Predictable & Predicted
Last week, as expected, Winnipeg City Council approved the 2025 budget. Also, as expected, despite it being released in early December as a “preliminary budget” open to change, very little changed. As many have written, including here, the process and outcome were all too predictable.
The budget was generous to police, with a new $13.5M helicopter, generous with roads, and miserly when it comes to supporting people, most glaringly demonstrated by the cutting of Community Connections to save a meagre $628,000.
So Many Budgets
The 2025 Winnipeg budget marks the 6th budget I have watched, read, and commented on since moving here in 2019. I am a veteran of city budgets. While the 2025 marks my 6th Winnipeg budget, I sat through 10 budgets in Calgary as a city councillor, and went through several more before getting on council. I am a bit of a budget nerd.
They are interesting and revelatory documents that show what a city’s priorities are, and what a city’s elected officials really care about. Budgets also have a wonderful way of animating the public, or at the very least a small segment of the public. Residents respond to the tax increase, any tax increase frankly, no matter how large or small, with outrage at government waste and inefficiency. Or, residents notice what isn’t in the budget and want more services, such as recreation, libraries, housing, transit, or snow clearing.
And in the end, for all the hundreds of pages and thousands of numbers, we only talk about one number: the property tax increase. The headline is about one number, the messaging of the city is about one number, the response (usually outrage) is all about that one number. All the other numbers, and what they actually mean for who we are as a city and community, are at best downplayed, or at worst ignored and forgotten.
Numbers vs Values
Through all those many budgets I have sat through, listened to countless members of the public, read thousands of emails and thousands of pages of budget documents, it all comes down to values. Usually the discussion is “value for dollar” with a focus on cost savings, and showing how much more efficient the city is in relation to other cities.
The numbers on how Winnipeg is doing in relation to other cities are pretty abysmal. The value most reflected in the budget is Cheap!
Community Values
But what of community values? How is the community reflected in where a city is spending its money? Which residents and citizens are the priority? What is the vision for the city that is reflected in the budget? In the focus and attention on the numbers, we lose sight of the values. At every council meeting I've attended over the last 25 years, the majority of residents taking the time to be there are speaking about community values. Winnipeg is no different than any other city in that regard.
Community members come to advocate for better transit, more affordable housing, recreation, and libraries. They want a community that is safe and inclusive for their children, where they know and share with their neighbours. They ask for parks and swimming pools. They speak for those who are not able to be there, who are housebound because of poor infrastructure or low income. These are the values the community comes forward to speak to.
In response, our elected officials say that the budget is balance of priorities and reflects what they are hearing from residents. In response to community members asking for support for marginalized community members, more transit, or open pools, Council members repeatedly respond with “there just isn’t the money” or, worse, “how would you pay for that?”.
Abdicating Responsibility
It is NOT the public’s responsibility to balance the budget. That is City Council’s responsibility. It is the public’s responsibility to share what they view as their priorities and values. It is Council’s responsibility to translate that into a budget and demonstrate how the budget reflects those community values. Dismissing members of the public as being “special interest groups” or not understanding how the budget works is a clear abrogation of duty on behalf of City Council.
Everyone knows going into the process they won’t get all that they want. Those who want slashed government and no taxes know that isn’t realistic, just as those who want free transit and bike lanes everywhere know that isn’t realistic either. But for Council to fall back on the trope is “there isn’t any money” is demeaning. Rather than hiding behind “not enough money” we need an honesty from council about the choices they are making.
Council’s Choice
Budgets are about choices. Spending money on a police helicopter and not on a community outreach program is a choice. Roads over pools is a choice. 5.95% vs 3.5% vs 2.3% is a choice. When council answers “there isn’t the money” the real answer is “we are choosing not to spend money there”. And that’s fine, there is never enough money and they do have to make choices, that is their job! But they need to be honest that this is a choice, their choice.
Winnipeg City Council is clearly showing us what they value by the choices they make. They are very clearly choosing winners and losers. They are showing that some residents are more valued than others. Spending $168.7M instead of $169.3M on roads will not impact a single person, but not spending $600,000 on Community Connections will harm over 25,000 Winnipeggers. In that equation there are only losers.
Every Year
This year, the focus of the miserly approach in the budget was cutting Community Connections at the Millennium Library. Last year it was closing swimming pools and wading pools (pataugeoire in French, a much nicer word). The year before it was library hours. Before that transit service and poverty reduction. Every year, there is the one issue that bubbles up that demonstrates the disconnect between what City Council values and what the rest of the community values.
Choosing Better
None of this is easy. For anyone. We have a budget process that diminishes and neglects the discussion around what “community values” are. The budget process that Winnipeg has in place actively excludes real public participation. The outcome is a budget that is more indicative of those who are marginalized in our city than of what we hope to achieve as a community.
City Council must choose to show leadership and have a budget that reflects community values, a budget that clearly shows a plan for taking the city into the future. They have to be willing to find ways to meaningfully include members of our community, regardless of where or who they are.
The values in the budget will never be perfect, but they can be a hell of a lot better!
Brian
ps. I am really looking forward to writing about something other than the budget, such as lighting, or the Granite Curling Club, or public art, trees, or accessing Winnipeg’s amazing rivers. Anything else, really.
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