Winnipeg looking at ways to protect residents from high water bills

A new motion at Winnipeg City Hall could provide relief to those who have come across an unpleasant surprise in their water bill.

Coun. Matt Allard has put forward a motion that asks the public service to come up with ways to protect Winnipeggers who receive extremely high water bills due to an issue they were unaware of.

He said there’s a case to be made for situations where residents had no idea what was going on.

“How might we go about bringing a program like that back so if somebody is caught with a really big bill, they’re not a business, maybe they’re on fixed income, they probably can’t pay their bill, is there a way we can help these people out?” Allard said in an interview on Tuesday.

The report notes that at times residents are faced with high bills that could result in them losing their homes. Residents would be protected on compassionate grounds or using the low-income cutoff as a requirement.

Allard said the goal will be to ensure that people don’t take advantage of the program and that it’s only being

“We, on the other hand, don’t want to encourage people to abuse and use more water than they need,” Allard said.

“But I think in the context of the tight economy, inflation went up quite a bit last year, people’s pocketbooks are tight, and if we’re going to be increasing people’s water rates.”

Allard noted the exemption would not be applied to businesses.

The motion will be discussed by the water and waste committee on Monday. The report can be found online.