Mayors, reeves ramp up pressure on province to ratchet back municipal board’s powers

Posted on November 25, 2024 by Peggy

Mayors and reeves in Manitoba are once again calling on the NDP government to ratchet back the powers of the provincially-appointed board that has the power to overturn local land-use decisions.

The Association of Manitoba Municipalities is asking Wab Kinew’s government to make substantial changes to the municipal board, which was granted expansive powers during former premier Brian Pallister’s PC government.

Mayors and reeves have long complained the unelected board now has the power to reverse decisions made by elected councils.

On Monday, the first day of an Association of Manitoba Municipalities conference in Winnipeg, Selkirk Mayor Larry Johannson asked the Kinew government to speed up a promised review of the board, while RM of Cartier Reeve Christa Vann Mitchell questioned whether Manitoba even needs a municipal board.

Kinew has already promised to amend legislation that will effectively reduce the number of municipal decisions that can be second-guessed by the municipal board.

A review of the board, however, has no prospective end date.

Other mayors and reeves want the province to send towns and municipalities more money to clean up needles discarded following the non-medical use of drugs.

Swan River Mayor Lance Jacobson said public health officials continue to distribute needles in an effort to reduce the spread of disease even after a needle exchange was closed down. Jacobson said the harm reduction effort in his western Manitoba town could not be called a success.

Mayors and reeves also say they want the province to provide them with more operating funding for the coming year. Premier Wab Kinew is slated to address them Monday afternoon.