Mayor leads council, Winnipeg in focusing on the big picture to make city great
The following is an address MHCA President Chris Lorenc delivered January 31 at the Civic Leaders Dinner, sponsored by MHCA
The MHCA has been active in public policy advocacy for 76 years. As an association and industry, we are interested not only, in strategically harnessing infrastructure investment, to help grow the economy, but upon the broader, big picture policies that ultimately enable good governance.
And there are a number of initiatives led by Mayor Bowman, and supported by council, we believe fall into these categories that deserve support.
Let’s begin with the Winnipeg Indigenous Accord (WIA) which speaks to the Mayor’s commitment to lead a truth and reconciliation strategy. The MHCA has responded to the Mayor’s invitation, and will sign the WIA. Our industry has a good record of engagement with Indigenous peoples. Through the WIA, we anticipate that engagement will accelerate with greater impact.
The introduction of multi-year budgeting at the city is welcomed. It demonstrates to ratepayers and senior governments the city’s fiscal challenges, and the opportunities to improve fiscal management.
Addressing procurement from start to finish was a campaign pledge of the Mayor’s. Three organizations – the Association of Consulting Engineering Companies/Manitoba, the Winnipeg Construction Association and the MHCA have written the Mayor, offering to work with him and council on his proposed working group to accelerate street construction projects. Improved procurement and early tendering of construction projects can draw more value – up to 15% more – from annual budgets and minimize interruption to the public.
The Mayor has called for a full review our public transit system. That is necessary, if we wish to fully harness public transportation in a modern city. The review should also consider potential to extend transit into the capital region.
The Mayor has championed a commitment to long-term, strategic investment in Winnipeg’s core infrastructure. It is supported by dedicated revenue streams, smart debt and leverages funding from senior levels of government. It is managed through an annual and five-year capital program, supported by an asset-management strategy that other governments would be wise to copy.
What is also true, is that the provincial and federal governments should be pressed to increase their infrastructure investment contributions, whether capital or life-cycle costs. Municipalities own most of the public infrastructure, yet collect only 8 cents of every tax dollar collected across Canada. Those are costs beyond the fiscal capacity of Winnipeg and all municipalities.
Mayor Bowman has voiced support to modernize the relationship between municipalities and the federal government. Municipalities are caught in an archaic statutory bind, creatures of provincial legislation. That turn of the century structure simply does not work now, given the expanded roles of municipalities and rising demand for services from residents.
We also agree that municipalities need greater transparency and predictability in revenue sharing from the provincial government. Knowing these financial details earlier in the budgeting process would benefit both levels of government and Manitobans. What exists is flawed, not because of what current governments have introduced. Rather, it is an inheritance of failed decades of governance, that must be corrected.
Mayor Bowman has correctly noted cities need a new funding arrangement – a New Fiscal Deal – with the provincial government and by extension Ottawa. For many years now, the MHCA and the business community have been calling for a New Fiscal Deal, to correct the weaknesses of the archaic relationship. It is long overdue that we revisit the sharing of roles, responsibilities and revenue streams for the delivery of services.
Mayor Bowman has demonstrably focused on the need to grow the economy. Without economic growth, we are incapable of improving services, or meeting the needs and expectations of a growing population.
And lastly, one of the Mayor’s most important and growing achievements is to have systematically and strategically given a Winnipeg voice and presence to all of these policy areas, at the municipal, provincial and national levels.
Each of the above is a hallmark of leadership. They all focus on the big picture, without which none of the details of governance are possible.
We wish the Mayor and Council well as they shape that big picture, and we support their aspirations to make Winnipeg great.
