Some Interlake municipalities that oppose being part of the Capital Planning Region were breathing a little easier last week after the provincial NDP government said it intends to let them opt out under legislation it will table this fall.
The Capital Planning Region operates under the name the Winnipeg Metro Region. It was created by the former provincial Conservative government under the Planning Amendment and City of Winnipeg Charter Amendment Act (Bill 37). The WMR’s 18 member municipalities were assigned to the region whether they wanted to be part of it or not.
The region consists of the City of Winnipeg, City of Selkirk, Town of Niverville, Town of Stonewall, Village of Dunnottar and the rural municipalities of Cartier, East St. Paul, Headingley, Macdonald, Ritchot, Rockwood, Rosser, Springfield, St. Andrews, St. Clements, St. François Xavier, Tache and West St. Paul.
The NDP government said last week it will introduce legislation to allow municipalities the “freedom to choose” whether they want to be part of the region.
“This is about giving municipalities the freedom to make their own planning decisions, rather than force them into a planning region that isn’t working,” said premier Wab Kinew in an Aug. 21 news release. “We’ve heard what municipalities have to say and that’s why we’re moving forward with legislation to make membership in Plan 20-50 voluntary. We’re working with communities like Selkirk, Niverville and Stonewall to grow the economy, and build more housing in a way that makes sense for them.”
The government’s move comes after some municipalities publicly protested against being forcibly included in the WMR and residents raised concerns about how it could override the authority of their local governments to make land-use decisions.
The WMR released a yet-to-be-adopted 30-year blueprint for land-use planning titled Plan20-50: A Regional Plan for the Winnipeg Metropolitan Region. The plan – a bylaw that has passed first reading by the WMR board – contains development policies for areas such as housing, community expansion, transportation, agriculture and water and wastewater. Details of what those policies will entail are unknown because they haven’t either been written or released.
The City of Selkirk said it was pleased the province announced it will introduce legislation to make municipal inclusion in the WMR voluntary. Selkirk had earlier stated publicly that it had been forced to join the WMR.
Selkirk mayor Larry Johannson said he and council “applaud” premier Wab Kinew and the government for listening to Selkirk and other municipalities which expressed concerned with the “undemocratic creation” of the planning region and the “sweeping powers” provided to it to control development and municipal services.
“We thank Premier Kinew for his announcement and for the government’s efforts to restore our city’s authority to make its own choice. In our efforts to correct the forced and inappropriate inclusion of Selkirk into the region, we have emphasized that local governments should have the choice to join or not. At election time we are given a mandate to lead our community, and Bill 37 took that away in many ways,” said Johannson in an Aug. 21 news release. “Not only will this new legislation create that opportunity, it also demonstrates respect for local governments.”
Selkirk councillor John Buffie, who was appointed to sit on the WMR board, said in the news release that Selkirk is more regionally aligned with municipalities close to it than it is to the wider WMR. And Selkirk is committed to demonstrating excellence in urban planning, infrastructure asset management and regional thinking.
Buffie said Selkirk’s region is the Triple S region, which is made up of St. Andrews, St. Clements and Selkirk. And its extended region includes the Interlake and eastern Manitoba. According to Statistics Canada’s data, 30 per cent of St. Andrews’ residents work in Selkirk and 23 per cent of St. Clements’ residents work in Selkirk. The majority of Selkirk’s working residents work in Selkirk. Therefore, services should be tailored to the needs of that region.
“Getting out of the Winnipeg Metro Region will allow us to focus on our true region,” Buffie added. “Being a regional service hub is part of our community strategic plan, and we’ve demonstrated that we can work with our neighbouring municipalities to deliver for our shared citizens.”
The RM of St. Andrews council issued an official response to Plan20-50, saying that mayor Joy Sul always had concerns as to how it would impact the RM’s “autonomy as decision-makers,” and that she and council believe that residents could “lose their voice” in municipal matters.
Development in St. Andrews is currently guided by zoning by-laws and secondary plans, and the RM is a member of the Red River Planning District.
“A decision will be made regionally at a higher level and the impact will be felt at the local level,” said St. Andrew’s chief administrative officer Brent Olynyk, referring to the policies that will be set by the WMR and which will affect all the member municipalities whether it makes sense for them or not.
Although St. Andrews supports the concept of a regional plan, the statement says mayor Sul wants to see the public better informed about Plan20-50 “before it can be finalized,” and that the RM does not support the plan as it’s currently written.
“Plan20-50 needs to go back to the public to have that consultation process, in the same way that all other legislative decisions have been approved in the past,” says the statement.
The RM of West Paul said in a news release that it believes Plan20-50 “subjugates the authority of local governments” and it supports “further consultation” with the leaders of the 18 municipalities before the plan receives final approval.
“The RM of West St. Paul supports the concept of a regional planning model for the region to support economic growth and success for all but has concerns with Plan 20-50,” states the release. “Mayor and Council believe the plan subjugates the authority of local governments and eliminates their ability to determine the scale and nature of development in their communities. West St. Paul believes that further consultation with local governments is needed prior to finalizing Plan 20-50 to ensure that local influence over development is not lost.”
Dunnottar Ratepayers Association president Ed Strauman said he as a taxpayer is not in favour of Plan20-50 and thinks the Village of Dunnottar shouldn’t be part of it. He sent an email to the chief administrative officer and a council member, saying it should pull out as “mass development” is not in keeping with Dunnottar’s rural setting.
“I am totally against this plan and I urge the village council to pull out of it immediately. Other municipalities are already getting out of this 20-50 plan. The Village of Dunnottar is a resort area,” said Strauman in his email to the village. “I have spoken to Mayor [Rick] Gamble and Councillor [Jim] Kotowich at the family day event this past Saturday. If other municipalities [want] to stay in this so be it, but as a taxpayer I say no to this plan.”
As mandated under the legislation that created it, the WMR has to hold two public meetings on Plan20-50. It held the first meeting in Winnipeg in July but had to cancel a second meeting on Aug. 8 at the Niverville Heritage Centre after hundreds of Manitobans showed up and pushed capacity of the hall over the limit.
The WMR has yet to announce the date of the second public meeting.
