Winkler Cries Foul In MSTW Board Makeup "It's Not Reasonable"

The City of Winkler is calling for fair representation between the ownership group of MSTW.

Winkler, along with Morden, the R.M of Stanley and R.M of Thompson have equal stakes in the planning district. However, Winkler's economic engine drives nearly half of the building permits, and yet holds the same influence in the decision making process as partners like the R.M of Thompson which represents two percent of MSTW activity.

The issue recently came to a head after Thompson voted down a proposed change to MSTW's fee system. Winkler Mayor Martin Harder says they'd like to see MSTW permit fees for city and rural municipality projects waived, "we own MSTW, why should we pay ourselves?"

Harder likened it to one level of government taxing another level.

"And when you see the discrepancy on the board you realize why we're so adamant that something needs to change... we're expected to pay disproportionately for the overall operation, yet at the same time when it comes to decision making we're in the background."

Currently, all four municipalities have two representatives on the eight-person board.

"If you were in business, would you want equal representation on the board when one has two percent, the other has 49 percent? I don't think so," Harder says.

Instead, city council would like to see three Winkler members, two members for both Morden and R.M of Stanley, and a single member for the R.M of Thompson.

MSTW General Manager Glen Wieler explains the planning district was set up in the late 70's as an equal partnership. However, at the time it was unclear which community would grow at an accelerated rate. In the late 70's Morden had a larger population than Winkler.

In total, Winkler issued more building permits than its three partner municipalities combined, and registered almost $40 million dollars worth of construction in 2017.

"It's not reasonable," Harder says. "It's time to take a look at it and make those changes."