EDITORIAL: Municipal councils fail residents by staying quiet

At first it seemed amazing that a plan could be as controversial as Plan 20-50.

Proposed by the Winnipeg Metropolitan Region, the plan lays down the long-term framework to coordinate land use, servicing and infrastructure.

The Metropolitan Region is made up of 18 municipalities including the Town of Niverville and the RMs of Springfield, Tache, and Ritchot.

A meeting scheduled for Aug. 8 was ultimately cancelled because too many people showed up.

And the people weren’t exactly lining up politely either. They yelled at municipal reeves, dropped “F-bombs” and shouted conspiracy theories as loudly as they could.

Some weren’t even from the municipalities that would be affected.

This carried over into a completely unrelated public open house a few days later. On Aug. 13, the RM of Tache hosted the open house to give the public a peek at their updated development plan.

Landmark Planning & Design was tasked with updating the old plan which is supposed to be reviewed every five years. The plan was last updated in 2016.

There were no major changes proposed for the plan.

But that didn’t stop people from coming in with hostile attitudes and ignorant statements.

It’s understandable that not everyone knows what a development plan is. They don’t know they are long range land use policy documents that are often vaguely written and used to guide development.

But that’s what open houses are for. People could have come and politely asked questions and become informed.

And many did just that. Unfortunately, others came thinking this was an open house regarding Plan 20-50 and when they found out it wasn’t their hostility simply increased. They showered the representatives of Landmark Planning and Design, not with questions, but with accusations, as if they themselves were the embodiment of evil and not just the consultants hired to find out what municipal officials and residents wanted.

It was embarrassing to even hear some of the comments made.

Let’s be clear though, there’s nothing wrong with ignorance. There’s no shame in not knowing or understanding something.

In fact, that’s where their municipal officials should come in.

In a healthy municipality, a ratepayer with a question should easily be able to have it answered.

Mayors, reeves and councillors should be open and transparent with media and every citizen they encounter.

But in this case, it’s not the fault of mayors that their citizens remain in the dark.

Instead, they’ve been hamstrung by the rules that govern the unelected Winnipeg Metropolitan Region.

Municipalities were forced by the government to be involved in this region. They were also forced to observe the rules which meant no public reports to council, no contact with media and no explanations to their residents.

With those rules it’s less surprising that there are conspiracy theories around Plan 20-50, than the fact those theories surprise anyone.

Eileen Clark, a former MLA and Gladstone Mayor posted on Facebook on Aug. 22, pointed out the issues that have challenged municipalities, adding that secrecy and behind closed door decisions seem to be happening more and more.

The public is waking up to that as well, and slowly but surely are demanding more accountability.

To say the entire method of operating for the Winnipeg Metro Region was flawed is an understatement.

There is no reason why municipalities should have been forced to stay quiet.

Every municipality belongs to various groups and has representatives on boards.

Those can include local libraries, community development groups or regional lobby groups.

The City of Steinbach for example, recently made the decision to join the new southern sub-group of the Eastman Regional Municipal Committee.

But here’s where things are different than those who were part of the Winnipeg Metro Region.

Whichever councillor attends the monthly meetings will issue a report to council after each one. Those reports are included in the meeting’s agenda, can be discussed at meetings if councillors choose, and are visible to media and the public.

And there’s nothing unusual about that.

Minutes of meetings from the Jake Epp Library Board and Seine, Rat, Roseau Watershed District are made public in the same way by the City of Steinbach.

That’s because councillors know that first and foremost, they are elected to represent their regions.

For accountability to thrive mayors, reeves and councillors must also be vigilant.

It’s likely none of those involved in the Metro Region thought twice about the gag order imposed.

But what would have happened if with one voice, all the members refused the gag order, saying simply they would take part as ordered by the province, but would make public reports to council after every meeting.

What would the conversation look like now if there had already been a stream of information highlighting various priorities as they were discussed?

Healthy communities are not created in shadowy meeting rooms by an elite group of people. They are made by transparent and dedicated councils that value public feedback, even though it can get messy at times.