CHAPTER 6 — MUNICIPAL ADMINISTRATION

Powers of Municipal Corporations

According to the B.N.A. Act, provincial governments are responsible for the administration of all public matters which are of a purely local character. In Manitoba, as in all other provinces, the provincial government divided the settled portions of the province into a number of separate municipalities, for the purpose of local self-government, the first division into municipalities being carried out here in 1870. (1) The original pattern did not long remain; additional municipalities were created as additional territory became populated to a sufficient density to justify local self-government, and the boundaries of the original municipalities were shifted about in conformity with loca desires and developments. While originally n Manitoba all municipalities save Winnipeg were essentially rural in character, the emergence of additional urban communities of varying size made necessary the creation of new municipalities such as cities, towns and villages, to enable these urban communities to enjoy local self-government.

Each municipality constitutes a legal corporation, which is empowered by the Provincial Legislature to raise revenue through taxation of local residents, and to use the monies so derived for the provision of necessary services to the local community. The decisions as to how to raise money and on what to spend it are made by a council of citizens, elected from the citizenry of the municipality at large. The Municipal Act, with all its revisions, closely prescribes how the members of the municipal council shall be elected, and what powers they possess. Incorporated cities, however, are exempt, in varying degree, from the provisions of the Municipal Act. Upon incorporation, a city receives a charter which in effect is a constitution according to which it must henceforth rule its public affairs. City charters vary in degree of comprehensiveness; thus their respective charters render Winnipeg, and St. Boniface virtually self-governing, liable to very few provisions of the Municipal Act. The cities of Brandon, Portage la Prairie and the recently incorporated cities of St. James and East Kildonan have somewhat lesser powers, being subject to more provisions of the Act. The remaining municipalities of the Greater Winnipeg area, and Manitoba generally, are fully subject to the provisions of the Municipal Act and must order their public affairs in conformity with the provisions of the Act.

The council of a municipality is empowered to provide a wide array of services to residents, and to regulate many phases of commercial and private activity. Thus councils may carry out public works, operate public utilities, maintain fire and police departments, operate public parks and libraries, and provide aid to indigent residents. They may pass and enforce regulations in regard to local health and public safety, and in regard to a variety of retail commercial establishments. To finance their expenditures, municipalities may raise revenue primarily through taxation imposed on local real property and may borrow money for current and capital expenditures. The Municipal Act prescribes limits, however, to the rate of taxation which may be levied by a municipal council, and the scale of its borrowing.

So long as its actions do not contravene the Municipal Act, however, a municipal corporation is a sovereign body. No higher level of government may, for instance, order a municipality to desist from an action which is within its rights under the Municipal Act. Such a prohibition could only be imposed if the Municipal Act were amended to make the action in question beyond the powers of a municipal corporation.

As of 1957, the Greater Winnipeg area was divided up among sixteen different municipalities, comprised as shown in Table I. As has already been described in Part I, the multiplicity  of administrative bodies for what is essentially a single community, arose from the fact that, as the local economy and population grew in size, the built up area spread beyond the limits of Winnipeg. Urban subdivisions emerged in the rural municipalities which surrounded the City. Because of the difficulty of communication across the local rivers, every municipality which straddled a river was split in two.

As a result of conflict within a municipality between residents of the urban subdivisions and the residents of the remaining rural section, further splits occurred, with each rural and urban section becoming a separate municipality.

The Regulations re Incorporation

The basis of incorporation as city, town or village is as follows, according to the Municipal Act.

A locality which contains more than 500 inhabitants living in close proximity, wherein the aggregate taxable assessment is in excess of $300,000 may be incorporated as a village. Its area must not exceed 640 acres, unless its population is in excess of 2,000 persons. In that event its area may include an additional 160 acres for each thousand inhabitants in excess of 2,000.

A locality may incorporate as a town if it contains in excess of 1,500 inhabitants. (1) It is subject, however, to the same limitations in regard to area as is a village; i.e. its area must not exceed 640 acres, unless the population is greater than 2,000, in which event it may include 160 acres for each thousand of population in excess of that figure.

A town may become a city when its population exceeds 10,000. Upon becoming a city it is no longer subject to limitations in regard to area.

While the Municipal Act provides for the incorporation of urban localities as outlined above, a number of incorporations have been authorized, by special Act of the Legislature, which did not meet the requirements laid down in the Municipal Act. Thus Tuxedo was incorporated as a town in 1911, even though it was at the time composed entirely of farm land, and contained no urban population whatsoever. (2) Forty-five years later it still did not contain the minimum population required for incorporation as a town, as stipulated by the Municipal Act. The area of Tuxedo furthermore very greatly exceeds the limit specified in the Municipal Act, being 4,606 acres, whereas the Act specifies that a town's area may not be in excess of 640 acres, with 160 additional acres allowed for each thousands of population in excess of fifteen hundred. (3)

Elected Representatives to Municipal Councils

The 16 municipalities which are within the Greater Winnipeg area are administered by a total of 112 elected officials, including 10 mayors, 6 reeves, and 96 councillors. Table II indicates the number of elected representatives in each municipality, showing as well the number of wards from which they are elected in each case, and the ratio of elected representatives to municipal population in 1956.

As is evident from Table II, there are striking disparities in the number of citizens represented by the elected representatives of the various municipalities. Thus in Winnipeg, each elected member of Council, including the Mayor, represented on average 13,426 persons in 1956. Members of the councils of the six largest suburban municipalities represented between 1,942 and 3,382 persons each. In the eight smaller municipalities, each council member represented on the average fewer than one thousand persons. In the four smallest, Tuxedo, East St. Paul, West St. Paul and Old Kildonan, each member of the municipal council represented, on the average, fewer than 325 persons.

