Hearing over plan to expand Winnipeg Metropolitan Region fills meeting room in Niverville

A public hearing in Niverville over a future development plan couldn't take place on Thursday as too many people showed up.

The Niverville Heritage Centre was completely full as crowds came out to have their say on the Winnipeg Metropolitan Region's Plan 2050.

The full crowds caused the meeting to be cut short. RCMP said the meeting ended peacefully with no arrests, and they were on hand to ensure safety.

The plan has a long-term framework for coordinated land use, servicing and infrastructure. It includes Winnipeg, Selkirk, Niverville, Stonewall, Dunottar and 13 rural municipalities.

If adopted, the plan would become a bylaw applying to the entire region.

Winnipeg Mayor Scott Gillingham said there is misinformation being spread about the plan.

"I would encourage anyone and everyone to read Plan 2050," he said. "There's certainly some misconceptions about what I'm hearing from others about what is in and what is not in plan 2050.

"There's a lot of things that are not factual that's being spread around. So please, if everyone read Plan 2050 it would really, I think, help in clarifying some of the misconceptions that are there."

Gillingham said a future session would take place in a larger space.

'No basis for our inclusion'

At least one community is asking to be left out of the plan.

Duane Nicol, the chief administrative officer with the City of Selkirk said council has passed resolutions to be removed from the plan, saying the majority of residents of the city don't work in Winnipeg, and Selkirk has a functioning administration and urban services.

"We're a complete community. We're the only non-Winnipeg municipality in the Winnipeg metro region that provides enough employment for its workers," Nicol said. "In the other communities, less than 50 per cent of their residents live and work in their own community. So we're not included in the census metropolitan area for Winnipeg, and so there's no basis for our inclusion."

Nicol said he wants Selkirk to have the same autonomy as other cities in Manitoba, such as Portage la Prairie and Brandon. He said Selkirk has asked the province to be removed from the Winnipeg Metropolitan Region.