Steinbach City Council · Dec 2015 – Oct 2026 · Topic: Advocacy & getting results
Advocating to Steinbach City Council: what has worked, and what hasn't
When residents and community groups asked Steinbach City Council for something between December 2015 and October 2026, which requests succeeded, which stalled, and why? Which routes into council, which kinds of evidence (including surveys) and which timing moved decisions? How did that change from one council term to the next and from year to year, and how did each council member respond? And what should an advocacy group do, step by step, so that its time is spent where it counts?
Bottom line
- What you ask for matters most, and it has for eleven years. Across 164 requests and three councils, asks that cost the city nothing (a letter of support, consent to apply for an outside grant, a tax-receipt arrangement) won 11 times out of 14 and were never refused. Requests for money mostly went to council's closed budget sessions: 32 of 57 got no public answer at all.
- Who asks, and how, comes next. Individual residents won outright only 4 times in 46 requests (10 more partly). The same kinds of concern did better when a council member carried them (6 won and 4 partly out of 15), when the neighbours affected signed together (Cottonwood, 2022), or when a group arrived with the plan already worked out with staff (Southeast Event Centre, 2019; Hanover School Division, 2023). A focused delegation can move the capital budget: Georgetown, 2025.
- The staff report usually decides, and surveys count only when the city runs them. Residents' requests for stop signs were refused or replaced with something else every time after an engineering review (five since 2018); the two stop signs granted went to a business with staff's support (2017) and to the school division (2018). Council did override staff, for neighbours who showed consensus, for schools, a downtown church and a developer. Residents' own surveys, like the 83-home Georgetown survey, were not discussed again.
- Timing and follow-up are where groups lose. Budget requests need to arrive before council's July or November study sessions. Promised answers and staff reports sometimes never came back (pool accessibility, 2019; Southeast Cancer Support Services, 2024; Parkhill School, 2026). Groups that returned every year, like STARS, kept their funding, and the Clearspring Greens pathway was built after a three-year campaign (2018–2021), with residents paying half.
- Terms and members. Each council left fewer requests without a public answer (51% in 2014–2018, 40% in 2018–2022, 35% in 2022–2026). Most decisions on requests were unanimous; in the recorded split votes, Jac Siemens most often sided with the person asking. Two of the most active voices on requests, Michael Zwaagstra and Jac Siemens, left council in 2026, and the two new members, Ron Falk and Greg Carlos, have no record on requests yet.
Part 1 · The council record
The routes into council, and what each one usually gets
Council meets on the first and third Tuesday of the month at 7:30 p.m. Its 2006 procedure by-law (By-law 1809) sets the formal routes in. Items for the agenda must reach the City Secretary “at least 120 hours prior” to the meeting (s. 8.2), which means by the Thursday before. Delegations are recommended to register 120 hours ahead and say what they will cover (s. 14.2), and the chair “may require the delegation to appoint a spokesperson” (s. 14.1). In practice delegations are scheduled for 7:45 p.m., and the mayor described the usual time limit:
“Well, normally something like this, we give— we allow 10 minutes for a delegation like this.”
Mayor Earl Funk · Jan 4, 2022 · 0:18:09
Here is what each route produced in the 2022–2026 record:
| Route | How it works | What usually happens |
|---|---|---|
| Letter or email to council | Sent to City Hall by the Thursday before a meeting; appears under correspondence near the end of the agenda. | Funding and sponsorship letters: “received as information,” usually with no discussion. Letters about a specific safety or drainage problem: referred to administration for a report, which can take 2 to 10 months. |
| Booked delegation | Booked through the City Clerk's office ahead of the meeting; about 10 minutes at 7:45 p.m.; council asks questions. | Requests for letters or resolutions: often decided the same night. Requests for money: thanked and referred to the next budget study session. Information-only visits build relationships. |
| Public hearing | Only for planning applications and the annual financial plan; anyone may speak or write before the hearing ends. | Large, organized opposition sometimes changes the result; one to five objecting households never did. Topics other than the application are ruled out of order. See Public notice. |
| Through a councillor | A council member raises a resident's concern in question period or moves a motion. | Quick for simple asks to the province (engine-brake signs, 2022). Lost when it ran against a staff or consultant report (a three-way stop at Loewen and Hespeler, defeated 3–4 in 2024). |
| The mayor or staff directly | Mayor's Open Door Day (third Friday of the month, 1–3 p.m.), phone or email to staff. | The mayor often steers people to write a letter or book a delegation. For operational problems (hedges, signs) staff act on an exact address. |
| Committee and study sessions | Closed sessions where council builds the budget and meets outside groups. | Where money is decided, but there are no public agendas or minutes, so groups and residents can't see how a request was weighed. See Behind closed doors. |
Turning up without booking does not work. When flooded residents filled the gallery in September 2025, the mayor explained the route:
“I'm very sorry for the short notice tonight. We can't have you speak, but it's great you're here… We've heard you. And we do welcome you to set a date and come as delegation. And if you could pick one person to do all the speaking at that delegation, it would be great.”
Mayor Earl Funk · Sept 16, 2025 · 0:38:25
By-law 1809 does allow more than this. A member of the public may ask to speak on a subject not on the agenda for “generally 5 minutes,” at the chair's discretion, and the chair may then place it on a future agenda or refer it to the City Manager (s. 8.4(5)). The “Council member question period” is described as “Intended to be an open session, allowing questions to the Mayor or any member of Council” (s. 8.4(9)). In the recordings neither is offered to the public. We found no delegation request form or booking page on the city's website; the City Clerk's office is the contact.
The story by term: three councils, 2015–2026
The record covers parts of three councils. Mayor Chris Goertzen's council (2014–2018) is covered from December 2015: the city's videos begin in September 2015, but the first few have not been transcribed yet. Mayor Earl Funk's first council (2018–2022) and his second (2022–2026) had the same six councillors: all were re-elected in 2022, so the October 2026 election brought the first change in membership in eight years.
| Term | Requests | Won | Partly | No answer | Lost | Won or partly* |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014–2018 | 55 | 12 | 5 | 28 | 10 | 63% |
| 2018–2022 | 57 | 16 | 9 | 23 | 9 | 74% |
| 2022–2026 | 52 | 16 | 9 | 18 | 9 | 74% |
2014–2018: business rules, a narrow grants policy, and one big decision made in private
Business requests did best. The Chamber of Commerce rewrote the mobile-sign rules with a delegation, written submissions and drawings of real storefronts (2016), and a commercial developer won an exception from storm-sewer standards despite the city manager's warning about precedent (2016). Residents' drainage and sidewalk letters mostly ended in a staff report or “the policy stands”: Home Street North, Albert Street, Old Tom Road. Grants followed a “simplified and focused” policy, and the Pat Porter Active Living Centre's request for a grant in lieu of taxes was left out of the 2018 budget:
“the reality is that there hasn't been a change in the policy of the grants of the city, and so that will not be included in this budget.”
Mayor Chris Goertzen, at the 2018 financial plan hearing · Mar 20, 2018 · 0:16:26
The largest request of the term was decided out of public view. The Steinbach Fly-In Golf Club asked for a $500,000 grant in a closed meeting; it was refused, and came back as a purchase of 40 acres of the club's land for the same amount, leased back to the club for $1 a year. The first public discussion was the night of the vote:
“That's defeated 4-3, and so here we are. … It is a bailout that is dressed up as a land deal.”
Councillor Michael Zwaagstra, on his closed-meeting motion to have the club present in public · Dec 5, 2017 · 1:09:41
“The reality is, is that we have a win-win scenario here.”
Mayor Chris Goertzen · Dec 5, 2017 · 1:21:30
Council did change its mind when a group came back better prepared. The Arts Council's $65,000 matching grant for repairs to the city-owned arts building was tabled 4–3 in June 2018, with one councillor calling it “reactionary,” and passed unanimously in September after the Arts Council presented a costed plan. A resident's request for a plebiscite on Sunday shopping was defeated 2–5.
2018–2022: partnerships, levy fights and a pandemic
Mayor Funk's first council kept the routine for funding letters (“received as information”) but took on large partnerships when a group brought money and a plan. The Southeast Event Centre group arrived in October 2019 with an agreement already drafted with staff and a $15 million private pledge, and council committed that night:
“I want you to know that tonight's resolution is to commit $10 million plus $500,000 a year.”
Mayor Earl Funk · Oct 1, 2019 · 0:51:37
In 2021 council agreed to match private money for a Chamber of Commerce economic development office, up to $65,000 a year for five years. (That is the grant council ended in 2025 for lack of results.)
Residents learned to use formal objections. The Clearspring Greens pathway, first asked for in 2018, was put off in 2019 (“Our 2019 budget did not allow us to do anything in that area at all”) and then proposed as a local improvement charged mostly to the neighbourhood. After about 20 residents spoke against the levy in January 2020, council moved the $208,000 lighting cost to the city within two weeks:
“I think, um, um, there's nothing wrong with changing your mind after you've heard new information, and that's what we heard as we met with, with the community, the neighborhood.”
