Accountability at City Hall

The last time the City reviewed its governance model was in 1997 – 25 years ago. In 2016, I supported the call for a governance review. The review occurred and the Final Report was published in September 2021. Councillors have reviewed the report and have now...

Thank you Winnipeg Free Press for covering this important issue.  Call to boost ward allowances, add spray pads defeated City budget gets final, divisive OK By: Joyanne Pursaga     Posted: Thursday, Dec. 16, 2021 Winnipeg's 2022 budget was approved Wednesday in a 10-6...

Over the past few weeks I had the honour of attending the Land Blessing Ceremony at the University of Manitoba – for the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation’s permanent home and was witness to the Indigenous Naming Knowledge Circle’s opening ceremony, where...

My speech regarding Motion to Council Mme Speaker, Firstly – City of Winnipeg Councillors have the lowest office resources in all of Canada – I want that on the record. When you have the lowest office resources in all of Canada, you have to be very very selective on...

Please know my ability to provide quick timely turnaround to phone calls and emails is one of the biggest challenges I face in this role. I’ve worked in fields of customer service all my life, and know how critically important service delivery is to customers – and...

The last time the City reviewed its governance model was in 1997 – 24 years ago.  In 2016, I supported the call for a governance review. The review is now underway. This webpage contains a series of video’s I am producing related to the City’s governance model, and...

Photo Credit: S. Nason I’ve been receiving many phone calls / emails regarding the City’s Workplace Fitness Facilities being allowed to remain open when all other gyms have been closed. There is a fitness facility located in the basement of City Hall, and while I’ve...

Thank you to the Winnipeg Free Press for covering this important issue. Winnipeg CAO search continues By: Joyanne Pursaga     Posted: Jan 28, 2021 More than 18 months after the City of Winnipeg’s last chief administrative officer left the job, the role is still being...

This week the 2021 budget narrowly passed at Council. It did not have the support of seven (7) Councillors. These seven Councillors are regularly denied access to in depth briefings from the Public Service on financial information, risk level, legal, business...

Residents have been asking about skating on retention ponds. The beautiful ponds/lakes behind our homes or near neighbourhood parks. Please read this carefully: There are 44 retention ponds in the Waverley West Ward. These ponds are part of the land drainage system...

Photo Credit: CTV UPDATE from City of Winnipeg’s Director of Legal Services: Nov 5, 2020 Final details with respect to the refund process are being completed. This includes the process itself as well as the formulas that will be used to determine the amount of each...

Photo Credit: Kevin King / Winnipeg Sun All Councillors are elected to represent the citizens of the ward. I strongly believe poor decisions are made  - that negatively impact tax payers - when only almost half of Councillors are restricted from receiving pertinent...

Photo Credit: Brett Purdy/CBC The loss of a $1.7M gift of amber flashing lights is representative of a far greater problem at City Hall. This is just one example of many that has resulted in a negative impact on the tax payer. (list below) In my short time at City...

Residents are contacting me wondering what is happening with the refunding of impact fees charged on new home builds. Again, had the Mayor done proper due diligence back in 2016 – and not ‘rammed’ this fee in – we wouldn’t be in this position. You can well imagine,...

Photo Credit: Jeff Stapleton/CBC Thank you to CBC Manitoba and Sean Kavanagh for covering this very important issue: Search for new City of Winnipeg CAO passes one-year mark, could still take months: councillor Sean Kavanagh · CBC News · Posted: Sep 04, 2020 The...

Photo credit:  Suzanne Pothe Call for Action: Weathering the Storm – without a Chief Administrative Officer Every City in the world is going through rough times. Covid-19 is requiring cities to deliver services in a manner never seen before. There is no certainty,...

I use my website pages to primarily post information about LOCAL neighbourhood issues / concerns & activities. The main stream media does a good job of covering ‘City Hall’ issues for people interested in larger City issues. But in this blog, I would like to...

My speech at Council on July 23, 2020:   Madame Chair I’d like to move layover of this item & both motions till our September council meeting  - to allow proper scrutiny of the motion before us. I’m must say – watching this entire debacle is  giving me...

Over the past few days residents have been asking me  - in a local emergency - who’s in charge of the City’s finances?   I’ve prepared a brief summary: April 3th, 2020  at a special meeting of Council, Council declared a Local State of Emergency for the City of...

For the past few weeks, since we’ve entered this new realm of COVID-19 , I’ve shared my concerns about implementing high frequency transit delivery vs a reduced service of the new Southwest Rapid Transit Corridor with the Mayor, CAO and Chair of Finance. Now I’m going...

How does a 23-year-old student union President find a $4.3 M ‘miscalculation’ in the City of Winnipeg budget and save the U-Pass program? This is a long blog full of information - for people who aren’t already in information overload (!?!). It’s an incredible...

