Winnipeg Politicians, if You Won’t Respond, Why Hold Office?

In the private sector, there is a simple rule. If you do not return your customer’s call, someone else will.

In public office, that rule should be even stricter. Taxpayers are not customers by choice. They fund the operation whether they like it or not. The least they deserve is a response.

A Winnipeg resident recently wrote to Mayor Scott Gillingham and every member of council with a series of direct questions about zoning authority and municipal oversight. The questions were not ideological. They were not accusatory. They focused on whether supervised consumption services or similar health services delivered by senior levels of government trigger any municipal decision point under Winnipeg’s zoning and planning framework.

The resident used 705 Broadway as an example but made it clear the issue was city-wide. The letter asked about zoning classification, whether conditional use approval or a public hearing would be required, and how cumulative concentration of services is assessed in specific areas of the city.

Weeks later, there has been no response.

That silence speaks loudly.

Municipal government may not control federal health exemptions. It does control zoning. It determines land-use compatibility. It establishes whether notice is given to neighbours and whether public hearings occur. If those tools do not apply in certain cases, then council should state that clearly. If they do apply, residents are entitled to know how and when they are exercised.

Instead, there appears to be avoidance.

One councillor reportedly suggested the matter should be raised by an inner-city councillor. That answer avoids the substance. The question was not about a single ward. It was about governance authority across Winnipeg. Zoning law does not stop at ward boundaries. If a structural gap exists, it affects the entire city.

When elected officials choose which questions to answer and which to ignore, they cross a line. Public office is not a menu of preferred topics. It is a responsibility to respond to the people who pay for the institution.

In business, ignoring a compliance concern from a client would be reckless. Investors would demand answers. Boards would demand answers. Employees would expect leadership to engage the issue directly, even if the answer is complicated.

Why should residents expect less from City Hall?

Responding does not require agreement. It requires respect. A simple explanation of jurisdiction, a referral to the appropriate planning official, or a clear statement that municipal authority is limited would demonstrate engagement. Silence does the opposite. It suggests either uncertainty or unwillingness to engage.

Neither builds trust.

Winnipeg already struggles with uneven service distribution and tension around land-use decisions. Residents in every part of the city want to know whether decisions are deliberate or simply the byproduct of overlapping jurisdictions. They want clarity about who is accountable when impacts accumulate in certain neighbourhoods.

When council refuses to clarify its own role, it reinforces the perception that some decisions occur by default. That perception erodes confidence, particularly among business owners and investors who rely on predictable planning frameworks.

Governance is not complicated. It requires discipline. Serious policy questions deserve serious replies. If municipal authority is constrained by federal or provincial decisions, then say so on the record. If there is ambiguity, acknowledge it and commit to clarifying it. If the zoning by-law provides mechanisms for review in some areas but not others, explain why.

That level of transparency should not depend on who is asking the question or whether the subject is politically comfortable.

Elected officials often remind us they work long hours. No one doubts the workload. But answering residents is not an optional extra. It is central to the job description.

Taxpayers are not background noise. They are the employer.

Imagine telling your largest client, “I do not like the question you are asking, so I will ignore it.” You would not remain in that role for long. In politics, the accountability mechanism is slower, but it still exists.

City Hall does not get to decide which residents matter. Every ward, every taxpayer, every neighbourhood deserves the same standard of engagement.

Winnipeggers are not asking for perfection. They are asking for clarity. They are asking for acknowledgement. They are asking their elected representatives to treat serious governance questions with the attention they deserve.

That is not an unreasonable demand. It is the baseline.