Bowman remains mum on growth-fee timeline

Mayor Brian Bowman remained mum about the future of Winnipeg's proposed growth-fee plan when he was questioned about the controversial proposal on the floor of council on Wednesday morning.

Members of council met today for the first time since the summer break. During question period, Transcona Coun. Russ Wyatt asked Bowman when Winnipeg will see "a balanced, well-thought-out" growth-fee policy that will replace the widely disliked plan that executive policy committee put on hold last week.

Wyatt called Bowman "courageous" for raising the idea but asked whether the mayor intends to see some sort of fees charged in 2017.

Bowman responded by noting he is waiting to hear the results of consultations held by council property chairman John Orlikow (River Heights-Fort Garry) before considering any timeline for growth fees.

"I think it would be premature," Bowman said.

There was no growth-fee vote today. City council did approve a plan to take some of the guesswork out of its disclosure of Winnipeg public servant salaries.

Council voted unanimously to improve the transparency of the city's annual compensation disclosure, a list of payouts to all employees who earn more than $50,000 a year in salaries and benefits.

The document displays compensation as a single lump sum. That leads to questions about city employees' earnings, especially since some appear to make much more money than others in the same job classification. For example, former Winnipeg acting chief administrator Deepak Joshi earned $567,000 for several weeks of work in 2015.

Coun. Scott Gillingham (St. James-Brooklands-Weston) authored the motion, which calls for the compensation to be broken down into its constituent categories, such as base pay, additional pay, sick-leave cashouts, vacation pay, overtime, allowances and severance.

Councillors also voted Wednesday to approve a symbolic motion to ask the Pallister government to consider downtown Winnipeg when and if Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries decides to build a new headquarters. Liquor and Lotteries cancelled a $75-million conversion of the Medical Arts Building last week.

In other unanimous votes, councillors approved $2 million worth of grants for a pair of downtown condo projects, the abolition of library late fees for kids' books and a $310,000 deal to settle a human rights complaint filed on behalf of senior Handi-Transit users.

Council also voted 14-2 to approve a new loan guarantee policy that will exclude for-profit businesses. Councillors Russ Wyatt (Transcona) and Jason Schreyer (Elmwood-East Kildonan) voted against it.