Niverville mayor elected to head Capital Planning Region board

Niverville’s mayor was elected to head the Capital Planning Region, after the previous board chair and executive director resigned last month.

The board overseeing the organization, which would develop a regional plan for Winnipeg and neighbouring municipalities, voted Myron Dyck as its board chair on March 19. His selection marks the first time the board has chosen its own chair, with the province previously holding responsibility.

“I give credit to my father in that he told me, ‘Myron, in life, you have always have a choice. You can be part of the problem or you can be part of the solution. Choose to be part of the solution,’” he said.

Dyck will replace outgoing board chair Michael Moore, who will resign by the end of March. Jennifer Freeman, the Capital Planning Region’s executive director, also left her post in the same month. Freeman joined IDE Canada, a non-profit that funds businesses in developing countries, as its director of philanthropy, according to LinkedIn.

The planning region has struggled to convince its member municipalities to stay on the board, whose involvement was made mandatory by the former Progressive Conservative government. In 2024, the NDP government allowed participation to be optional.

Since then, the number of member municipalities has dwindled from its initial 18 to eight, with the Rural Municipalities of Springfield and Tache both voting to leave in January.

Only Ritchot and the Town of Niverville remain to represent the Southeast.

Dyck said he respects the departing municipalities, noting the board will function differently than it previously did. A committee has been formed to replace the outgoing executive director, he noted.

Work on the initial Plan 20-50 was paused in December 2024 after it finished public hearings. The group is now required to submit a new proposal by Jan. 1, 2027.

A review is already underway and Dyck hopes to improve Indigenous and Metis representation in decision making, adding emphasis to wastewater infrastructure and transportation between municipalities rather than solely traveling to and from Winnipeg.

He said an opt-in clause was created to allow municipalities who’ve left to rejoin. The board’s work needs to show why the municipalities should pursue the plan, Dyck said.

“We have to provide these municipalities with something that they can believe in, that they can take to the residents of their municipalities and say, ‘Look, this is what is here now. We believe this is in the benefit and interest of us as a municipality, and this is something that we should want,’” he said.

Even if municipalities don’t want to rejoin, Dyck still wants to work with local leaders to make sure the plan benefits the region.

The board has a “tremendous opportunity” to improve coordination and economic development, said Dyck. Federal funding for infrastructure is available for the region if a plan is agreed upon.

“This is municipal leaders working with Indigenous leaders and leaders of the Metis nation to make the lives better for their people and not worse,” Dyck said.

The province introduced new legislation on March 8 to adjust how the regional plan will function. Bill 33 (The Planning Amendment and City of Winnipeg Charter Amendment Act), would allow for a three-year gap between the plan’s bylaw implementation and municipalities’ alignment to the plan.

Property acquisition through expropriation won’t be allowed in the planning region if the bill passes.

“You build the capital region through consensus, not through different groups doing different things,” Municipal Relations Minister Glen Simard previously told the Winnipeg Free Press. “It’s… also providing autonomy to municipalities to be able to go forward.

“You can’t live around the city of Winnipeg and not be a part of the conversation when it comes to planning on the periphery or in the centre of the city.”

Ritchot Deputy Mayor Shane Pelletier was also elected as the board’s vice chair, but wasn’t available for an interview.

– with files from the Winnipeg Free Press.