Around city hall

Mayor’s inner circle staying put

Mayor Scott Gillingham will not be shaking up his executive policy committee next week.

While city council will have its annual organizational meeting on Wednesday — where such moves are often made — Gillingham said he’s happy with EPC’s work.

Each member of EPC is responsible for leading a standing policy committee.

A new chairperson for the Winnipeg Police Board isn’t expected to be named at the meeting, either. Gillingham said he has not yet decided who he will appoint to that role after Coun. Markus Chambers (St. Norbert-Seine River) resigned from the position on Oct. 1.

New councillor sworn in

Emma Durand-Wood is now officially a city councillor.

Durand-Wood, a political rookie, was sworn in near the beginning of a city council meeting Thursday following her byelection victory in the Elmwood-East Kildonan ward last Saturday.

The community activist and volunteer soundly won her seat with 31.48 per cent of the votes among a crowded pool of seven candidates.

The council seat was left vacant after the death of Coun. Jason Schreyer in April.

Council approves heritage housing grants

A new incentive will aim to help developers transform downtown heritage buildings into housing.

On Thursday, city council voted to use $2 million from its $122.4-million share of the federal Housing Accelerator Fund for grants that support such renovations of vacant or underutilized structures.

CentreVenture Development Corp. will administer the grants, with eligible projects required to secure building permits by Nov. 1, 2026.

The grants would provide up to $25,000 per housing unit.

Wrongful conviction settlement approved

The City of Winnipeg will pay a $7-million settlement in lawsuits filed by three First Nations men who were wrongfully convicted of killing a restaurant worker in 1973.

City council approved the payment Thursday.

Allan Woodhouse and Brian Anderson, members of Pinaymootang First Nation in the Interlake, were formally acquitted of the slaying of Ting Fong Chan in 2023 and filed lawsuits in Court of King’s Bench in 2024 over the miscarriage of justice. Clarence Woodhouse, who was formally acquitted of the killing in October 2024, filed his lawsuit last February.

A fourth convicted man, Russell Woodhouse, died in 2011. The federal justice minister has ordered the Manitoba Court of Appeal to review Russell Woodhouse’s conviction but the review has not yet occurred.

On-request Transit service to add night hours

Winnipeg Transit’s on-request service will soon serve riders later into the night.

On Thursday, city council cast a final vote to extend service hours for 10 on-request routes, which will take effect Dec. 14.

That will extend service to end just before 2 a.m. from Monday to Saturday and around 12:45 a.m. on Sunday and holidays on the routes, instead of around 10 p.m.

The change follows complaints that the new primary transit network implemented on June 29 left some residents with no way home from work or school.

Councillor calls for compost-collection study

A study of options to have city staff collect curbside compost waste, instead of a contractor, could soon be on the way.

Coun. Brian Mayes (St. Vital) is calling for the city to research options for the public service to pick up compost, once citywide collection begins. That collection is currently expected to start in 2030.

Mayes’ motion suggests city staff research the costs to keep the work public, along with options to save money, such as by leasing garage space or partnering with other jurisdictions on joint equipment purchases.

City council is expected to vote on the motion next month.