Selkirk seeks to withdraw from Capital Planning Region
Selkirk's council has asked the province to remove the city from the Capital Planning Region after a bill creating a pathway for municipalities to opt out came into effect.
The city's council voted Monday to file the request to Municipal and Northern Relations Minister Glen Simard.
'We have spent years trying to explain how poorly thought-out Bill 37 was and how damaging Selkirk's inclusion into the CPR would be for our community. Thankfully, Premier Kinew has listened and has demonstrated this government's willingness to respect the role that local councils play in the development of their communities,' Selkirk Mayor Larry Johannson said in a news release.
Jennifer Freeman — the executive director of the Winnipeg Metropolitan Region, which operates under the Capital Planning Region — said she respects Selkirk's decision.
Work halted on the controversial Plan 20-50 in December because of concerns from municipalities over the lack of autonomy. Work on a new plan is underway.
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Winnipeg Free Press
3 days ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Selkirk wants out of Capital Planning Region
The City of Selkirk wants to leave the Capital Planning Region. City council voted on Monday to file the request to Municipal Relations Minister Glen Simard. A new law that allows municipalities to opt out of the plan took effect last week. 'I don't feel that the Capital Planning Region is the right fit for us,' Selkirk Mayor Larry Johannson said on Wednesday. 'We have to make our own municipal decisions because that's what we're elected to do.' MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS FILES Selkirk Mayor Larry Johannson said the city is choosing to leave the Capital Planning Region in order to make its own municipal decisions. Selkirk was among a handful of municipalities concerned about the lack of autonomy and decision-making in the Plan 20-50. The plan established a 30-year road map for Winnipeg and 17 municipalities, and dictated everything from land use to recreation. It was created by Winnipeg Metropolitan Region, which operates under the provincial Capital Planning Region. Johannson said Selkirk officials had wanted to leave the planning region since its creation in 2023. Selkirk needs to have the freedom to make its own land-use plan and form partnerships with different municipalities, he said. Jennifer Freeman, the executive director of the Winnipeg Metropolitan Region, said she respects Selkirk's decision to leave. Wednesdays Sent weekly from the heart of Turtle Island, an exploration of Indigenous voices, perspectives and experiences. Progress on Plan 20-50 halted after the Winnipeg Metropolitan Region voted in December to end public hearings. 'The provincial government has been clear that regional planning remains a priority and our mandate then continues,' said Freeman. 'Our focus is moving forward with those at the table and supporting informed, co-ordinated planning for the region.' She said the organization is resetting its planning approach to address the concerns raised by municipalities and board members. The Winnipeg Metropolitan Region is required to submit a new regional plan to the province by Jan. 1, 2027, and development is underway, said Freeman.
Winnipeg Free Press
3 days ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Selkirk seeks to withdraw from Capital Planning Region
Selkirk's council has asked the province to remove the city from the Capital Planning Region after a bill creating a pathway for municipalities to opt out came into effect. The city's council voted Monday to file the request to Municipal and Northern Relations Minister Glen Simard. 'We have spent years trying to explain how poorly thought-out Bill 37 was and how damaging Selkirk's inclusion into the CPR would be for our community. Thankfully, Premier Kinew has listened and has demonstrated this government's willingness to respect the role that local councils play in the development of their communities,' Selkirk Mayor Larry Johannson said in a news release. Jennifer Freeman — the executive director of the Winnipeg Metropolitan Region, which operates under the Capital Planning Region — said she respects Selkirk's decision. Work halted on the controversial Plan 20-50 in December because of concerns from municipalities over the lack of autonomy. Work on a new plan is underway.
Winnipeg Free Press
4 days ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Kinew's centrist political balancing act a long way from Pallister's scorched-earth production
Opinion Former NDP executive Chris Wiebe accused Premier Wab Kinew this week of governing more like a conservative than a New Democrat. It's a bit of a stretch. Wiebe, who ran unsuccessfully for the party in Dawson Trail during the 2023 provincial election, is so upset with Kinew, he quit the party in March. MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Premier Wab Kinew has taken a page from former NDP premier Gary Doer's political playbook by trying to strike a balance between keeping his partisan base happy and appeasing the business community and centrist voters. The University of Winnipeg professor says the NDP premier's recent comments about wanting to build an oil or gas pipeline in the North is so off-base with the party's progressive principles that he felt he had to speak out. 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And he maintained some semblance of the former government's education property tax rebate, although he made it less generous. Also, after criticizing the Tories for maintaining a fully-private lab service for medical tests while in opposition, the NDP under Kinew just signed a new five-year contract with Dynacare — a private, for-profit company. But to say the NDP is governing like conservatives and abandoning its party roots is a reach. Let's start with taxes. While Kinew maintained the Tories' income tax cuts, he also quietly de-indexed income tax brackets this year. That means Manitobans who receive cost-of-living wage increases will see a larger chunk of their income taxed at higher rates. That's a tax hike, just a less-visible one. According to the 2025 budget, the move will generate $82 million a year in additional government revenue. Meanwhile, the province under Kinew has been spending liberally, as NDP governments often do. The NDP is spending billions more than the former Tory administration ever did. Overall spending is up nearly 14 per cent compared to the last PC budget in 2023. That's not a tweak — it's a spending spree. Wiebe described the NDP's fiscal policies as austere. Either he's spent little time going through the last two provincial budgets, or he doesn't know how to read them. Some of the NDP's heavy spending is needed, especially after years of cuts under the former PC government. Health care, education and infrastructure are in desperate need of additional resources. Whether it's too much or too little, it's definitely not austere. The party's appetite for public-sector expansion and left-leaning policies has been in full swing since Kinew was sworn into office in October 2023. Nowhere is that more obvious than the pro-union labour legislation the NDP brought in last year, including the elimination of secret-ballot voting during certification drives — making it easier to unionize workplaces — and a ban on replacement workers during strikes or lockouts. The NDP changes to the Labour Relations Act also prevent workers from crossing a picket line if they choose to work during a strike, a significant departure from what many considered to be balanced labour laws in Manitoba pre-Kinew. It's definitely not how conservatives would govern. Even Doer didn't dare enact anti-scab legislation, despite fierce lobbying from organized labour at the time. Kinew also announced plans to open Manitoba's first supervised consumption site, vowed to end chronic homelessness and has budgeted $30 million for new social housing projects — hardly the kind of policies one would expect from a Tory government. Just this week the NDP announced plans to build a $1-billion centre for CancerCare Manitoba, something the former PC government cancelled. Wednesdays Columnist Jen Zoratti looks at what's next in arts, life and pop culture. Even Kinew's musings about supporting a northern oil or gas pipeline shouldn't distract from the bigger picture. The pipeline talk is just that: talk. There's no plan, no clear investor interest, and no timeline. It's more likely a strategic communications move than a genuine pivot to energy development. If anything, the pipeline talk is symbolic of the political balancing act Kinew is trying to pull off: keeping progressives happy while reassuring rural and suburban voters he won't scare off investment or business. But governing more like a conservative than a New Democrat? I think not. Tom BrodbeckColumnist Tom Brodbeck is a columnist with the Free Press and has over 30 years experience in print media. He joined the Free Press in 2019. Born and raised in Montreal, Tom graduated from the University of Manitoba in 1993 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics and commerce. Read more about Tom. Tom provides commentary and analysis on political and related issues at the municipal, provincial and federal level. His columns are built on research and coverage of local events. The Free Press's editing team reviews Tom's columns before they are posted online or published in print – part of the Free Press's tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press's history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates. Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber. Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