Mayor Earl Funk · Jan 21, 2020 · 0:18:21
When 78 owners still objected, Councillor Susan Penner rebuilt the plan as a 50/50 split capped at $1,610 a lot, and it went ahead in 2021:
“While the initial proposal had 78 objections, this new plan has only received 6 objections, which shows how far the city and the neighbourhood have come in working together and coming to an agreement that we both can support.”
Councillor Susan Penner · Feb 16, 2021 · 0:16:15
COVID-19 narrowed the routes in: there were four delegations in all of 2020 and none between mid-March and September. Public hearings stayed in person and became the main place residents spoke. In 2021, when letters about street racing piled up, the mayor put a sample on the agenda and council asked the same night for a dedicated RCMP traffic officer, at about $200,000 a year:
“I have been on some weeks bombarded with emails and phone calls and just visits to my store about the racing issue.”
Mayor Earl Funk · Sept 7, 2021 · 1:10:15
2022–2026: staff reports, plain answers and the province
The same council, with more decided on the record: 35% of requests got no public answer, against 51% in 2014–2018. Requests that cost nothing passed the same night (the Skimmers' grant consents, the Pistons' arena glass, the golf club's tax receipts, the 55+ Games bid). Traffic requests were judged against the warrant guideline, and a councillor's motion against a consultant's report lost 3–4 (Loewen and Hespeler, 2024). Council also said no more plainly than before: it declined to host the RCMP Musical Ride without a local organizer (2023), declined to apply for federal money for Steinbach Community Outreach's mobile outreach unit after a staff memo said social services are outside the city's role (2024), ended the economic development grant (2025) and refused a cannabis-retail plebiscite 6–1 (2025). Requests to the province ended in letters (crosswalk lights, disaster aid).
The term's biggest change came from residents: the Georgetown sewer delegation (see the timeline). It ended with a $400,000 operating loan to the event centre group, an endorsement of The Bridge on Third supportive housing, and a mayor's task force on seniors placed outside Steinbach while they wait for a care-home bed, an issue Councillor Susan Penner raised after hearing from residents:
“dozens and dozens of people have shared their stories with me in our community, either through emails, through phone calls, through direct messages.”
Councillor Susan Penner · Oct 6, 2026 · 1:42:33
The council elected on October 28, 2026 was sworn in on November 3. Mayor Earl Funk was acclaimed for a third term; Susan Penner (now Deputy Mayor), Jake Hiebert, Damian Penner and Bill Hiebert return. Michael Zwaagstra and Jac Siemens did not run. Apart from the mayors, they took part in more of the requests in this record than anyone else, and in the recorded split votes below they were usually on opposite sides. The new councillors, Ron Falk (a Hanover School Division trustee for 34 years) and Greg Carlos (a past president of the South Eastman Filipino Association), have no record on requests yet. The routes, deadlines and budget calendar stay the same unless the new council changes the procedure by-law.
Year by year
Requests by the year they were first made, and how they ended. A grouped row of routine funding letters counts once. *Share of requests with a public decision that were won or partly won (shown as a count when fewer than five were decided). The list at the end of the page can be filtered to any year.
| Year | Total | Won | Partly | No answer | Lost | Won or partly* |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 4 | 1 | – | 3 | – | 1 of 1 |
| 2016 | 18 | 3 | 3 | 9 | 3 | 67% |
| 2017 | 17 | 5 | 1 | 8 | 3 | 67% |
| 2018 | 19 | 3 | 1 | 10 | 5 | 44% |
| 2019 | 13 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 2 | 71% |
| 2020 | 11 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 1 | 80% |
| 2021 | 15 | 6 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 64% |
| 2022 | 16 | 6 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 82% |
| 2023 | 12 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 88% |
| 2024 | 12 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 67% |
| 2025 | 13 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 70% |
| 2026 | 14 | 4 | 1 | 8 | 1 | 83% |
| All years | 164 | 44 | 23 | 69 | 28 | 71% |
- 2015–2016. The Chamber of Commerce's persistence on sign rules pays off; a developer's drainage exception passes over staff's objection; residents' drainage and sidewalk letters go to staff reports. (2015 is one meeting, December 15.)
- 2017. The golf club's refused $500,000 grant returns as a land purchase. Home Street North residents bring a petition; ten months later the fix is put at $500,000 or more and nothing is done beyond extra maintenance. Small traffic fixes with staff support pass within weeks.
- 2018. The Arts Council match is tabled, then passed; Sunday shopping plebiscite defeated 2–5; Calvary Chapel gets 52 public parking stalls against the city manager's advice. New council sworn in on November 6.
- 2019. The event centre partnership is approved the night it is presented; a developer's $10,000-a-lot demolition grant is refused unanimously; Clearspring Greens residents fill the gallery and are told the budget did not allow it.
- 2020. COVID-19: four delegations all year. The Clearspring Greens levy fight moves the lighting cost to the city; a charity's request to be spared the Acres Drive levy is refused 5–1.
- 2021. Clearspring Greens pathway goes ahead after 78 objections force a redesign; residents' street-racing letters lead to a request for a traffic officer; the economic development office is funded; council backs one affordable-housing proposal for provincial money and not two others.
- 2022. Cottonwood neighbours' petition beats staff's advice; the golf club's tax receipts are approved; a school police officer is approved only if the school division pays all of it.
- 2023. Councillor Jac Siemens relays residents' complaints about highway signal timing and the province fixes them by May; the RCMP Musical Ride is declined; the Chapel Drive parking plan passes the night it arrives.
- 2024. Loewen and Hespeler stop defeated 3–4; council takes no action on Steinbach Community Outreach's mobile outreach request; Southeast Cancer Support Services is promised an answer that never appears.
- 2025. The Georgetown delegation changes the 2026 capital budget; the economic development grant ends; the cannabis plebiscite is refused 6–1.
- 2026 (to November 3). Event centre loan; The Bridge on Third endorsed; seniors' task force created; Parkhill School's traffic request is referred to staff with no report by the end of the term.
By council member
Ten people served on council in these years, and two more joined in November 2026. This section describes what each of them did on requests from residents and groups: what they raised, moved and voted for or against, and what they said. It is a record, not a score.
Most requests were decided unanimously or by consensus, and councillors take turns moving routine motions, so moving a motion is not the same as championing it (see Who moves council's public-hearing motions). The mayor chairs and so handles most letters, which is why the mayors appear most often. Recorded split votes are the clearest evidence of where members differed, and they are listed first. In 2015–2017 the two Councillors Penner often cannot be told apart in the recordings; remarks are attributed to one of them only where the speaker is certain.
Every recorded split vote on a request
| Date | Request, motion and result | For | Against |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 5, 2017 | Buy the golf club's land for $500,000 and lease it back Carried, about 4–3 (tally not announced; positions stated) | Fehr (moved), Siemens, Goertzen, one Councillor Penner | Zwaagstra, Funk, one Councillor Penner |
| Jun 19, 2018 | Table the Arts Council's $65,000 match (passed unanimously Sept 4) Tabled 4–3 | Siemens, Zwaagstra, Fehr, Goertzen | S. Penner, C. Penner, Funk |
| Aug 7, 2018 | A plebiscite on Sunday shopping Defeated 2–5 | Siemens, C. Penner | Fehr, Funk, S. Penner, Zwaagstra, Goertzen |
| Oct 2, 2018 | Drop the parking fee and conditions on Calvary Chapel's variance Defeated 3–4 | S. Penner, Zwaagstra, Funk | Siemens, C. Penner, Fehr, Goertzen |
| Jan 7, 2020 | Clearspring Greens: a cheaper pathway (amendment), then the levy by-law Amendment defeated 2–5; levy carried 5–2 | Amendment: Siemens, J. Hiebert | Amendment: Funk, Zwaagstra, S. Penner, D. Penner, B. Hiebert |
| Jan 21, 2020 | Clearspring Greens: the city pays the $208,000 for lighting Carried 6–1 | Funk, Zwaagstra, S. Penner, D. Penner, B. Hiebert, J. Hiebert | Siemens (no reason given on the record) |
| Dec 15, 2020 | Charge the enVision charity its share of the Acres Drive levy Carried 5–1 | Zwaagstra, S. Penner, Funk, B. Hiebert, J. Hiebert | Siemens (D. Penner excused) |
| Jun 20, 2023 | Wyndham Estate Drive: a No Stopping zone instead of the stop sign asked for Carried 6–1 | Siemens, J. Hiebert, D. Penner, Zwaagstra, B. Hiebert, Funk | S. Penner |
| Apr 16, 2024 | A three-way stop at Loewen and Hespeler, for residents Defeated 3–4 | Siemens, J. Hiebert, B. Hiebert | Zwaagstra, D. Penner, S. Penner, Funk |
| Aug 19, 2025 | Refuse TobaGrown's request for a cannabis-retail plebiscite Carried 6–1 | The other six | Siemens |
Earl Funk
Councillor 2014–2018; Mayor since November 2018
As a councillor he turned residents' concerns into motions (asking the school division to freeze school taxes, 2016; the Canada Summer Jobs letter for local groups, 2018), held the line on drainage policy (2016), opposed the golf-club land deal as a bailout (2017) and criticized the grants process using the Pat Porter case (2018).
