We’re not the best-run city in Canada, but we’re far from the worst, according to a study released this month by a Halifax think-tank. Winnipeg ranked 19th among 31 cities and scored a C+ grade in the study by the Atlantic Institute for Market Studies, which looked at how effectively and efficiently municipalities are spending their tax dollars.
“We consider a C+ to be an average grade for the survey, so that kind of puts Winnipeg in a big pack in the middle with a large number of cities,” Bobby O’Keefe, the institute’s research manager, said. The study, commissioned by Maclean’s, considered seven categories: governance and finance, taxation, safety and protection, transportation, environmental health, economic development and recreation and culture.
The best-run cities — Burnaby, B.C., Saskatoon and Surrey, B.C. — received their high scores because citizens got a bargain for their buck, O’Keefe said. “In terms of balance between spending and services, they always were on the lower end of spending and were almost always on the better end of services,” he said. “They were either spending an average amount, but still providing better services, or spending a bit less and providing average services.” Winnipeg is doing well in some regards, O’Keefe said.
In the category of environmental health, the study measured spending against the number of watermain breaks and water boil orders, plus the diversity of solid waste programs offered. “That’s actually a bright spot looking at Winnipeg,” O’Keefe said. “You’re spending a bit less than others, but (are) around average for the effectiveness side.” Winnipeg also scored third in the category that measured the administrative costs of running the city.