stakeholders — to review appeals, applications and referrals as quickly as possible," he said in a statement.

He said the board's members "come from all corners of the province" and have a range of skills "applicable to land-use, zoning and planning issues."

The legislation that expanded the board's powers followed a push by former premier Brian Pallister to exercise more control over city planning decisions.

A review conducted by his government over several weeks in 2019 concluded Winnipeg's planning, property and development department was dysfunctional.

It cited the lack of development at the Parker lands in southwest Winnipeg and the former Canad Inns Stadium site as suffering at the hands of the municipal officials.

The city's disposal of the Parker lands and Canad Inns Stadium site also featured prominently in a city-commissioned audit of major real-estate transactions conducted during the Sam Katz administration. 

Former Winnipeg mayor Brian Bowman, who succeeded Katz, told Pallister in 2019 if he was serious about improving the development climate in Winnipeg, the province would follow through on city council's request for a provincial inquiry into Winnipeg's construction and real-estate scandals.