As mayor he chairs, so he decides in practice how a letter is handled: most funding letters are received as information or sent to a study session, and he steers residents to book delegations. He championed the event centre (2019) and the economic development office (2021), put residents' street-racing letters on the agenda (2021), and changed position on the Clearspring Greens levy after meeting residents (2020). His promised answer to Southeast Cancer Support Services (2024) does not appear on the record.
“And when there is a young person that was injured or possibly injured and there could be chances for more, this is a serious request and we need to take it seriously.”
As a councillor, on the school division's traffic letter · Nov 21, 2017 · 0:28:46
Chris Goertzen
Mayor until October 2018 (record from December 2015)
Chaired most meetings in 2015–2018 and usually decided how a letter was handled: “take that as information” or a staff report. He defended a “simplified and focused” grants policy, proposed tabling the Arts Council match before supporting it, and called the golf-club land purchase a win-win. He declared a conflict of interest and left the room for the 2016 drainage exception.
“for me, I'm not a fan of governing by referendum, and so I'll vote against it.”
On the Sunday shopping plebiscite · Aug 7, 2018 · 0:40:08
Michael Zwaagstra
Councillor in all three terms; did not run in 2026
The most active member on requests after the mayors. He asked the cost-and-evidence questions and named the tests council applied (neighbourhood consensus, the engineers' warrant). He moved many same-night approvals and low-cost fixes (the Chapel Drive plan, the crosswalk letter to the province, Harv's Air, the Southwood school zone beyond staff's recommendation) and turned residents' street-racing letters into a motion for a traffic officer (2021).
He led the opposition to the golf-club deal and asked for it to be heard in public (2017), opposed the developer's demolition grant (2019) and shifting Clearspring Greens costs to all taxpayers (2020), moved the enVision levy (2020) and voted against the Loewen–Hespeler stop (2024).
“And frankly, we're in the business of building sidewalks. We want more sidewalks, and I would have concerns about removing a pathway that is an access point for people, not just in the neighborhood but even beyond.”
On a request to close the Cottonwood Bend walkway · Jul 17, 2018 · 1:54:08
Jac Siemens
Councillor in all three terms; did not run in 2026
In the recorded split votes he was the member most often on the side of the person asking: for a Sunday shopping plebiscite (2018), for a cheaper Clearspring Greens pathway (2020), against charging the enVision charity (2020), for the Loewen–Hespeler stop he moved for residents (2024) and against refusing a cannabis plebiscite (2025). He moved the Cottonwood parking ban against staff's advice (2022) and kept after the province, through staff, until highway signal timing was fixed (2023).
He was also cautious with money and precedent: he voted to table the Arts Council match (2018), opposed dropping Calvary Chapel's conditions (2018), voted against the city paying for Clearspring Greens lighting (2020), asked of Serving Seniors' request “Do we have a history?” (2024) and argued for ending the economic development grant (2025).
“But this is the first time that we're asking residences from any area to pay the majority of the cost of a pathway to connect them to our community.”
On the Clearspring Greens levy · Jan 7, 2020 · 1:39:10
Susan Penner
Councillor in all three terms; Deputy Mayor from November 2026
Often behind a group's request from the start: she moved the Arts Council match twice until it passed (2018), the 52 parking stalls for Calvary Chapel (2018) and the Chicken Chef patio (2021), and rebuilt the Clearspring Greens plan after meeting objectors (2021). She was the only vote for a stop at Wyndham Estate Drive (2023), shared her own flooding at the September 2025 meeting and moved the first resolution to the province on disaster aid (2026), and raised the seniors' care-home issue that led to a task force (2026).
She also held to the rules when she thought they applied: she seconded the enVision levy (“We also have to do what our bylaws call us to do,” 2020) and voted against the Loewen–Hespeler stop (2024).
“I've talked to many Clear Spring Greens residents that objected to the current plan, and they say they would be in support of this revised plan.”
Moving the revised pathway plan · Jan 5, 2021 · 0:35:38
Damian Penner
Councillor since 2018; re-elected 2026
Brought requests from the boards he sat on: the Jake Epp Library's one-time technology grant, moved and passed the same night (2019), and residents' questions about reopening the library during COVID (2020). He moved the economic development office (2021) and the Skimmers' grant consents (2022, 2023). On Clearspring Greens he moved the original levy and then seconded the lighting compromise (2020). He voted against the Loewen–Hespeler stop (2024) and, in January 2026, said of the flooded residents that “it is up to us to now advocate for them.”
“Their current computer system is grossly outdated and in desperate need of renewal.”
Moving the library's technology grant · Mar 19, 2019 · 0:56:36
Bill Hiebert
Councillor since 2018; re-elected 2026
Brought residents' complaints straight to the table: engine-brake signs on the highways (2022, resolution the same night) and hedges over sidewalks (2024). He seconded the event centre partnership (2019), backed its 2026 loan, voted for the Loewen–Hespeler stop (2024) and moved the golf club's 2026 tax-receipt request. Fewer of his remarks on requests could be attributed with certainty than for other members.
“I had a citizen approach me this morning while I was out for a walk and the The question is, what are we going to do or what can we do with hedges that are protruding into side— onto sidewalks, making it somewhat dangerous for people walking?”
Question period · May 21, 2024 · 0:33:25
Jake Hiebert
Councillor since 2018; re-elected 2026
Usually seconded rather than moved: the Skimmers' consents, the economic development office, the Chicken Chef patio, the Wyndham alternative, the Southwood school zone. In the 2020 Clearspring Greens dispute he and Jac Siemens were the two votes for a cheaper pathway and against the levy; he seconded and voted for the Loewen–Hespeler stop (2024) and voted for the enVision levy (2020).
“I appreciate that this council has reconsidered in going forward with this compromise, what I will call a good compromise.”
On the Clearspring Greens lighting deal · Jan 21, 2020 · 0:16:39
John Fehr
Councillor 2014–2018; Deputy Mayor to November 2017
Took up residents' and business owners' asks himself: the Home Street North swale (2015), paving rules for businesses on gravel roads and accessible parking on Main Street (2017), and a “more permanent step” for the Cottonwood Bend walkway (2018). He moved the golf-club land purchase and defended handling it in closed meetings (2017), called the June 2018 Arts Council motion “reactionary” before supporting it in September, and wanted more research before a taxi by-law (2018).
“I would sure like to see us entertain doing something there to rectify that.”
On the Home Street North swale · Dec 15, 2015 · 0:30:27
Cari Penner
Councillor 2014–2018; Deputy Mayor from November 2017
Seconded and spoke for the 2016 drainage exception and the Arts Council match (2018), and with Jac Siemens cast the only votes for a Sunday shopping plebiscite (2018). As acting chair in late 2017 she handled several letters, including a resident's complaint about parking at a community mailbox. Many 2015–2017 remarks by “Councillor Penner” could not be assigned to her or to Susan Penner.
“I, for one, am not afraid to put a referendum forward and ask the people what they would prefer, whether it's not or whether it's yes.”
On the Sunday shopping plebiscite · Aug 7, 2018 · 0:37:14
Ron Falk and Greg Carlos
Councillors since November 2026
Elected in October 2026; no record on requests yet. Ron Falk was a Hanover School Division trustee for 34 years, 14 of them as chair. Greg Carlos is a past president of the South Eastman Filipino Association; council is his first elected office.