Photo Credit: Mike Deal / Winnipeg Free Press files   The City has published the most recent financial update on the Impact Fee Reserve Fund, which identified that Waverley West new home-owners have contributed a total of $10,259,521.00 to the Impact Fee Reserve...

When Mayor Bowman speaks about ‘openness and transparency’ at City Hall - please reflect on this article, to accurately understand what ‘open and transparent’ means under this leadership; weekly behind closed doors briefings confidential information from department...

Photo Credit: MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES Thank you to the Winnipeg Free Press for covering this important issue. Access denied: expanded EPC puts councillors, citizens outside looking in, Lukes says By: Aldo Santin         Posted: 12/20/2019 6:44 PM...

For the first time ever City Council will be attempting to develop balanced operating and capital budgets for 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023. Over the past few weeks we have read about many proposed cuts to City services. As I and 6 other Councillors are not members of...

In September, 2016 the City awarded a $186,000 contract to consulting firm Emergency Services International to produce a ‘Standards of Response Coverage’ report. See: Fire Hall in Waverley West This report is identifying industry best practices in the field of...

Thank you to CTV for this in depth interview. SEE CTV News I know we can improve on the 311 Call Center interactions with residents seeking service or information. I’ve been working with a variety of the public service staff over the years to make improvements. I’ve...

See larger version of chart here  Today (November 6th) in accordance with Section 57.3 of the Procedure By-law No. 50/2007, the Organizational Meeting of Council was held at 9:30 a.m. The Mayor selected and appointed the Deputy Mayor, Acting Deputy Mayor and members...

Thank you to the Winnipeg Free Press for covering this very very important issue. Winnipeg mayor, councillors condemn Quebec religious symbols law By: Aldo Santin           Posted: 10/24/2019 4:50 PM   Members of city council voted unanimously Thursday to condemn...

(Photo Credit: John Einerson/CBC) Thank you to Katie Nickoson and CBC National for this very comprehensive report on illegal rooming houses. 'It's like whack-a-mole': How cities are grappling with unsafe rooming houses At least 532 rooming house fires across Canada...

Today – Councillor Nason and I met with media and community - to discuss our motion regarding Quebec’s Bill 21. See media release below: Media Release Councillors Shawn Nason and Janice Lukes are bringing forward a Notice of Motion to the October 24th, 2019  Council...

I don’t believe the 20 year old  governance model the City operates under is serving the taxpayers well. I am hoping the City will complete the governance review and recommendations by 2020. October 26, 2016: Councillors Wyatt and Eadie brought forward a motion to...

I recently asked for a status update on the hiring of Winnipeg’s new Chief Administration Officer (CAO) and would like to share some thoughts with you on this important role. As you may be aware, this past June, the former CAO announced his retirement in February,...

  The Provincial election is September 10th and the Federal election is October 21st. There are many candidates knocking on doors looking for your support and there are many many issues to discuss! When a candidate comes knocking on your door, I encourage you to...

Thank you to the Winnipeg Free Press for covering this important issue. City fires six property department employees in wake of internal probe By: Aldo Santin         Posted: 07/19/2019 3:03 PM   City hall hummed and hawed Friday, but eventually confirmed six...

Thank you to the Winnipeg Free Press for covering this very important issue. Following the July 15th Property and Development, Heritage and Downtown Development meeting, it is still unclear when the report will become public. You may recall I requested a Public Report...

Thank you to the Winnipeg Free Press for covering this very important issue: Planning department disciplinary measures fall short of 'root of the problem': lawyer By: Aldo Santin       Posted: 07/10/2019 7:00 PM      Last Modified: 07/10/2019 10:33 PM   A lawyer...

Mr. Premier, I am calling on you to take action and take action fast. Winnipeg’s economic engine is in a state of chaos. As a Councillor, and as part of a group of Councillors who do not control the majority of votes, I am asking you to accelerate your review and...

This is an invitation exclusively for residents who live in the Waverley West ward! Bring your family and join neighbours, friends and Councillor Janice Lukes for a tour of City Hall! Learn what City services are available to you, and how to ‘get action’ on important...

Thanks to the Winnipeg Free Press and reporters Ryan Thorpe, Aldo Santin and Larry Kusch for covering this important issue. Councillors call for change in wake of work culture investigation By: Ryan Thorpe          Posted: April 17, 2019   City councillors are...

April 16, 2019 - Speaking in support of Item 5: Employee Conduct Investigation, to Mayor and Executive Policy Committee   I want to thank Councillor’s Gillingham and Klein for supporting my motion at Assiniboia Community Committee, and would like to elaborate a...

RE: Allegations against staff in the property Planning and Development Department   Since the allegations came forward last Thursday (April 4th, 2019) I’ve had the opportunity to speak with both the Manager, Development and Inspections and the Director of...

