Legal latitude does not equate to moral authority

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 22/06/2019 (2683 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

One of the true tests of a government’s integrity is not whether it does something, but whether it should do something. That is a test currently facing the Progressive Conservative government of Manitoba in its bid to wrestle control for land use and planning away from the City of Winnipeg.

Earlier this month, the province released a list of recommendations designed to overhaul planning, zoning and permitting that could — emphasis on could — prevent Manitoba’s largest community and its elected representatives from having the last say on land use. In merely raising the possibility, Premier Brian Pallister and his government are treading on very uncertain ground.

Currently, land use and all of its related aspects — zoning, building permits, design approval — are overseen appropriately by the City of Winnipeg. As duly elected representatives of Winnipeggers, city councillors, aided by the civic bureaucracy, manage bylaws that determine how land is used within the city’s boundaries. This is, in all respects, how land use should be managed.

Lamentably, the Pallister government has deemed it necessary to impose its will and world view on city land use. It is doing so because all local governments in this province are creations of the provincial legislature, and that, Mr. Pallister has argued, gives him the legal and moral authority to impose solutions on the city.

This is, however, not an appropriate use of the power wielded by the provincial legislature.

Mr. Pallister does have the legal authority to impose provincial standards on land use within city boundaries, but he does not have the moral authority to trump the city’s elected council. To do so would be an affront to democracy and an abuse of power.

Does the city need some help with its land-use mechanisms? There is no doubt the construction and development industry in Winnipeg is dissatisfied with the quality and pace of service it gets from the city. There are chronic concerns about lengthy delays and arbitrary demands. In many respects, the city needs to improve the way it performs these essential services.

However, the solutions that may be forced on the city will not improve the situation. Mr. Pallister could, and likely should, promote the idea of provincewide standards for land use, and work with local governments to improve the time it takes to get a project fully approved. But excluding elected municipal leaders from this process, while raising the possibility his government may just assume control over the entire issue, is wrong-headed.

Even more maddening is the fact Mr. Pallister and Jeff Wharton, the minister of municipal relations, continue to assert that this has been a “collaborative process.” From the hastily prepared review to the drafting of recommendations, there has effectively been no collaboration with municipalities.

With the Manitoba legislature in summer recess, and a provincial election slated for Sept. 10, there will be no opportunity for Mr. Pallister to introduce legislation to bring these recommendations into force. For the sake of democracy, all Manitobans should hope he uses the prelude to the election campaign to think long and hard about his options.

Perhaps as he focuses his thoughts on the electoral battle to come, he will see that although he can do this, there are many reasons he should not.