Long campaigns
Some requests took years, or came back under a later council. Following them shows what persistence won.
| Campaign | What happened | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Clearspring Greens pathway | A resident's letter (2018) is referred to a study session; a delegation of about 100 residents (2019) is told the budget did not allow it; a levy charging most of the cost to the neighbourhood draws about 20 speakers and the city takes on the lighting (2020); 78 formal objections force a 50/50 plan capped at $1,610 a lot (2021). | Partly built in 2021; residents pay half |
| Steinbach Fly-In Golf Club | Asks for water management, about $675,000 in compensation and $50,000 a year (2016: no public answer); a $500,000 grant refused in private becomes a land purchase and $1 lease (2017); tax receipts for donations, irrigation (2022) and bridges (2026). | Won through a land deal and the city's charitable status, not grants |
| STARS air ambulance | A pledge request is filed (2018); a delegation is referred to the fall study session (2020); funded at $1 a resident from 2021 ($15,829); asks for $1.50 (2022) and returns every year with local mission counts. | Partly funded yearly, at about $1 a resident |
| Economic development grant | Chamber of Commerce grant letters filed (2019); after about 18 months of talks, council matches private money up to $65,000 a year for five years (2021); renewal refused unanimously for lack of results (2025). | Lost at renewal |
| Pat Porter Active Living Centre | Grant in lieu of taxes left out of the budget (2018); a letter of support granted the same night (2020); a heating and cooling grant sent to the fall study session (2021); support for the 55+ Games bid, which Steinbach won (2024); Serving Seniors' $10,000 for rentals received as information (2024). | Partly support yes, operating money no |
| Home Street North drainage | A resident's email leads to monitoring and a report (2015); residents return as a delegation with a petition, and the fix is put at $500,000 or more (2017); a later letter about construction traffic on the street is received as information (2021). | Lost extra maintenance only |
| Cottonwood walkway and parking | Neighbours ask to close the walkway; staff and council keep it open (2018); the school division asks again and staff say no (2019); neighbours' petition for weekday no-parking wins against staff's advice (2022). | Partly |
| Henry Street near the hospital | A letter about the narrow street is received as information; widening would be costly (2017); two-hour parking approved on Henry Street but not Ash Avenue (2023). | Partly |
| East Region Water Co-op | Two delegations from Landmark Planning; the second is sent for a staff report that never returns. | No answer |
| Georgetown sewer backups | See the dated timeline. | Partly |
Scoreboard: the 2022–2026 term in detail
For the current council's term, here are the requests that show the patterns most clearly, with the route and tactics each group used. Every request from all three terms, including the ones not shown here, is in the filterable list at the end of the page. Routine reports from agencies such as the RCMP and the provincial assessor are left out. Public-hearing objections to planning applications are counted in the Public notice report.
Won got what was asked, or more Partly got some of it, or a substitute No answer no public decision recorded Lost refused or filed
| Request | Route and tactics | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Steinbach Skimmers: city consent to apply for $25,000 provincial grants for pool equipment (2022, 2023) | Letter; outside money for a city facility | Won unanimous both times, same night |
| Steinbach Pistons: donate old arena glass to the RM of La Broquerie (2023) | Letter; tied to council's “regional relationships” priority | Won unanimous |
| Steinbach Fly-In Golf Club: city to issue tax receipts for donations to its irrigation (2022) and bridge (2026) projects | Delegation, then letter; “not asking for any money”; capped amount | Won both approved unanimously (Apr 5, 2022, three weeks after the delegation; Jul 7, 2026) |
| Hanover School Division: no parking on Chapel Drive (2023) | Letter; plan worked out beforehand with city staff and the RCMP | Won unanimous, same night |
| Cottonwood neighbours: weekday no-parking near a school crosswalk (2022) | Two residents' letters, a 12-name petition from the street, RCMP advisory group support | Won unanimous, against staff's recommendation, three months after the first letter |
| Southwood School: school-zone safety improvements (2025) | Detailed letter from the principal, with options | Won a reduced-speed school zone, more than staff recommended (four months) |
| Pat Porter Active Living Centre: support for its bid to host the Manitoba 55+ Games (2024) | Delegation; recreation staff lined up first; deadline; money “at a later time” | Won unanimous resolution; Steinbach was chosen to host in 2025 |
| Harv's Air: letter backing its objection to a telecom tower in its flight path (2024) | Letter; safety data; a federal decision | Won unanimous letter of support |
| Residents (through Councillor Bill Hiebert): engine-brake signs on provincial highways (2022) | Phone calls to a councillor; the province needs a council resolution | Won resolution sent the same night |
| STARS air ambulance: annual grant at $1.50 per resident (2022) | Yearly delegations with local mission counts; peer comparisons; thanks | Partly funded every year, but at about $1 per resident |
| Henry Street residents: two-hour parking near the hospital (2023) | A resident's email, plus complaints at the mayor's Open Door Day; staff went door to door | Partly approved on Henry Street, not on Ash Avenue (five months) |
| B.B.: flashing crosswalk lights on Main Street and Brandt Street (2024) | Three years of emails to the province and the mayor, then a delegation | Partly council letter to the province sent unanimously; no lights installed through 2026 |
| Georgetown residents (M.R. and neighbours): sewer backups (2025–26) | Booked delegation after being turned away; door-to-door survey; a specific theory about the cause; timed before the November budget session | Partly sewer reroute, lift station upgrade and requests to the province for disaster aid; no compensation and no independent study (timeline) |
| Wyndham Estate Drive neighbours: three-way stop near a school (2022–23) | Resident letter; child-safety case | Partly stop refused after 10 months of counts; “No Stopping” zone instead (6–1) |
| B.E. and K.E.: stop sign on Harmony Lane (2025) | Letter, at the mayor's suggestion; personal story | Partly stop refused on the engineer's report; RCMP patrols instead |
| Hanover School Division: a school RCMP officer, cost-shared with the city (2022) | Letter; released to the press before meeting the city | Partly approved only if the division pays 100% |
| Residents (through Councillor Jac Siemens): three-way stop at Loewen and Hespeler (2023–24) | Councillor's motion against a consultant's report | Lost defeated 3–4 |
| C.S.: “children playing” signs on First Street (2025, 2026) | Two letters, nine months apart | Lost received as information; referred to RCMP enforcement |
| Chrysler Gate and Harmony Lane residents: standing water (2024) | Letters addressed to council and administration | Lost staff report: built to the approved plans; no city fix |
| M.R.: an independent study of the sewer system (2026) | Raised at the budget hearing, by email, and at a variance hearing | Lost ruled off-topic at the hearing; no study ordered |
| Choice Dental Care: fly the Ukrainian flag at City Hall (2022) | Letter, petition and supporting letters | Lost received as information |
| Steinbach Economic Development: renew the city's matching grant (2025) | Annual update delegations; renewal request at the summer study session | Lost not renewed, unanimously, for lack of results |
| Southeast Cancer Support Services: $40,000 start-up grant (2024) | Strong delegation: peer models, matching pledge, regional ask | No answer the mayor promised an answer on an agenda; none appears through 2026 |
| Eastman Raiders: about $70,000 toward a $212,000 field-lighting project (2025) | Delegation; club pays two-thirds; local quotes; staff consulted | No answer referred to the July budget session; no public decision |
| Steinbach Minor Hockey: grant request (2023) | Letter, amended after talks with a council member | No answer referred to the November study session |
| Serving Seniors: $10,000 toward 55+ Games facility rentals (2024) | Letter | Lost received as information after council heard it had no precedent |
| At least eleven other funding letters (2022–2026) | Letters | No answer all “received as information”; any funding was settled in budget sessions |
| Landmark Planning: join an East Region Water Co-op (2022) | Second delegation; peer model; no costs | No answer sent to staff for a report; never returned |
| KodaGo ride-share: a “partnership” with the city (2026) | Delegation; user numbers; no defined ask | No answer asked to put it in a letter |
| South East Equity Coalition: on-demand transit plan and $6,000 seed money (2024–25) | Presentations at unrecorded sessions; survey of 751 people; business plan | No answer verbal support only; see Transit |
What worked
1Ask for something that costs the city little or nothing
Letters of support, resolutions that let a group apply for provincial money, and arrangements that use the city's charitable status passed with almost no debate. Council members said why:
“…looking at getting grant funding for reinvestment into our facilities, I think that's a great opportunity to, to partner with that club.”
Councillor Damian Penner, on the Steinbach Skimmers' request · Oct 4, 2022 · 0:41:10
“We're not asking for a grant. We're not asking for any money out of pocket.”
D.B., Steinbach Fly-In Golf Club board · Mar 15, 2022 · 0:22:13
“I love it that they've come and asked this for this publicly”
Mayor Earl Funk, on the golf club's 2026 bridge request · Jul 7, 2026 · 0:56:41
A useful sequence: ask for the free thing first and the money later. The Pat Porter Active Living Centre asked only for a letter of support for its 55+ Games bid and said it would return about costs. It got a unanimous resolution, with the City Manager suggesting a formal resolution on top of the letter:
“So today I'm here for 2 reasons. First of all, to ask for a letter of support to include with our application… If we are selected though, we will come back at a later time and have that conversation”
A.H., Executive Director, Pat Porter Active Living Centre · Feb 20, 2024 · 0:14:20
The second step did not succeed. When Serving Seniors later wrote asking for $10,000 toward facility rentals, Councillor Jac Siemens asked “Do we have a history?” and the City Manager answered that at the last event “there was no additional funding awarded by council” (Nov 19, 2024). The letter was received as information.