To The Residents Of The Waverley West Ward & City of Winnipeg   The Winnipeg Free Press has printed an incredible story “City inspectors caught on camera” in today’s April 5th issue: https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/…/sloth-in-the-city-plann… Please know I...

For those of you interested in the process where Councillors are provided an opportunity to offer input into how your tax dollars are invested, feel free to view or read my comments to the Mayor and his Executive Policy Committee.  All Councillors are passionate about...

Today Councillor Klein and I called a press conference with media to express our concerns with the City of Winnipeg’s 2019 Budget Process. You can read my statement below – and read Councillor Klein’s statement.  I must say, it is virtually impossible to ensure an...

These comments are long overdue - the role of a Councillor is more than one issue - though I have written more than any Councillor on this topic - TRUST For my first term on City Council, I represented the largest ward in the City of Winnipeg (70,000+ people). During...

This has been a very difficult file in seeking accountability. Not for one second do I believe that in eight years, there was no ability for the Public Service to bring forward a formal report to any Committee informing Council that there were catastrophic failures at...

In the last three months at City Hall, I’ve found myself at the forefront seeking accountability on two multi-million dollar files: $30M Missed Lawsuit on the Deacon Water Treatment Plant Confidence in the Chief Administrative Officer Both of these files involve the...

Confidence in the City's Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) has come into question again with the handling of the Wilkes Avenue Alignment to William R. Clement Parkway Extension file. There has been extensive media coverage on this issue. I am highlighting my major...

City Councillors have been provided with only 7 business days to review multiple reports on the Opening of Portage and Main, a multi-million $$$ initiative: Winnipeg City Council will vote on this report in 7 business days on Wed., October 25, 2017 The timeframe and...

On September 18, 2017, City Council received a 45-minute briefing on the City's failure to meet deadlines regarding legal claim(s) involving the Deacon Water Treatment plant and compensation for deficiencies in the design and/or construction of the plant.   Following...

On June 21, 2017, my Motion requesting administrative reports be available publicly a minimum of four business days before Committee meetings was debated at the monthly City Council meeting.  Ultimately, my Motion passed, but the Public Service will first be studying...

Poor Decision Making Process at City Hall - Time to Fix Councillors pressured into making multi-million dollar decisions in condensed time frames Office of Councillor Lukes - Media Release - June 19, 2017   Councillor Lukes is calling to change the amount of time...

At the May 24th meeting of City Council, I brought forward a Motion requesting the opportunity to schedule a meeting with the City's Departmental Directors if I required additional information on a report prepared for discussion at a Standing Policy Committee...

There are peak times throughout the year when the volume of e-mails and phone calls our office receives between 60 to 100 each day!  Spring is definitely ‘a peak time’ with people inquiring about many city maintenance issues. This high volume of inquiries, combined...

"We are going to have a much more inclusive council than we’ve ever seen before," he said.  - Brian Bowman at City Council Inauguration Meeting, November 4, 2014  (Winnipeg Free Press)  "Mayor Brian Bowman abandoned a promise to change the way EPC members are...

Of all the blogs I’ve been writing since being elected in 2014, please find the time to read this one in detail. It highlights how information to make informed decisions on behalf of Winnipeg tax payers is being restricted at City Hall. I welcome your questions and...

It's not about people, projects or development partners – it's about process.  Process matters. Proper process determines comprehensive, solid, well-informed decisions and results. As a Winnipegger, I was actively engaged with issues at City Hall 14 years BEFORE being...

I’m supporting Councillor Gillingham’s Motion enabling disclosure on how public funds are being spent:  SEE MOTION. The Motion, which is being brought forward at the July 13th meeting of City Council by Councillor Gillingham and seconded by myself, is calling for an...

Internship Program:  Office of Janice Lukes, Councillor for South Winnipeg–St. Norbert Ward, City of Winnipeg We are now accepting applications for our January–April, 2016 session Application deadline is December 12, 2015 The South Winnipeg-St Norbert Councillor...

When I decided to run for City Councillor, I knew my years of experience working with community groups, levels of government, fund development projects, and business/community leaders in Winnipeg would be valuable in this role. A year later, I’m realizing this...

Demonstrating a continued commitment to increase accountability through greater openness and transparency, Mayor Brian Bowman today launched the Capital Expenditures Monthly Report, a new online tool that makes all active city infrastructure projects,  with associated...

To kick start international Right to Know Week, Mayor Brian Bowman today announced that, on a go-forward basis, public information released by the City through Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FIPPA) applications, along with additional proactively...

I encourage you to read this excellent and accurate article Dan Lett has written (Winnipeg Free Press - July 29, 2015).   He especially hit the proverbial nail on the head with this comment: “Changing organizational culture is a difficult task.  There are many people...

Each year when the City of Winnipeg Capital and Operating budgets are approved, all City Councillors receive a Ward Allowance. The value of the Ward Allowance is the same – regardless of the size of population within the ward. The 2015 Capital Budget contained a...