In 1972 the N.D.P. government of then Premier Ed Schreyer introduced a
bold new form of municipal government for the citizens of Winnipeg by amalgamating
the then 12 existing cities together with the metropolitan government to
form a single city referred to as "unicity".
Considered at the time to be a model for administrative efficiency and citizen participation, the legislation seriously watered down Winnipeg's authority over regional planning. Some 25 years later, there is a growing body of evidence to suggest that this experiment in municipal governance has failed us. We see today that a significant, and increasing portion of the areas growth is taking place outside the Perimeter Highway while the planning and provision for the regional services necessitated by this development lacks co-ordination and cohesion.
Meanwhile Winnipeg is confronted with mounting inner city problems together with a shrinking tax base as the value of commercial properties and apartment buildings decline. In spite of many positive economic indicators, recently published reports that housing prices in many neighbourhoods are diminishing is a further indication of a deepening problem.
After many years of a hands off policy regarding the city, the provincial government has responded to this situation by appointing the Capital Region Review Panel whose mandate is to make recommendations on improving the framework for planning and development decision making. Rather than approaching the task from some unproven or theoretical perspective, the panel would be well advised to look to the past to find the answers for the future. For what we see today is in many ways a reflection of the late nineteen fifties.
At that time the suburban communities surrounding Winnipeg were enjoying a population explosion, similar to what we are witnessing today. With the rapid growth of these outlying areas came the need for improved infrastructure, water supply, sewage treatment, new roads and bridges, much like the issues before us today. And like the present, the various jurisdictions jealous of their own political fiefdoms were incapable of providing effective solutions.
Recognizing that the long term economic health of Manitoba was deeply intertwined with that of Winnipeg, then Premier Duff Roblin, the man who had the vision to build the "floodway", introduced the Metropolitan Council of Greater Winnipeg as a means of overcoming this political inertia.
As an adjunct to the existing municipal governments of the day, the metro government was given responsibility over regional services such as major thoroughfares and bridges, public transit, water supply, sewage treatment, major parks, assessment and planning. In addition to planning control within the greater Winnipeg boundaries, their jurisdiction also extended five miles beyond the Perimeter Highway the so called "additional zone". The remaining civic services, police, fire, garbage collection, libraries, and the like remained the responsibility of the existing local governments.
This separation of responsibilities proved to be highly effective. The "metro years", 1960 to 1972, are considered by many impartial observers to have been the best period of municipal development in Winnipeg since the boom times of pre World War 1.
A major reason for this success lies in the division of responsibilities, a management practice that allows people to focus on what they do best.
Unfortunately the very nature of the role of an elected municipal official can mitigate against effective regional planning. The large number of constituents to represent, the large and many varied issues to be addressed and the short time period between elections combined with the inherent human nature to "love ones own children best" often results in local matters taking precedence over those regional.
But a regional government overcomes this. A regional government has only one raison d'etre, that being to plan for and provide regional services. And the Metropolitan Council of the nineteen sixties did it well. Unfortunately this baby went out with the amalgamation bath water in 1972.
Today the Capital Region Review Panel is confronted with similar problems to those that existed 50 years ago, the simple difference being that the distance from Portage and Main to the suburban communities has increased dramatically.
In attempting to find a solution to today's problems, we can only hope that the members of the Review Panel are worthy historians and will look to the successes of the former Metropolitan government as the basis for the solutions to the present.