2Show that the people affected agree
For street rules, council asks whether a request comes from one person or the neighbourhood. When a resident wrote about parking on Henry Street in 2023:
“…normally with that sort of thing, we would only really consider that if there was pretty clear there's a neighbourhood consensus that this is what they want.”
Councillor Michael Zwaagstra · May 16, 2023 · 0:27:33
On Cottonwood Drive in 2022, residents wrote twice and then sent a petition signed by 12 neighbours, the people who would lose weekday parking. The RCMP advisory group backed them. Council approved the restriction unanimously, against administration's advice:
“And I think by listening to the residents who live there 24 hours a day, that number one, it shows that city council listens to their concerns, and they do have valid concerns, I believe.”
Councillor Jac Siemens, who noted that administration recommended against it · Aug 2, 2022 · 0:44:44
“…significant number of neighbors have signed this request, and so they are aware that by restricting parking from 8 to 5, that means you can't park on that street.”
Councillor Michael Zwaagstra · Aug 2, 2022 · 0:47:29
A petition worked here because it came from the people who would bear the cost of the change, on a matter council controls. Petitions against planning applications have done less well: the city's hearing notice says petitions “will not be considered a formal objection,” and a “quite lengthy petition” against 48 units on McKenzie Avenue did not stop an application that needed no variances (Apr 7, 2026). See Public notice.
3Work it out with staff, and the RCMP, before it reaches council
Requests that arrived already designed with the people who would carry them out were approved on the night. Hanover School Division's Chapel Drive parking plan in 2023:
“I appreciate the due diligence that HSD did to, to come up with this plan and the consultation with the city as well as RCMP to come up with the request.”
Councillor Damian Penner · Oct 3, 2023 · 0:29:16
Southwood School's principal sent a detailed letter that offered options, including “another safe crossing treatment as recommended by the city.” Council went further than staff and created a reduced-speed school zone:
“They've obviously spent a lot of time examining safety around their school.”
Councillor Susan Penner · Apr 15, 2025 · 0:44:35
“I think when we factor in that we are receiving an official request from the school We know that the student population is increasing, it's not decreasing…”
Councillor Michael Zwaagstra, moving the school zone · Aug 5, 2025 · 0:17:00
The opposite also happened. When the same school division announced a cost-shared school police officer in the press before talking to the city:
“I am disappointed that this letter was out in the press before we had an opportunity to sit down with the Hanover School Division to speak to this issue, whether through our police advisory or through City Council.”
Councillor Jac Siemens · Jul 5, 2022 · 0:29:46
4Use council's own priorities, and its calendar
Council sets priorities for each term and builds its budget in closed study sessions in July and November. Groups that quoted the priorities back, or arrived just before a budget session, were received best:
“But what I like about this is how it fits in with our priorities that we've set for this term.”
Mayor Earl Funk, on the Steinbach Pistons' arena-glass donation · May 2, 2023 · 0:46:09
“It's very timely that you've come now before our study session in November.”
Mayor Earl Funk, to STARS · Oct 21, 2025 · 0:11:27
“Thank you for doing your homework and having all these numbers for us. That's very good. And I think what we'll do is we will refer this to our study session for July. That's where we build our budget for 2026, and then it'll be finalized in November.”
Mayor Earl Funk, to the Eastman Raiders · May 6, 2025 · 0:37:53
STARS shows the model for recurring funding: a formula (a dollar per resident), a visit every year with Steinbach-specific numbers, thanks for past support, and no surprise asks.
“…maybe we don't have many questions because you've been here a few times now, and I think we've got a great working relationship with you and an understanding of what you do.”
Mayor Earl Funk, to STARS · Sept 3, 2024 · 0:15:49
5A focused delegation, with a specific explanation, can move the capital budget
After being turned away in September 2025, flooded residents of the Georgetown and Golfview area returned on Oct 21 with one spokesperson, M.R. She brought a door-to-door survey, a history of the sewer connections added upstream, and a specific theory: that a low-pressure line from Clear Spring Greens was overloading their sewer. It was two weeks before the November budget session. Five months later the City Manager explained where the rerouting of that line in the 2026 budget came from:
“…that was an initiative that was entirely council-initiated. It wasn't due to any particular study or analysis other than council in its deliberations, as far as what was communicated to administration, heard and understood the concerns of the ratepayers of the neighborhood.”
Troy Warkentin, City Manager, on the Clear Spring Greens line reroute · Mar 17, 2026 · 0:34:25
“…but in government terms, this is lightning speed as far as how quickly this operates”
Councillor Michael Zwaagstra · Mar 17, 2026 · 0:44:52
The residents also had an ally at the table: Councillor Susan Penner, whose own home flooded, opened the September 2025 meeting with her account. The delegation's other requests (compensation and an independent study) were not met. See the timeline and Sewer backups.
6Persistence and relationships
Repeat, polite contact paid off. B.B. emailed the province and the mayor about flashing crosswalk lights for three years before the mayor invited him to present, and council sent his request to the province unanimously. A councillor recalled how the city's library began:
“Over the next 2 years, they made several presentations to the town council and they built some support.”
Councillor Jac Siemens, on the Friends of the Library (1968–71) · Feb 18, 2025 · 0:00:10
“…a community came to us and asked, I asked for a delegation and asked for a path, and then we worked on it. That worked in that situation, but in this situation, I think it's going to work way better to be proactive instead of reactive.”
Mayor Earl Funk, on how a regional pathway was built · May 6, 2025 · 1:06:52
What didn't
1Funding letters on the agenda
Letters asking for a grant were almost never approved at a public meeting. The exceptions, over eleven years, were small or long negotiated: $300 for KidSport left to the mayor's discretion (2019), the Chamber of Commerce's economic development office after about 18 months of talks with the mayor and a councillor (2021), and an advertisement in a Baseball Hall of Fame banquet program (2023). The chair's script was nearly always the same:
“…This is also grant funding request. It's on page 54. Council, how would you like to proceed? Also take his information?”
Mayor Earl Funk, on Steinbach & Area Animal Rescue's request · Nov 15, 2022 · 0:41:43
“…put it on our study session so that it can be discussed better, like at length with our budget in front of us.”
Mayor Earl Funk, on Steinbach Minor Hockey's request · Oct 3, 2023 · 0:26:11
“Received as information” is not always a no. Some groups were funded in the budget, which council adopts in one vote after a public hearing each spring; the city gives about $1.1 million a year in grants (see Taxes and spending). But a group that writes in can't tell from the minutes whether it was considered, or why it was refused.
2A request without a defined ask or cost
“Like, what would be the compelling reason for us to choose to do that?”
Councillor Michael Zwaagstra, to Landmark Planning on a regional water co-op that came with no costs · Jan 4, 2022 · 0:38:10
“…what, what I'll need to do is meet with you and maybe you can write a letter explaining what that's supposed to look like.”
Mayor Earl Funk, to KodaGo's founder, who asked for a “partnership” · Aug 4, 2026 · 1:13:43
Council's questions to the Eastman Raiders were about whether the number would hold:
“Yeah, because the challenge is once we do set budget, our budget is fixed.”
Mayor Earl Funk · May 6, 2025 · 0:34:55
3Stories against an engineering report
Traffic devices are judged against the city's warrant guideline, and council majorities defer to it:
“The reason that we hire experts to do this kind of analysis using standards and in evaluating the overall situation is so that we don't end up with the law of unintended consequences.”
Councillor Michael Zwaagstra, on the Loewen–Hespeler three-way stop · Apr 16, 2024 · 0:34:51
“We can't base it on our one-off personal experiences because then we're going to make very poor decisions.”
Councillor Susan Penner · Apr 16, 2024 · 0:38:38
“Well, the numbers don't warrant it, but at the same time, it would make sense to have one 'cause it's by a school.”
Councillor Susan Penner, the one vote for a stop at Wyndham Estate Drive · Jun 20, 2023 · 0:32:00
Drainage letters met the same test. Residents of Chrysler Gate wrote about standing water; the staff report found the swales were built to the approved plans:
“So in effect, they were built according to what was spec'd.”
Troy Warkentin, City Manager · Jul 16, 2024 · 0:09:06
The lesson for advocates is not that stories fail, but that they need to be paired with evidence that speaks to the test being applied: counts at the times that matter, speed readings, photos with dates, or an argument that the standard itself is out of date. Where the problem is speeding rather than the intersection, council's usual answer is RCMP enforcement, which residents can also request directly through the RCMP advisory group.
4The right request in the wrong forum
Public hearings are limited to the application in front of council. M.R. raised her request for an independent sewer study at a hearing on a nearby six-storey building:
“I want a third-party study. I have said that over and over and I will not stop until we get one.”
M.R., resident · Jul 21, 2026 · 0:05:38
“…studies are a valid point. We are doing things and, um, we are moving forward and we are working on, on as much as we can. But today we're talking about a variance For height, variance for parking.”
