In Like a Lion, No Lamb in Sight

It’s been a fascinating beginning to an election year here in Winnipeg. A basic political rule of thumb is to do nothing to upset voters during an election year. It certainly feels like Winnipeg City Council is ignoring that rule this year. There have been a number of issues recently that have caused public consternation and pushback.

In January, we saw a proposal before City Council to remove requirements for protecting birds through better window glazing. The number of people opposed to this proposed change was notable. One Councillor mentioned they had received over 700 emails against the proposed change, noting that it was the largest number of emails ever received. In the end, Council decided to reject the change, and left the bird protection requirements in place.

A Bird Friendly City

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December 16, 2025

In December 2024, Winnipeg passed a zoning bylaw amendment putting in place Bird Friendly Window Design guidelines and requirements for it’s new Malls and Corridors redevelopment strategy. These guidelines recognized that as we redevelop, birds need a lot more protection in our cities.

In February, a proposed bylaw to limit protests was brought to Council. This was the result of a motion initiated in 2025 to look at controlling “nuisance demonstrations”. Given all that is happening south of our border this was an incredibly ill-conceived proposal. And the public agreed.

Not to be outdone by the birders, Council received over 1,000 emails, had about 120 people register to speak against the proposed bylaw, held a demonstration outside of City Hall that attracted about 500 people.

Happily, the Councillor who proposed the “Safe Access to Vulnerable Infrastructure By-Law” listened and withdrew the proposed bylaw. Unfortunately, “receiving for information” doesn’t mean it has gone away, it now sits there as a potential bylaw that could be brought forward at a later date. I did enquire if Winnipeg has a better tool to actually kill a proposal, such as Sine Die, but City Council does not have that option here.

There is a positive from the council missteps to start the year. We have seen that they can and do respond to public concerns. I have bemoaned the fact that it rarely appears that Council takes into consideration the public input. I’ve been surprised at some of the systemic barriers in place to prevent all of Council hearing from the public. It has been mostly apparent at public hearings and during the budget.

The outcome around in January and February are positive, not just that Council reversed direction, but that the public was truly engaged on the issue. As was pointed out, Council received the greatest amount of feedback ever. We have demonstrated that the public paying attention and making their voice heard can in fact make a difference.

And then we got to…

There were two big issues before Council in March. First, a proposal to reduce the default residential speed limit to 40Km/hr from the current 50Km/hr. The second item was the proposed temporary bike lane along Wellington Crescent between Academy and Stafford.

Both proposals were compromises. But both were a good step towards improving safety on our streets for all users.

To really have safe streets for pedestrians and cyclists you need to reduce the speed to 30km/hr, but at least 40Km/hr is a step in the right direction. The barrier here is this actually requires the Province to amend the Highway Traffic Act to allow Winnipeg to do this. So what was finally before Council was a motion to request the Province make that amendment to allow the City to set its own default limits.

The Wellington Crescent bike lane has a history in tragedy. This project originated in 2024 after Rob Jenner was killed while riding his bike along Wellington. Cyclists, pedestrians, and the residents of the area had long pointed how unsafe Wellington is for them, and someone being killed was just a matter of time.

In response, council approved doing temporary safety measures. In November 2024 it was promised that safety measures would go in as soon as the snow melted in the spring of 2025.

When that came back to council for approval in 2025, Council decided that rather than proceed with the plan, they needed to do a lot of public consultation. So, through 2025 & early 2026 residents of the area and concerned citizens participated, sharing their thoughts and feedback on a temporary solution to be installed this summer. This was the temporary “pilot” that would inform the permanent solution to be installed in 2029.

Many who had been working towards having safe speeds on our streets were resigned to the compromised proposal. While supporting the speed reduction to 40km/hr we were reminded that the goal is 30km/hr for real safety. Safe Speeds Winnipeg has been a strong voice and advocate for safer streets for everyone.

It’s what happened to the Wellington Crescent pilot bike lanes that really caught everyone by surprise. At the last minute, the proposal for the temporary bike lanes the summer of 2026 was cancelled in favour of going straight to permanent infrastructure, which is budgeted for 2029.

