KLEIN: Mayor tries to hide budget failures with threat of less snow clearing

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Winnipeggers are understandably angry over a planned pilot project to reduce the residential snow-clearing budget. Let’s take a step back, however, and ask ourselves: Are we just being played by a political smokescreen?

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This proposed cut may not be what it seems. Instead, it feels like a distraction, a well-worn trick to divert attention from the real issues — the city’s failure to address runaway spending.

If we look back, we can find several examples of drastic budget cuts announced with great fanfare, only for politicians to reverse them at the last moment. This tactic shifts the public’s focus and shields city leaders from accountability for their broader fiscal mismanagement. The snow-clearing debate feels like yet another iteration of this tired strategy.

Mayor Scott Gillingham’s administration — supported by Councillors Lukes, Browaty, Duncan, Santos, and Rollins — failed to find meaningful savings in a billion-dollar-plus budget. They couldn’t locate $20 million in cuts within a sprawling public service budget. Let’s be clear: They didn’t even try.

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A modest 2% reduction in expenses across the board would have saved around $28 million. 2% is not difficult to achieve in any organization. Instead of making any effort to tighten the city’s belt, however, they chose the easy way out: To impose the largest property tax increase in 34 years.

The justification for this massive hike? Gillingham and others point to the lack of property tax increases in the past decade to absolve them of responsibility. Let’s not forget that Gillingham has been at the helm of city finances for more than 10 years and has increased property taxes every single year. However, during this time, he allowed spending to spiral out of control and never once made a serious attempt to implement cuts. He voted to oppose a zero-based budget review many times. The problem isn’t a lack of revenue, it’s a refusal to manage spending responsibly.

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Now, we’re being asked to focus on a reduction in residential snow clearing. Let’s not kid ourselves — this service is already inconsistent. After receiving a snowfall of over 20 centimetres, according to Environment Canada, residential streets have only started being cleaned.

Councillor Janice Lukes, who earns three separate salaries from the City of Winnipeg, explained on CJOB that the amount of snowfall varied across the city, suggesting that this made it difficult to decide when to plow. Lukes said the city was responding to resident complaints and doing “spot plowing.” In other words, they’ll clear your street if you complain loudly enough.

This approach isn’t sustainable or equitable, and it certainly doesn’t inspire confidence in the city’s ability to manage essential services. Meanwhile, the smokescreen of snow clearing keeps us from asking tougher questions about why spending continues to spiral out of control.

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The reality is simple: Gillingham and his council allies refuse to make hard decisions. Instead, they’ve turned to their bag of tricks, hoping the public will be too distracted to notice their failure to rein in costs.

It’s frustrating to watch these games being played while Winnipeg’s fiscal health continues to deteriorate. Gillingham’s attempts to deflect blame by pointing to other cities with higher tax increases are reminiscent of a child refusing to take responsibility by saying, “They did it too.” Winnipeg doesn’t need excuses, it needs solutions.

The facts are plain: Spending is a real problem in the City of Winnipeg. Instead of focusing on distractions like snow-clearing pilot projects, politicians must tackle the unsustainable spending habits that have become entrenched in our government. If they won’t act, it’s up to us as citizens to hold them accountable.

Call your councillor. Demand real cuts to the city’s bloated budget. Don’t let the smokescreen fool you — they could have done better.

— Kevin Klein is a former Tory cabinet minister, a former city councillor and President & CEO of Klein Group Ltd.

Have thoughts on what’s going on in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada or across the world? Send us a letter to the editor at wpgsun.letters@kleinmedia.ca

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