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This article was published 6/3/2018 (930 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Manitoba government has broken its promise of "no strings attached" funding for Winnipeg and other municipalities, city hall says.

Coun. Scott Gillingham, council’s finance chairman, said new information provided to his committee supports allegations raised in August that the government, led by Premier Brian Pallister, has backtracked on its pledge to not interfere in municipal decision-making.

"This report would indicate the province is looking for outcomes and criteria for the city, to meet those before they fund certain projects — that is different than what I understood to be ‘fair say,’" Gillingham told reporters following Monday’s finance committee meeting.

City finance officials said the government has spelled out a set of 12 objectives and outcomes that must be fulfilled before the province signs off on financial support for any future infrastructure projects.

The report from chief financial officer Mike Ruta backs up the city’s concerns, first raised by the Free Press in August.

Gillingham’s reference to "fair say" was the Pallister promise to allow municipalities to determine which infrastructure projects would be funded — a break from the past practice, where both levels of government would negotiate which projects would get provincial funding.

The province’s municipalities had made the "fair share, fair say" campaign part of the 2016 provincial election — municipalities wanted a new, guaranteed funding formula and a commitment they could decide on their own which projects would be funded.

After winning the election, the Pallister-led government said no to "fair share," but promised "fair say" on a lump-sum payment to municipalities.

JOHN WOODS / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister.

However, that was thrown into question after the disclosure of a May 10, 2017, letter sent to all municipal officials from the then-deputy minister of municipal relations, which stated the province would be imposing a new set of outcomes and expectations to assess the merits of projects and funding requests.

The province initially played down the significance of the letters, and Municipal Relations Minister Jeff Wharton said in August no conditions would be placed on municipal funding requests.

On Monday, a spokeswoman for Wharton said the "no strings attached" promise applies only to public safety issues and operating funding, adding the province and city hall are still negotiating how to ­dispense other municipal funding.

But the information presented to the City of Winnipeg finance committee clearly linked funding to meeting provincial criteria.

"It was the city’s understanding the province required this information to determine whether city projects would be funded," stated the report, written by Ruta.

Ruta detailed the set of 12 objectives and outcomes the province will use to assess funding requests, including impacts on: job creation, tourism, economic activity, sustainable energy and environmental remediation.

Gillingham said city hall subjects all potential projects to an asset management review that assesses objectives and outcomes, adding the province’s intrusion isn’t needed, welcome or necessary, given its prior commitment.

"Given the report we’ve received today, I don’t know how we reconcile ‘fair say,’ where the province will allow the city to determine its capital priorities," Gillingham said.

"Regardless of all this, the City of Winnipeg is in the best position to determine its own priorities."

aldo.santin@freepress.mb.ca