Winnipeg, MB - In consideration of a number of motions brought forward to Council today by Mayor Brian Bowman, Council voted 10-6 in favour of maintaining severance payouts for politicians at City Hall.
Mayor Brian Bowman’s additional seven motions were all approved by Council.
“As elected officials, we must begin holding ourselves accountable first to higher standards if we expect that anyone else, namely our citizens, ever could,” said Mayor Brian Bowman. “But I am proud of the amount of support there was on Council today to eliminate these payouts and thank all members for the open dialogue and honesty they brought to this important debate today; I wish there was more appetite for my colleagues to have voted for the best interests of Winnipeggers who voted us all in, than there was to support their own interests.”
Prior to September 2011, members of Council were not entitled to receive political payouts until an external review of Winnipeg’s Elected Officials’ Compensation proposed members receive three weeks’ worth of salary for every year they serve, up to a maximum of six months’ worth of pay.
Following the last election on October 22nd, the eight outgoing members of Council were entitled to receive, collectively, more than $400,000.