City councillor seeks civic pandemic recovery plan

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This article was published 26/03/2021 (1682 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Some Winnipeg civic leaders are looking ahead to a COVID-19 recovery, with calls for a two-year strategy that “reimagines” the way public services are delivered.

A new motion from Coun. John Orlikow, deputy mayor, asks the city’s emergency management leadership team to propose an action plan, with new measures that create jobs and trigger economic growth. Council’s executive policy committee will vote on the motion next month.

If approved, Orlikow said the strategy will devise ways to speed up Winnipeg’s economic recovery. He said it could include exploring whether to let more civic staff work from home permanently to reduce the overall municipal footprint, as long as it doesn’t cause more harm than good.

“Maybe we’ll have less offices and maybe a few more people will be doing flex work from home than the office. Would we be able to sell some buildings and then use that money to reinvest in recreation or is that going to have such a negative effect on the economics of downtown that as a public body we may not want to be doing that?” said Orlikow.

The River Heights-Fort Garry councillor said such changes could also lead the city to seek third-party tenants to take space in city-owned buildings and/or offer more flexible zoning rules on how businesses use their own buildings.

No matter what its specific recommendations are, Orlikow stressed the final strategy must be tailored to support the most vulnerable Winnipeggers.

“(During COVID), people who are marginalized are really (being hit) hard… We maybe need to look at how we deliver services to people with an equity lens a bit more, so we can be more resilient in the future,” he said.

The motion also calls for the city to enter talks with federal, provincial and Indigenous governments, as well as Economic Development Winnipeg, to support the recovery plan.

Orlikow said some service innovations have already occurred that could continue, such as efforts to open up parts of recreation centres to provide 24-7 safe spaces.

Mayor Brian Bowman, who seconded the motion, said he expects ordering the report would help pinpoint which service changes made during the pandemic should continue permanently.

“There have been a number of city services, even, of course, the ability for delegations to join our council meetings (remotely) via zoom (instead of just in person). There are many initiatives during the pandemic, that I would say have reimagined how we deliver services, that make sense,” said Bowman.

Earlier this month, the city released economic scenarios that predict Winnipeg’s recovery from COVID-19 will drag into 2022, with unemployment rates still exceeding pre-pandemic levels next year.

joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @joyanne_pursaga