Mayor Earl Funk · Jul 21, 2026 · 0:40:38
A city-wide request like a study is more likely to be acted on as its own delegation or budget request, with a scope and an estimated cost, than as an objection to one building.
5No one tracked the promised answer
Southeast Cancer Support Services made one of the strongest pitches in the record: peer programs in Winkler, Morden and Portage, a matching pledge with a deadline, and visits to neighbouring municipalities. The mayor promised a decision:
“…we will take your grant request, we will take it back, we'll give it to administration, they'll get onto an agenda, and we will discuss it, and, and we will have an answer.”
Mayor Earl Funk · Jun 18, 2024 · 1:32:15
No agenda item, motion or later mention appears in the 2024–2026 record. Landmark Planning's water co-op (2022) was also sent for a staff report that never came back. When province-bound requests were answered with a non-answer, council filed it:
“So I guess we'll wait and see what comes of this study.”
Mayor Earl Funk, on the province's reply about flashing crosswalk lights · Oct 15, 2024 · 0:26:01
6Work done where no one can see it
The South East Equity Coalition presented its transit survey and business plan to council in February 2024 and May 2025 at sessions outside the recorded regular meetings. Council gave verbal support, but there is no motion, vote or video, so residents can't see what council said or hold it to it. See Transit. A recorded delegation at a regular meeting, followed by a written request for a motion, leaves a public trail.
Surveys: are they taken seriously?
Short answer: council cites surveys it commissions, and has not cited surveys residents bring. Even the city's own surveys are seldom reported back in detail.
| Survey | Who ran it | How it reached council | Used or reported back? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Georgetown sewer backups (2025): 83 homes | Two affected residents, door to door | Delegation, Oct 21, 2025 | Mayor asked for a copy for staff's drainage investigation. Never mentioned again by council or staff; the minutes kept the percentages but not the 83-home sample. |
| Transit survey (2023): 751 people | South East Equity Coalition, mostly among its client groups | Unrecorded session, Feb 2024 | Council asked for a cost analysis. The city's 2026 safety plan lists “Conduct a community-wide survey regarding public transportation” as an action still to do. |
| Community Safety and Well-Being (2025): 827 adults and 33 youth | Canadian Centre for Safer Communities, for the city | Plan added to the agenda the same night and received as information, Mar 3, 2026 | Cited as the basis of the plan; results published in the plan, not discussed by council. |
| Official Community Plan (2023, 2025) | WSP, for the city | Consultant's summary at the hearing, Apr 1, 2025 | “Used… to help us inform the policies”; response counts never reported. |
| Active Transportation Plan (2024–25): pop-up, online survey, mapping | Urban Systems, for the city | Consultant presentation, May 6, 2025 | Plan accepted unanimously; response numbers not given. |
The residents' survey found:
“And so me and my mom went door to door in our neighborhood to research and survey ourselves. As a result, we were able to gain a small glimpse into our neighborhood situation. According to our neighborhood surveys of 83 homes, on September 17th, 2024, 39 homes, or 47%, experienced sewer backup. On September 12th, 2025, 58 homes, or 69%, experienced sewer backup.”
M.R., resident, speaking for the delegation · Oct 21, 2025 · 0:18:19
“To our administration, because then we can add it to our stormwater drainage investigation and what we're doing.”
Mayor Earl Funk, asking for a copy · Oct 21, 2025 · 0:28:53
Council asked no questions about it. The city instead started its own record:
“…administration also worked to determine a storm damage mapping program so that there would be a specific history of affected properties”
Troy Warkentin, City Manager, presenting the 2026 budget · Mar 17, 2026 · 0:17:48
Of the city's own safety survey, the mayor said the plan “really just summarizes what's already happening”:
“Really, the— and I don't want to oversimplify it, but this plan really just summarizes what's already happening by wonderful organizations in our community.”
Mayor Earl Funk · Mar 3, 2026 · 0:20:43
No council member criticized the survey's method on the record; this is our assessment of why it was easy to set aside. It was run by two affected residents, with no stated way of choosing homes, no count of homes that didn't answer, and no map. “Experienced sewer backup” was self-reported and not separated from overland flooding or seepage. The figures were a few sentences inside a long presentation that ended in questions rather than one request. And the provincial disaster-aid decision council then pursued turned on a different test, regional insurability (Adam Thiessen, Senior Manager of Corporate Services, Apr 21, 2026), which the survey didn't measure. The coalition's transit survey had a similar problem: most of its 751 respondents came from its own client groups, so it showed need among those groups but not city-wide demand.
A resident survey is more likely to count if it: covers every address in a defined area, with a map and a list of non-responses; uses neutral questions, ideally shown to staff first; measures what the decision turns on (dates, type of damage, dollar losses, insurance denials, backwater-valve status); comes with a short written summary of the method; and ends in a single request. Even then, expect council to treat it as a reason to collect its own data, and ask in writing for that data to be published.
Follow-through: one campaign, dated
The Georgetown sewer campaign is the best-documented case of residents changing council's plans. Its record shows both what persistence can win and what it can't.
| Date | What happened |
|---|---|
| Sept 12, 2025 | Heavy rain; widespread sewer backups for the second September in a row. |
| Sept 16, 2025 | Residents fill the gallery without booking. Told to book a delegation and choose one spokesperson. Councillor Susan Penner opens the meeting with her own flooding. |
| Oct 21, 2025 | Delegation (M.R.): 83-home survey, sewer-connection history, the Clear Spring Greens theory. Steinbach & Area Animal Rescue presents separately about the Keating Drain. |
| Nov 2025 | Budget study session (closed). Keating Drain cleaned out. |
| Jan 20, 2026 | Unanimous resolution asking the province to explain its disaster-aid criteria. Councillor Damian Penner: “So it is up to us to now advocate for them because we heard this.” |
| Feb 17, 2026 | Park Road West force main tender awarded ($1.49 million). |
| Mar 17, 2026 | 2026 budget: Lift Station 1 upgrade, storm damage mapping program and the Clear Spring Greens reroute. M.R. asks at the budget hearing for an independent study; the City Manager says the climate risk study should become public. |
| Apr 21, 2026 | The province's reply gives no clear criteria. |
| Jun 16, 2026 | Second unanimous resolution asking the province to reconsider disaster aid. |
| Jul 21, 2026 | Reroute contract awarded ($396,500). M.R.'s study request ruled off-topic at a variance hearing. |
| Aug 4, 2026 | Land drainage (sump pump) by-law passed. |
| Through Nov 3, 2026 | No independent study ordered; no climate risk study presented at a council meeting; no compensation. |
“So it is up to us to now advocate for them because we heard this.”
Councillor Damian Penner · Jan 20, 2026 · 0:43:08
Council's reasons for saying no
1Money is decided at budget time, against everyone else's requests
“Thanks, Council. We'll deal with it in November.”
Councillor Michael Zwaagstra, chairing, on Summer in the City's request for 2027 · Jul 21, 2026 · 1:38:24
Weighing all requests together is reasonable, and the mayor said it is “more fair” to both the group and the city. The cost is that the weighing happens in closed sessions with no published list of requests or results, so groups can't learn why they were refused or how to do better. Brandon and Winkler run grant programs with published criteria and deadlines (see Part 2).
2The experts' report says it isn't warranted
“But the reason we commission reports like this is so that way we can have the evidence before us”
Councillor Michael Zwaagstra, accepting the report against a Harmony Lane stop sign · Feb 18, 2025 · 0:52:00
Consistent standards protect against favouritism. But residents rarely see the warrant guideline or the counts before the decision, and the reports measure the device asked for, not necessarily the problem (speeding, children crossing). Council has overridden staff when residents showed consensus (Cottonwood) or an institution made a careful case (Southwood).
3One person isn't the neighbourhood
“…normally with that sort of thing, we would only really consider that if there was pretty clear there's a neighbourhood consensus that this is what they want.”
Councillor Michael Zwaagstra · May 16, 2023 · 0:27:33
In the Henry Street case, staff went door to door themselves, a fair way to check. But the bar is not written down anywhere, so residents don't know whether they need 5 signatures or 50.
4It's the province's (or Ottawa's) decision
“Obviously, this is not directly within city jurisdiction because this is a provincial highway, but I think that by the city adding its voice to the request and letting the province know about it, and also the fact that this will also get into the news, I think these are all good, good ways of adding profile to the request.”
Councillor Michael Zwaagstra, on B.B.'s crosswalk lights · Feb 20, 2024 · 0:26:33
Jurisdiction rarely produced a flat no: council usually agreed to “add its voice” with a letter, and sometimes the province needs that resolution before it will act (engine-brake signs, 2022). But council did not follow up when the province didn't act. Groups should send the province their own letter citing council's resolution, and ask council to raise it through the Association of Manitoba Municipalities.
