Canada/Manitoba government announces new fund for municipalities
Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew has announced that his government will provide an additional $12.4 million in funding to municipalities in 2025. The announcement was made at the annual conference of the Association of Manitoba Municipalities, held in Winnipeg.
The money will be allocated to Manitoba's 137 municipalities over a 5-year period, and will be distributed on a per capita basis.
The money comes from the province's Growth Revenue Fund, worth $62 million over the next five years.
I'm very pleased to announce today the creation of a new stream of money dedicated to the operation of your municipalities, which you can fully decide to spend according to your needs," said Mr. Kinew, in front of hundreds of elected officials and municipal leaders.
The Premier's announcement was greeted with polite applause and some reserve.
For decades, municipal elected officials have been lobbying the provincial government to grant municipalities an additional share of the revenues generated by the provincial sales tax.For decades, elected municipal officials have been lobbying the provincial government to give municipalities an additional share of the revenues generated by the provincial sales tax or gasoline tax, or to amend legislation to enable them to generate more revenue on their own.
Winnipeg Mayor Scott Gillingham, whose city is set to receive an additional $6.9 million in 2025 thanks to this new provincial funding, says the money is welcome, but it doesn't meet the demands.
I don't think this is the revenue we were looking for. I think the conversations still need to take place," he says.
The City of Winnipeg will unveil the priorities of its nearly $1.4 billion budget on December 11. The additional provincial funding announced Monday represents less than half a percentage point of that budget.
The leaders of Manitoba's smaller municipalities were even more critical than Scott Gillingham.
Portage la Prairie councillor Garth Asham says the extra $61,000 his municipality is set to receive in 2025 won't be enough to clear the backlog of infrastructure repairs.
I don't think it will be enough. We were obviously hoping for more. Maybe they'll release a little more money, but for now, it's disappointing," he says.
The Progressive Conservatives doubt that the additional funding announced is new.
Trevor King, MP for Lakeside and the party's municipal affairs critic, claims that the money announced is similar to that cut from Building Sustainable Communities, a former Progressive Conservative infrastructure program.
This financial sleight-of-hand is not what the Prime Minister promised, nor what municipalities expected," said Trevor King in a press release.
Scott Gillingham and other municipal leaders welcomed one aspect of the announcement, namely the fact that the additional funds will be disbursed between January1 and December 31. This is in line with the municipal budget calendar, rather than being deferred to the next provincial budget year, which runs from April 1 to March 31.
Call for reduction of Municipal Board powers
Manitoba mayors and reeves have also called on the NDP government to reduce the powers of the provincially-appointed commission. This commission has the power to overrule local land use decisions.
The Association of Manitoba Municipalities has reiterated its call on the Kinew government to make significant changes to the municipal commission, which was granted sweeping powers under the Progressive Conservative government of former premier Brian Pallister.
Mayors and reeves have long complained that the unelected commission now has the power to override decisions made by elected councils.
On Monday, Selkirk Mayor Larry Johannson called on Mr. Kinew to speed up the commission's promised review, while R.M. of Cartier Reeve Christa Vann Mitchell questioned whether Manitoba even needed a municipal commission.
Mr. Kinew has already promised to amend legislation to reduce the number of municipal decisions that can be challenged by the Municipal Board.
Source: ici.radio-canada.ca/
