Co-ordinated approach is key

Opinion

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This article was published 15/10/2023 (390 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

‘I think everyone in Manitoba recognizes that we can do better than what we’re seeing right now.”

Those were the words of Premier-designate Wab Kinew following his first more-or-less-official meeting last Tuesday with Winnipeg Mayor Scott Gillingham. And while it’s not surprising for both Kinew and Gillingham to adopt conciliatory postures at this delicate stage in the transition of a new provincial government, it’s still an important moment.

How important? Kinew’s pledge to “do better” should be welcomed news for anyone living in the city of Winnipeg who cares about the state of this community and all who reside here. In many ways, it would be hard for Kinew to do worse. The previous seven years of provincial-municipal relations have been marked by cynical austerity and bald betrayal. Former Tory Premier Brian Pallister crippled grants to municipalities shortly after taking office in 2016. Critical funding to support core municipal services such as police, fire and transit, along with capital investments, were essentially frozen for most of that time, putting enormous pressure on local governments to find ways to make do.

Those ways included larger than necessary property tax increases, and drastic reductions in the scope of municipal services. The provincial PC government channeled some of the savings that it achieved by freezing municipal grants into tax cuts, but even for homeowners it was a high price to pay for the diminution of civic services.

Kinew and Gillingham identified homelessness as their top priority moving forward. In some ways that is not surprising either; the Kinew-led NDP have promised during the election campaign to end chronic homelessness within eight years. Although one might find fault for the potentially unrealistic scope of Kinew’s pledge, it does acknowledge a fundamental truth about homelessness: municipalities are not really the best level of government to address the problem.

This city lacks the jurisdiction and the finances to tackle a problem like homelessness. Gillingham’s stated intention of finding a “co-ordinated” approach, and Kinew’s nods of consensus on that point, gives Winnipeg a fighting chance to do better than it has in a long time.

The two leaders did not suggest that homelessness would be the only issue of co-ordination. And that’s a good thing, because there are many other issues that need the combined attentions of the city and province.

After the better part of a decade of inattention by the province, Winnipeg has a long laundry list of priority needs. As was outlined in a recent Free Press column by Brent Bellamy, these include providing sustainable funding for Winnipeg Transit, the completion of rapid transit construction, a willingness to take another look at rail line relocation, and more effective regulation of river levels within the city.

Bellamy also mentioned the need for more social and affordable housing, and a proposal to tax privately-owned surface parking lots to encourage them to be developed into other uses, and the sell-off of city owned parking lots.

Even with all these additional worthy ideas, there are still more that need Kinew’s attention.

The new premier likely already knows this truth of political leadership, but the demands for government support will always outnumber the available support government has to give. This is particularly so in a world economy that is still hampered by high inflation, high interest rates and a constant stream of seismic geopolitical events that spook investors and employers alike.

It all means that Kinew’s performance will be judged not by his ability to address every one of the myriad of challenges that require his help. Rather, he will be judged by how he prioritizes those challenges.

If that process means, in the context of Winnipeg, better outcomes in homelessness, the entire city will be much better off.

» Winnipeg Free Press