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Terms of Reference

Background

The Capital Region includes the City of Winnipeg and the 15 surrounding Rural Municipalities and Towns. It is where 60 % of Manitoban's live and work and is a major economic engine for growth in the Province.

The urbanization of Manitoba since the 1950's has, for the most part, focuses on Winnipeg and its surrounding communities. It has created new patterns of development, new demands for services and new questions about how Capital Region municipalities should relate to each other in the future.

To this end, the Province has appointed a panel to consult with the municipalities from the Capital region, community leaders and elected officials, and all citizens, respecting a number of issues, and to make recommendations to the Province.

After receiving nominations from the Capital Region municipalities, the Province appointed the following individuals to the Review Panel:

• Alan Scarth, Q.C. - Chair
• Andre Chaput
• Elizabeth Fleming
• David Hicks
• Betty Lindsay

Issues for Examination Include:

Economic Cooperation

The Capital Region must clearly market all of its strengths and opportunities to the rest of the province, North America and the world business community. To effectively capitalize on national and international opportunities, municipalities must have complementary strategies. The requirement for municipalities to build on each others strength and work collaboratively for the good of the region is becoming increasingly critical.

Integrated Land Use Planning and Development

The use and development of land is guided by individual municipalities within a broad framework of Provincial legislation and policies. This framework must provide reasonable and practical opportunities for input from municipalities impacted by development in neighbouring municipalities within the Capital Region. Effective mechanisms must be in place to support and facilitate the necessary level of coordination and integration of municipal decisions in consideration of the regional impacts of local decisions.

Service Delivery

Local government has responsibility for a wide range of services essential to the health, safety and convenience of the public, including such things as water, roads, waste management, drainage, recreation, emergency, and other municipal services. Decisions respecting the provision and maintenance of these municipal services often does not take into account a regional perspective. There is a need to develop a model that ensures services are provided in the most cost effective and sustainable manner.

Partnerships

The overlapping interests of the Capital Region municipalities with respect to services, land use decision making, economic development and other matters, points to the need to accommodate the cooperation and integration required to efficiently meet an ever increasing demand for servicing within an environment of scarce resources.

Mediation Mechanism

Recommendations for a method to solve/mediate inter-municipal disputes may be desirable.

The terms of reference for the panel are:

1. Examine land use planning and development, servicing, economic development and the current partnerships operating in the region in terms of effectiveness in facilitating the orderly and sustainable development of the municipalities of the Capital Region, through consultation with the Capital Region Committee, Councils, Planning Districts and residents of the region, and to identify possible solutions.
2. Consider the effectiveness of the existing legislative, policy, and procedural framework guiding planning and development within each municipality in the region and across the region in implementing the Capital Region Sustainable Development Strategy.
3. Review the current delivery models and decision making processes in support of the provision and maintenance of municipal services, to assure people access to appropriate levels of servicing throughout the Region in the most cost effective manner, and to recommend alternative processes or models which will improve efficiency and sustainability of the entire region.
4. To report to the Government the findings of the public consultation process and make specific and detailed recommendations with respect to addressing issues and concerns identified during this process.

For more information contact capitalregion@gov.mb.ca

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