The City of Winnipeg was facing a $70 million dollar deficit in 2014 and needed to make a series of difficult infrastructure choices. They engaged a consulting firm to better understand what the citizens of Winnipeg want and expect from their civic government.
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Problems and Purpose
The City of Winnipeg was facing a $70 million dollar deficit in 2014 and needed to make a series of difficult infrastructure choices. They engaged a consulting firm to better understand what the citizens of Winnipeg want and expect from their civic government. The stated objectives of the consultation were to:
- Establish an inclusive and representative budget consultation process that would encourage widespread citizen engagement;
- Increase public understanding about the City’s budget, and the challenges and opportunities the City faces; and
- Gain input and feedback from citizens about budget and service priorities to inform City Council decisions for the 2014 budget process and beyond
Background History and Context
In 2009 and 2010, approximately 42,000 Winnipeggers helped create OurWinnipeg, the City’s 25-year development plan. The process that helped create OurWinnipeg received a Canadian Institute of Planners (CIP) Award for Planning Excellence, and a Manitoba Planning Excellence Award from the Manitoba Professional Planners Institute. During this time, SpeakUpWinnipeg.com was a major hub that included: blogs, videos, resources, a calendar of events, user submissions, and questions of the day.
During this time, public consultation was generally part of the budget planning process. The level and extent of consultation varied from year to year, but ideas and comments were generally solicited from the public and an annual citizen service satisfaction survey was sometimes conducted.
Then, facing budget pressures and building on the earlier success of mass participation in City planning, in 2014 the City launched broader public budget consultations to solicit and compile feedback from Winnipeggers into city budget and planning priorities. This work was contracted out to the consulting firm MNP.
Organizing, Supporting, and Funding Entities
The process was organized by the City of Winnipeg which retained the consulting firm MNP to execute on most of the process. The City of Winnipeg administration and some city councillors provided input throughout the process.
Participant Recruitment and Selection
All members of the public were invited to participate. Specific geographic areas were targeted during the public workshop portion and previously engaged stakeholders were re-invited to participate. No participant was excluded.
Methods and Tools Used
Multiple methods were used during the consultation. A web-site was developed that contained an online survey, a budget simulator, and information about the budget process. A telephone survey was conducted, there was a call for written submissions, and focus groups were conducted.
Six public workshops were hosted, one in each of the community committee areas and an additional workshop in the downtown area. The workshops were conducted in an open-house format. Background information was displayed on poster boards, and access was provided to the budget consultation web-site at these workshops.
What Went On: Process, Interaction, and Participation
The bulk of the participation came from a telephone survey and a budget simulator, neither of which included deliberation elements or interaction between members of the public. However, both of these allowed citizens to contribute
The top five priorities identified during the consultation were: infrastructure renewal, reduced crime, and public transit, reduced taxes, and bike/pedestrian paths.
Seven civic society organizations also submitted their priorities for the budget.
Influence, Outcomes, and Effects
There were no specific decisions tied to the outcome of the budget consultations. A series of recommendations were put forward, however, and did see subsequent adoption:
- Incorporate a structured, regular consultation process within a comprehensive budgeting process.
- Align the budget process to long-term strategic plans and desired results and outcomes.
- Build on the approaches and techniques of this consultation process by introducing additional innovative approaches that will engage even more citizens.
- Create budget tool kits.
Analysis and Lessons Learned
The process was not well received with many participations noting that there was short notice and only a brief period of consultation available. Participants also were concerned that insufficient information was provided and that they were unable to provide meaningful input. Budgeting for municipal government is complex, and participants found it difficult to provide input without a richer understanding of the expectations/targets, benchmarks, and actual performance in each area. Citizens also would have liked to have seen comparisons to spending and performance in other cities.
See Also
Winnipeg Budget Consultations
Winnipeg Budget Consultation 2018
Winnipeg "Let’s Talk" Budget Consultation 2017