All members of the municipal councils in Greater Winnipeg are paid, the amounts ranging (in 1956) from $6 per meeting in the case of the councillors in the smallest suburban municipalities, to $11,800 per year in the case of the mayor of Winnipeg.

Table III indicates what indemnities were paid to council members of the various municipalities in Greater Winnipeg in 1956. It should be noted that in Winnipeg and the larger municipalities, members of the municipal council usually are called upon to put in the equivalent of from one to three days per week n public business, in addition to spending a good deal of time in personal discussions with private citizens. The mayoralty of Winnipeg requires full time attention.

Public Interest in Local Government

Research staff of the Greater Winnipeg Investigating Commission carried out the following simple study to ascertain the level of public interest in local government in the various municipalities of the metropolitan area. For the municipal elections held in the fiver years 1953–57 inclusive, it was calculated how many contesting candidates there were , on the average, for each vacant seat. In addition it was calculated, over the same 5 year period, what percentage of the qualified voters actually exercised their franchise in each municipality. See Table IV.

Though not of course conclusive, the figures in Table IV suggest that the level of public interest is not significantly different between the various municipalities. On the whole, the figures suggest a low level of interest everywhere. The fact that acclamations have been frequent, and that rarely in elections have thre been more than two candidates for each seat contested, suggest that relatively few persons  in the metropolitan community are prepared to vie for public office. The fact that the turnout of voters is seldom in excess of 50% of the total number qualified, indicates that a great many electors have a corresponding disinterest in their municipal affairs. 

Present Municipal Offices

The municipal offices of the various  municipalities of Greater Winnipeg, from which they are respectively administered, vary greatly in size, age and type of construction. A brief description is here given of these offices:

Winnipeg

A three storey brick structure built in 1883, located at Main Street and William Avenue. Replacement of this building with a new City Hall was projected in 1913, but because of the financial depression which developed in that year, the project was not actually carried out.

Owing to the inadequate space available in the City Hall Building, an office building was constructed in 1919 on the Market Square facing the City Hall. Additional civic department offices are located in an old office building nearby on Princess Street, and another structure on James Street. (A small annex has recently been completed to the latter.) having been approved by the ratepayers, a new City Hall will soon be built on Broadway, across from the Legislative Building, which will be adequate to contain all civic offices.

St. Boniface

A brick-built three-storey City Hall on Provencher Avenue, constructed in 1906, when the Town of St. Boniface was incorporated as a City. The Police Department is located in the basement.

St. James

A partially completed apartment block at 2000 Portage Avene which was taken over by the municipality through tax sale proceedings some 25 years ago. A handsome one storey annex has recently been completed.

St. Vital

A two storey brick structure about 50 years old, located on St. Mary's Road at St. Anne's, which houses the Police and Fire Department on the ground floor, and the municipal offices on the second floor.

East Kildonan

A modern, two storey brick structure located at 755 Henderson Highway, containing the Health Unit as well as civic offices, built in 1950.

West Kildonan

A modern one storey, brick building located at 1760 Main Street, built in 1956.

Fort Garry

A modern, one and a half storey brick building located at 1350 Pembina Highway. The Police and Fire Department and Health Unit are located in the same building.

Transcona

A one storey brick building about forty years old, originally built as a bank branch, located at 141 Regent West.

Brooklands

A small, stucco building, located on Alexander at Dee, which houses the police department, as well as the Municipal Offices.

Tuxedo

An office (324) in the Grain Exchange Building on Lombard Street in Winnipeg.

Charleswood

A small, old, cottage type structure, located at 5014 Roblin Boulevard. It houses also the local detachment of the RCMP which polices the municipality.

North Kildonan

A modern, one storey, brick structure, located at 1400 Henderson Highway.

Assiniboia

A two storey brick building, about 50 years old, built to serve the original municipality of Assiniboia, which included present day St. James, Tuxedo, Charleswood and Assiniboia. Located on Portage Avenue in Kirkfield Park.

East St. Paul

A small, one storey stucco building, recently completed, on Highway 59, in Bird's Hill Village.

West St. Paul

A two storey brick structure, built about fifty years ago, designed to serve the original municipality of St. Paul, which included present day East and West St. Paul. Located on Highway No. 1 in the village of Middlechurch.

Old Kildonan

A small, modern, stucco bungalow on Main Street at Foley Avenue, which contains in the rear living quarters for the Secretary-Treasurer.

Municipal Administration Costs

Table V presents the costs of administration in the various municipalities of Greater Winnipeg in 1956. As is evident, the cost per capita varied substantially from one municipality to another. The cost per capita in the three largest cities, with the largest industrial and commercial concentrations, i.e. Winnipeg, St. Boniface, and St. James, was distinctly higher than in the large, essentially dormitory suburbs such as St. Vital, Fort Garry and the Kildonans.

On the other hand, the per capita cost of administration was generally higher in the smaller suburban municipalities than in the larger. Thus, in the four large, primarily dormitory suburbs with population in excess of ten thousand (St. Vital, Fort Garry and the Kildonans), administration cost per capita ranged from $2.83 to $3.69. On the other hand in the smaller suburban municipalities, with population under ten thousand in each case, the cost of administration per capita ranged from $3.99 to $17.65. The four smallest, with population under two thousand in each case, showed the highest per capita costs, ranging from $5.47 in the case of West St. Paul, to $17.65 in the case of Tuxedo, the latter figure being over three times as great as the corresponding figure for Winnipeg or any of the larger suburban municipalities.

* Does not include pension fund contributions, which, in some suburban municipalities, are included among expenditures on administration.

** Administration expenditures referred to in Winnipeg as costs of General Government.