5No precedent, or no results
“The, the reason I think we need to stop the funding is that we haven't seen the development that we would have liked to have seen”
Councillor Jac Siemens, on ending the economic development grant · Aug 5, 2025 · 0:24:52
Precedent cuts both ways: once something is approved (the golf club's tax receipts, STARS' per-resident grant) it becomes the template for next time. Groups asking for something new should point to peer councils that fund it, and groups with ongoing funding should report measurable results every year.
Part 2 · How Steinbach compares
Scorecard
How easy Steinbach makes it for residents and groups to ask council for something, get an answer, and learn from the result, compared with other councils.
Strong ahead of or matching good practice On par typical practice Partial started, with gaps Gap common elsewhere, not done here
| Measure | Steinbach | What others do | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| Meetings and documents online | Every regular meeting livestreamed and archived on YouTube; agenda packages and minutes posted. | Similar in Brandon, Winkler and Selkirk. | Strong |
| Being heard at public hearings | Everyone who comes is heard; letters accepted until the hearing ends. | The Municipal Act requires this; Portage and Selkirk set 10-minute limits. | Strong |
| Booking a delegation | By-law recommends registering 120 hours ahead. No booking page or form found on the city website. | Brandon: online form, noon three working days before. Winkler: form due noon the Thursday before. Portage: online form, which asks whether you contacted the department first. | Partial |
| Time to speak | About 10 minutes in practice (by-law: 5). | Brandon and Winkler 10 minutes; Portage, Lethbridge and Red Deer 5; Selkirk 15; Camrose about 20. | On par |
| Speaking without booking | Not offered in practice, though By-law 1809 describes an open question period. | Most peers have none. Brandon has 15 minutes of community comment on agenda items; Camrose has 5 minutes per speaker on any topic. | On par |
| Grant program for community groups | None found. Groups write letters; requests are settled in closed budget sessions. | Brandon: Municipal Grants, applications by June 30 for the following year, reviewed by a committee. Winkler: Community Impact Grant. Portage: Community Grant, which must align with council's strategic initiatives. Lethbridge and Camrose: several grant streams with intake dates. | Gap |
| Public input on the budget | Only the hearing on the financial plan that the Municipal Act requires. | Portage: budget consultation survey (fall 2024). Brandon: coffee with council and a special meeting for budget comments. Red Deer and Camrose: published “What We Heard” budget reports. | Partial |
| Answering every request | Many letters “received as information”; referred items have no due date, and some promised answers never came. | Brandon's procedure by-law has the Clerk try to tell petitioners what was done. Red Deer says a delegation's decision “will normally be made at the Council meeting.” | Gap |
| Reporting back on surveys and engagement | Plans are published; response counts and “what we heard” summaries are not. | Selkirk, Lethbridge, Red Deer and Camrose publish survey and engagement reports. | Partial |
Key findings
1Money is the hardest ask, and the least visible decision
Nearly every grant request in eleven years went to closed budget sessions, and groups learn the result, if at all, from the budget; of 57 requests involving money, 32 got no public answer. The few decided in public were large partnerships that arrived with private money and a drafted agreement (the event centre, 2019; the economic development office, 2021). Council's reason, that requests should be weighed together (reason 1), is sound. Brandon, Winkler and Portage weigh them together too, but through a grant program with an application form, criteria and a deadline. That tells groups what to bring and when, and gives council a list it can publish. Without one, a strong pitch like Southeast Cancer Support Services' can disappear.
2The rules that decide requests are not written where residents can see them
Requests are judged by tests residents rarely see in advance: the traffic warrant guideline (reason 2), an unwritten bar for “neighbourhood consensus” (reason 3), and precedent (reason 5). Groups that won either learned the test from staff first or happened to meet it. Publishing the warrant guideline, the counts behind each report, and what council expects in a neighbourhood request would save residents and staff time.
3Requests are referred, but not tracked
“Refer to administration” is council's usual first step, and reports came back in 2 to 10 months. But no list of open referrals is published, so when one stalls (the 2022 water co-op, the 2024 cancer-support grant, a 2026 school-safety report) nobody is prompted to ask. On provincial matters council passed resolutions but did not follow up when the province didn't act (reason 4). A simple public log of referrals, with a due date and an outcome, would close the gap.
4Surveys run one way
Council relies on surveys it commissions and has not engaged with the ones residents bring, even when, as in Georgetown, the residents' concern drove a budget decision. The city also doesn't report back its own survey results in detail. Selkirk, a smaller city, published its plan survey's numbers and how they were used; Red Deer and Camrose do the same for budgets. Advocates can raise the quality of their own surveys (see the checklist), but they also need a city that says what it heard.
Peer practices
| Municipality | Getting on the agenda | Speaking without booking | Money for groups and budget input |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brandon, MB | Online form or written request by noon three working days before; up to 10 minutes; up to four delegations a meeting; council may act that night | Community comments on agenda items, 15 minutes in total | Municipal Grants, applications by June 30, 2027 for 2028; budget coffee with council and a special meeting for comments |
| Winkler, MB | Request form by noon the Thursday before; 10 minutes; may be referred to committee or staff | None; monthly “Ask the Mayor” drop-in | Community Impact Grant (typically $500–$8,000); no budget consultation found |
| Portage la Prairie, MB | Online form by the Wednesday before; 5 minutes; asks whether you contacted the department first | None | Community Grant tied to council's strategic initiatives; budget consultation survey (Oct–Nov 2024) |
| Selkirk, MB | Written request to the CAO; materials two business days before; up to 15 minutes | None | No grant program found; CitizenVoice survey panel with published results |
| Lethbridge, AB | A small committee decides which requests reach council; 5 minutes | None | Event grants up to $7,500 and capital grants up to $200,000; budget input at committee; “What We Heard” reports |
| Red Deer, AB | Request six Mondays before, screened for fit with council priorities; 5 minutes; decision usually that night | None | Several small grant streams; Budget 2025 survey and “What We Heard” report |
| Camrose, AB | Request seven days before; about 20 minutes | Public commentary, 5 minutes per speaker, any topic | Grant intakes twice a year; budget open house with a “What We Heard” report |
| Steinbach, MB | Register 120 hours before (recommended); about 10 minutes; no online form found | None in practice | Letters, decided in closed study sessions; financial plan hearing only |
What “doing all it can” would add
- A “Speak to council” page and form with the deadline, time limit, what to send for the agenda package, and the 7:45 p.m. slot, as Brandon, Winkler and Portage have.
- A community grant program with criteria tied to council's priorities, one intake date before the July study session, and a published list of requests and results.
- A public referral log: every item sent to administration, with a due date and the outcome.
- An answer to every delegation: a motion, or a letter within a set time, stating what council decided and why.
- Publish the tests: the traffic warrant guideline, the counts behind each traffic report, and what council looks for in a neighbourhood request.
- Budget input before the budget is built: a short survey or open house in spring, with a “what we heard” summary.
- Report back on every survey the city runs: responses, method and what changed. Invite residents with their own data to share the method with staff.
- Use the openings in By-law 1809: a short public comment period on agenda items, as Brandon allows.
Part 3 · A playbook for advocacy groups
Step by step, from first idea to follow-up
Drawn from what worked in the record above, Steinbach's procedure by-law, and peer practice. Process details can change; confirm deadlines with the City Clerk's office.
1Before you ask
- Find out who decides. Main Street and Highways 12 and 52 are provincial; policing priorities go through the RCMP and council's advisory group; schools are Hanover School Division's; disaster aid is the province's. Council can “add its voice” with a resolution. Ask for one, then follow up with the province yourself, citing it.
- Write the ask in one line, with a cost, who pays, and what your group will contribute. “A letter of support,” “consent to apply for a provincial grant” and “$70,000 toward a $212,000 project we will fund two-thirds of” are asks council can act on; “a partnership” is not.
- Talk to staff first. Ask which department handles it, what standard or warrant applies, and whether counts or reports already exist. Requests designed with staff and the RCMP passed on the night.
- Find a council member who will understand the issue, and ask them to read your material before the meeting. Don't let it be your only route: councillors' motions lost when they ran against a staff report.
- Read council's term priorities and the budget calendar, and say how your request fits.
2Choose the route
| If you want… | Use | Timing |
|---|---|---|
| Money from the city | A booked delegation plus a written request with quotes and a budget | By spring for the July study session, or by early October for November. Funding letters on their own are filed. |
| A letter of support or a council resolution | A short letter or delegation with the exact wording you need and your deadline | Two to four weeks before your deadline; often decided the same night |
| A traffic, parking or drainage change | A letter signed by the affected households, with your own observations | Expect a staff report in 2 to 10 months; ask when it is due |
| To change a planning decision | Written comments and speakers at the public hearing; formal objections where allowed | Mailed notice gives about 10 to 14 days. See Public notice. |
| A city-wide study or policy | Its own delegation, with a scope and cost, not an objection at a site hearing | Before a budget session if it costs money |
| A quick fix (a hedge, a sign, a pothole) | Call or use the city's contact form with the exact address | Any time |
3Presenting
- Book through the City Clerk's office at least 120 hours (five days) ahead, give your topic, and send a written summary for the agenda package. Walk-ins are not heard.