What had been promised in November 2024 to be installed the spring of 2025 was now looking like it would be installed in 2029. The thousands of people who had participated over several months in the public consultation for the pilot program were overwhelmingly supportive of what was being proposed for this summer. Council heard from hundreds of residents that Wellington Crescent needed to be made safer right away.

Over the month of March, there were no less than 8 articles and op-eds in the Winnipeg Free Press about safety on our streets. Each of these calling for the proposed changes to be made. City planners, university professors, residents, pedestrians, and cyclists all shared their thoughts on why this will make Winnipeg better for everyone.

March 6: Bike Lanes and Endless Delay

March 9: Safety on Wellington Delayed Again

March 12: The City and “Extremists”

March 13: Choose Safety over Convenience

March 16: Speed Limits and Safety - Follow the Science

March 17: Safe Speeds, Big Savings: Slow Pays Off

March 18: Putting the Cart before the Planning Horse

March 25: Seniors and Families Deserve Better

What has been particularly shocking has been the behaviour of council members towards members of the public. Council has a history of being dismissive of the cycling community in particular. They have remained skeptical that road safety improvements are needed. As I’ve written here, they consistently put cars ahead of people in their decision making.

This March though, Council’s dismissiveness of cyclists and those advocating for safer streets reached new heights. Residents who attended the Council meeting to speak to council about their concerns were verbally attacked. The more than 50 people taking time out their day to speak to council were called “Bike Nazis”, the “radical cyclist lobby”, and “extremists”. A Councillor who was there to speak in support of improved road safety was very aggressively verbally attacked.

Now, I’ve sat through my share of City Council meetings, on both sides of the podium. I have sat for hours as a councillor listening to residents speak about their concerns. Many times I have disagreed with them and found them wholly unreasonable. Yet, through it all, we listen.

The behaviour from City Council should be unacceptable. Our elected officials should not be dismissing and attacking residents who are legitimately trying to make the streets safer for everyone. Residents have taken the day off work to sit in a city council meeting for 9 hours to get 5 minutes to share their thoughts. (By the way, of all the people in the Council Meeting; councillors, clerks, city staff, the only ones not being paid to be there are members of the public!)

Regardless of whether a member of council agrees or not, they need to treat everyone before them with respect. There is no reason whatsoever to attack a member of the public. On a personal note, I believe this was a situation where the Chair of the meeting should have intervened and shut down that kind of rhetoric. Council generally doesn’t hesitate to do so when members of the public cross the bounds of civility.

This should all be cause for significant concern. When we put this behaviour together with the 2 misguided motions earlier this year, particularly the proposal initiated by City Council to restrict protests and demonstrations, we see a pattern of council not being attuned to the public. We see a Council that is allowing their personal biases override wisdom and civility.

In particular when it comes to public voices about road safety, be it from regular citizens, advocates, or professional, they are dismissive of the input. Regardless of the proof put before them, they sadly continue with the status quo. There appears to be a willful ignorance when it comes to road safety.

Being dismissive of public input, whether at City Council or through months of public engagement, is not the way to build trust. A poll in September 2024 showed that residents have lost faith in City Council’s ability to make things better. Halfway through their 4-year term, this should have served as a wakeup call.

And yet, here we are, a mere 7 months to the next municipal election, and council is spending their time berating the public.

Yes, it is an election year. Incumbent politicians benefit from a disengaged and disinterested public. Apathy and low voter turnout always favours the incumbent. Declining voter turnout has been an issue in Winnipeg for years. People have felt disempowered when it comes to getting change from the city and have been resigned to the poor sidewalks, record injuries and deaths on our streets, poor maintenance of public space, and a host of other challenges that don’t seem to get better despite concerns voiced and promises made.

The mid-term review of Council should have been a wakeup call for our elected officials to chart a new course. Rather, with recent behaviour it feels more like they have decided to double down.

Instead, so far in 2026, it appears that it might be the public that has received the wakeup call. Record protests at city hall, record engagement with councillors, public discussion that overwhelmingly indicates the need for a new direction are all signs of hope.

If the public is indeed waking up, then Council castigates and dismisses them at their peril.

Election day is October 28, 2026.

Brian