Town of Niverville opposes Plan 20-50, WMR

The Town of Niverville has voiced its opposition to being a part of the Winnipeg Metropolitan Region and its Plan 20-50, posting its reasons on the town’s website last week.

“We spent a lot of time (on) this response that we posted. And that covers our position quite well,” said Deputy Mayor Chris Wiebe.

Mayor Myron Dyck declined to comment on the matter. Mayors from Tache and Springfield also declined to comment on Niverville’s statement and whether they will follow suit.

RM of Ritchot Mayor Chris Ewen posted on his personal Facebook account that he is not making a statement for or against Plan 20-50, rather he wanted to “indicate my concern about the misinformation, and the lack of clarification allowed from the WMR board members.” Ewen said he received a letter from the WMR reminding board members not to communicate with their ratepayers in an effort to maintain the public hearing due process.

“More than ever, it is now critical to answer the questions of community members when a change that will affect over a million people is about to happen,” he stated, asking the public to read Plan 20-50 and for municipalities to work together.

Niverville posted four objections to their continued involvement in the WMR. The first is a forced membership with no exist clause.

“The Town of Niverville has a unique spot in belonging to both the Metro Region and Southeast Manitoba and needs the flexibility to represent that,” read the statement.

That concern was addressed on Tuesday by Premier Wab Kinew who said municipalities will now have the option to opt out.

Second, Niverville contends there is a loss of autonomy by being a part of Plan 20-50 and the WMR. The town’s concern is that it will reduce the effectiveness of council in making land-use planning decisions for its residents. Plan 20-50 directs municipalities to make planning decisions that are inline with the plan and its objectives.

The third concern is the financial implications of being a part of the metro region. According to the town, there will be a series of studies and reports needed to be done by the WMR and those come with costs. Niverville wants to know how much it will be required to pay.

Wiebe was asked if the town would reconsider membership if there was profit sharing involved.

“We’d like to know what the revenues are going to be and where they’re going to be achieved. Again, we’re supposed to trust them and we’d like to have some answers,” he said, noting the town would rather be part of a Southeast planning district that has Steinbach as a member rather than with Winnipeg.

Finally, the town wants to be recognized as being in a transition zone as a boundary community. It’s worried that Plan 20-50 will force people to look for housing outside of the metro region, which might come with higher housing costs.

Wiebe didn’t respond when asked if Plan 20-50 and WMR will only benefit Winnipeg.

It has been 23 years since an early form of the WMR was created (formally named the Winnipeg Metropolitan Region in 2018) and four years since Plan 20-50 was first drafted, so why has Niverville chosen now to make a stand against the proposed plan and the WMR?

“It’s become so public, so we had to establish what our (position is),” said Weibe. “It’s a provincial legislation. We weren’t invited…We thought well it’s fair to the public to address our concerns and our position.”

Wiebe said only one person in the community has contacted council about having a meeting in regards to Plan 20-50, but said they’ve noted opposition on social media.

In response to Niverville’s statement, the WMR’s executive director Jennifer Freeman said the board is currently crafting a statement.

“Right now, we’re in the middle of a public hearing process and the hearing has been adjourned so at this point we want to communicate a united message. So that’s what we’re going to do now,” she said.

Freeman couldn’t say whether Niverville’s move would have repercussions, but she did say that the high turnout at the public hearing in the town on Aug. 8 was unexpected. She said she hopes the message from the board will provide clarity and that Niverville will post it on its website.

“I think for everybody involved there’s got to be a lot of grace given here because I think there’s some things that we did not foresee happening so we just need to get unified now,” she said.

Freeman reiterated that, “it’s important to remember that we’ve been mandated by the province to carry out this work, and we’re committed to ensuring that everyone in the community understands the process and the reasons behind it.”

Lakeside MLA Trevor King, PC critic for municipal affairs, released a statement calling on the province to hold more regional public hearings rather than the two proposed (the second one is to be rescheduled after a larger than expected crowd gathered in Niverville).

Niverville is not the only municipality to express concerns regarding WMR membership and Plan 20-50. The municipalities of East. St. Paul, Headingley, St. Andrews, and Selkirk have also made their concerns known. Some of their concerns are whether the plan will veto local planning decisions or impose density requirements that will impact the semi-rural nature of their municipalities, according to King’s office.

“The municipal affairs minister must schedule additional public hearings throughout the region so that citizens can share their perspectives,” stated King.

City of Selkirk CAO Duane Nicol said Niverville’s move was not unexpected as it has been raising concerns since the WMR was created. Selkirk has also been raising its own concerns to the province for more than five years and it feels the government should put a pause on Plan 20-50 until Bill 37 (which created the WMR) is fully reviewed.

Nicol said the WMR is a “second tier municipal government” with veto powers on local municipal decisions. He said Selkirk should never have been included in the WMR.

“It assumes that Selkirk is a bedroom community to Winnipeg, which it is not.”

The next WMR board meeting will be on Sept. 19 in Winnipeg.