A while ago Metro News columnist Colin Fast tweeted that a decent “frankenplatform” could be created by stripping out the best ideas put forward by mayoral candidates in the 2014 council race in Winnipeg.

 I had been thinking the same thing – if only we could smoosh together all the good ideas that various candidates had put forward, a decent platform could arise. Obviously that doesn’t work in real life, but I thought I would take a crack at putting together a platform out of the best commitments I’ve seen by mayoral candidates (not by those on the sidelines) so far. I’m largely going by memory here, but here’s what has caught my eye:

GORD STEEVES

Tax Freeze – What I like most about this approach is that Gord is starting from a position of holding the line on taxes and pushing for reform rather than talking about increases from the get go. There is a lot of wasteful spending at city hall and council should go after it rather than asking taxpayers to simply cough up more.

Sell Golf Courses – Another great initiative, one that the CTF has pushed for years. In fact, a consultant’s report procured by the city found that there are simply too many courses in the Winnipeg area and not enough golfers. “Fore sale” only makes sense!

Rapid Transit – Gord has committed to scrap the second phase of rapid transit. That’s good as there is a much more cost-effective way of getting people to and from the downtown area without building phase two of the rapid transit proposal. (Click here to see one idea we recommended.)

Evening and Weekend Construction – Yes. Without a doubt. Winnipeg’s construction season is fairly short so firms working on major roads should be required to get the job done sooner by working in the evenings and on the weekends. It’s what most modern cities have done for years (many for decades). There is an economic argument to be made too – the status quo slows down traffic and that costs businesses and taxpayers money; think of the wasted time and fuel as people sit in their cars and twiddle their thumbs.

ROBERT FALCON OULLETTE

Photo Radar – Robert has a pretty exhaustive page on his web site that identifies some major problems with photo radar in Winnipeg; including our short amber lights and a deficiency of signage. He seems to have the most comprehensive approach and understanding of the flaws of the program.

JUDY WASYLYCIA-LEIS 

Open Government – Judy promised to regularly disclose her personal assets (eg. business holdings, buildings), disclose her schedule to the public, introduce better whistleblower protection and a cooling off period for elected officials and management after they leave the city. Some very good ideas if you – click here  

BRIAN BOWMAN

Business Tax – Bowman has promised to reduce the business tax as Annual Rental Values increase. In short, this isn’t really a tax cut, but it will help protect businesses from a business tax increase. (And for those who aren’t aware, businesses pay both property taxes and the business tax; no additional services are provided for the latter.)

Bowman also promised to raise the ARV threshold to $30,000 – meaning more small businesses won’t have to pay the tax. We would prefer dropping the rate for all businesses, but it’s a step in the right direction.

Info Disclosure – Brian promised something that’s important for watchdog groups such as ours, the media and citizens who are engaged in researching government activities. Bowman promised to end the use of “discretionary exemptions” by bureaucrats when it comes to freedom of information requests. In plain English, bureaucrats will no longer be able to withhold information from groups like ours if they can legally release it.  Remember the fire hall traffic study that city hall chose to keep under wraps? Well, it would finally become public.

PAULA HAVIXBECK

Provincial Credit Impact – I’m not a fan of cities simply calling on the provincial government to give them more money. Doing so suggests there’s not much room for improvement at city hall; which simply isn’t true. But I do see Paula’s point about asking the provincial government to cough up more cash to cover the Moody’s credit rating change (from stable to “negative outlook.”) The province's actions are having a financial impact on the city. Thus, you can put me ‘on the fence’ for this one. 

Paula has had some other good ideas in the past too, but at this point I haven’t seen a ton platform-wise that’s in our sweet spot as an organization. The Mealshare program seems like a good idea, but it’s not clear to me what the city’s role would be and what the cost implications are.

CONCLUSION

It’s still early in the campaign – we haven’t even hit September yet – but already there are some good ideas out there. If you like any of the ideas above, try and get your candidate of choice to get behind the ones they’re not supporting right now.

Easier said than done…I know.

P.S. –if you think I’ve missed a good idea, feel free to email me [email protected]