- One spokesperson, about 10 minutes. Bring a one-page handout. Have others attend; a full gallery is noticed, but council has said it wants one voice.
- Open and close with the ask. Council's questions in the record were about cost certainty, who else is paying, peer examples and measurable results; have those answers ready.
- Ask for a decision and a date. If it is referred, ask when the report or budget decision will come back.
- At a public hearing, stay on the application. Other issues are ruled out of order. Petitions are accepted but are not formal objections; a formal objection to a zoning by-law now needs at least 300 eligible people.
4Evidence that counts
- Match the test. If a warrant guideline decides it, bring counts at the times that matter, speed readings or dated photos. If disaster aid turns on insurability, record insurance denials and losses.
- Show who agrees: signatures with addresses from the people affected, not just supporters city-wide. Research on planning meetings finds that speakers are often unrepresentative of their neighbourhoods (Einstein, Palmer & Glick, 2019), and councils know it.
- If you run a survey, follow the checklist in Surveys and publish the method: who ran it, exact questions, which addresses, how many didn't answer, and dates, as the AAPOR disclosure standards require of pollsters. An opt-in or self-selected survey shows that a problem exists, not how common it is.
- Peer examples help. Council asked several groups whether other municipalities were doing the same thing.
5After the meeting
- Track it. Read the minutes and the next agendas. If a promised answer doesn't appear, write to the Clerk and your councillor asking for it to be put on an agenda.
- Check the budget. Grants are adopted in the financial plan each spring after a public hearing, where you can ask whether your request was funded.
- Say thank you, and report back each year. Groups with ongoing funding kept it by returning with local results.
- Talk to the city before the media. Council objected when a request reached the press before the city had heard it; media coverage afterwards was welcomed as adding “profile.”
6Where your hours go furthest
| Worth the time | Usually not |
|---|---|
| One meeting with staff before you ask | A funding letter with no delegation and no follow-up |
| Signatures from the households affected | An online petition from people outside the area |
| A costed, one-line ask with your own contribution | An open-ended request for “partnership” or “support” |
| A booked delegation timed before the July or November study session | Arriving unbooked, or raising a new issue at an unrelated hearing |
| A survey with a stated method, shared with staff | A survey whose method isn't explained |
| Following up on the promised answer | Presenting at an unrecorded session and stopping there |
Every request, 2015–2026
All 164 requests in this report, newest last. Filter by term, year, council member (anyone who raised, moved, seconded, voted on or spoke to the request) or outcome. Residents are identified by initials.
| Year | Request | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Water and ice on Home Street North at Loewen Boulevard | No answer Council reached consensus (no motion) to have administration monitor the spot and report back on options and costs; no report or repair appears in the 2016 transcripts. Home Street residents returned with a petition delegation on 2017-02-07. |
| 2015 | Summer in the City festival grant request | No answer The mayor said the request would be considered in budget discussions; no public decision on the amount was found in the 2016 transcripts. Council set up a city-appointed governing board for the festival in November 2016. |
| 2015–16 | Other grant and advocacy letters filed without action (2016) | No answer Each was taken as information with no action, usually without discussion. |
| 2015–16 | Year-long mobile sign permits | Won Bylaw 2066 extending mobile sign permits to 365 days got first reading on 2015-12-15 (two councillors opposed) and second and third readings on 2016-01-19; no one objected at the public hearing. |
| 2016 | Sidewalk with the Old Tom Road paving | No answer Council agreed (no motion) not to tie a sidewalk to the paving, which staff said could nearly double the $1 million project, and to consider it later in the overall sidewalk plan. The paving tender went ahead in May 2016 without a sidewalk. |
| 2016 | Chamber of Commerce: rewrite the mobile sign bylaw with business | Partly No ad hoc committee was publicly struck; staff drafted amendments using Chamber and business submissions. After the Chamber's public-hearing objection, council cut the setback to 1 foot for all mobile signs (2016-10-18) and passed the amendments on 2016-11-01, crediting the Chamber's input. |
| 2016 | Ask Hanover School Division to freeze school taxes | Won Motion carried; the mayor said he would also follow up in person with the division. At least Councillor Siemens said he would vote against, preferring a meeting before a formal letter. |
| 2016 | Drainage at Loewen Boulevard and Old Tom Road property | No answer No action and no decision: staff said improvements to such drains come only with development and the drain is provincial; the deputy mayor said upstream talks with the conservation district and golf course were at an early stage. |
| 2016 | Canadian Blood Services: council to champion the local clinic | Partly No questions and no resolution; the mayor said the information would be distributed to staff. |
| 2016 | Headway at-risk youth program: city funding | No answer The mayor promised a response citing the city's grant policy; the follow-up funding letter was received as information on 2016-06-07. A further Headway funding letter was again taken as information on 2017-11-21. |
| 2016 | Steinbach North commercial park: swale drainage instead of storm sewer | Won On 2016-04-05 a motion to approve was withdrawn for lack of detail. On 2016-05-03 council approved a one-time exception through a development agreement (gravity sewer, piped water, 32-foot concrete street, swale drainage, no curb and gutter), against the city manager's advice. |
| 2016 | Speeding on Old Tom Road | No answer Staff said a traffic count was being analysed and any recommendations would come to council after paving, in late summer or fall, in a package with other pending traffic-control requests; no such decision was found in the 2016 transcripts. Council asked that the resident be told the process. |
| 2016 | Eastman Tourism: city membership | No answer Council asked two questions and thanked the delegation; no decision on membership appears in the 2016 or 2017 transcripts. |
| 2016 | Fly-In Golf Club: water management, compensation and a yearly grant | No answer The mayor said the requests would go through the budget process ending in November; no public decision appears in 2016. In December 2017 Councillor Zwaagstra said a $500,000 grant request made in a closed meeting about a year earlier had been denied and was replaced by a $500,000 land purchase and lease-back (approved 2017-12-05). |
| 2016 | Dog park | No answer Motion for a staff report carried; no report or dog park appears in the later 2016 or 2017 transcripts. |
| 2016 | Waive a drainage-plan condition on a variance | Lost Council agreed (no motion) that the city's drainage policy stands and asked administration to tell him so. |
| 2016 | Sidewalk on Albert Street | No answer Council voted for a staff report on cost and background for possible 2017 budgeting; no report appears in the transcripts, and in July 2017 the city manager said there were no immediate plans for a sidewalk there. |
| 2016 | Haven Group: development fee rebate for 55+ housing | No answer Council asked administration to send the old program's criteria (supportive or assisted living confirmed by Southern Health) and ask whether the project qualified; no decision on the rebate appears later in 2016. The project's rezoning was approved on 2016-10-18 (a planning matter). |
| 2016 | Name a street after pioneer Cornelius Taves | Partly Because developers choose street names, council agreed administration would forward the request to local developers; no street was named by council. |
| 2016 | Allow digital (illuminated) mobile signs | Lost Council first sent the bylaw back for review of illuminated signs (carried 2016-10-18), but staff advised that adding digital mobile signs would need a new public hearing; council passed the bylaw without them on 2016-11-01 and deferred the idea to a future zoning bylaw review (18 months to 2+ years away). |
| 2016 | Mobile sign on the city right-of-way | Lost Taken as information by consensus; the rule against signs in the right-of-way stands and administration was to tell the owner. |
| 2016 | Chamber of Commerce annual grant (business tax pass-through) | Won Taken as information because the arrangement is ongoing and is approved through the annual financial plan; in March 2017 council was told the city collects the levy and turns it over to the Chamber. |
| 2017 | Grant requests from the city's core organizations | No answer Taken as information and left to the budget ('covered off in our core 4 organizations'; Chamber request 'dealt with in the budget'). No 2017 decision is on record because budgets were set outside the regular meetings. |
| 2017 | Home Street North drainage swale | Lost Council asked administration for options and costs (Feb 7). The Dec 5 report found a piped crossing or bridge would cost about $500,000 plus property purchases (the mayor paraphrased it as over $1 million); only extra monitoring and maintenance continued, no action was taken, and the mayor asked that petitioners be told the cost. |
| 2017 | Open the Aquatic Centre on statutory holidays | Won After a staff report, council voted to open the pool on Louis Riel Day and Victoria Day and close it on Remembrance Day. |
| 2017 | Other funding and support letters received as information | No answer No public decision: all were received as information with little or no discussion, some 'for now'. For the Agape House declaration the mayor only looked for a councillor to attend its Dec 6 event. |
| 2017 | Sidewalk and traffic review on Albert Street | No answer Staff said there were no immediate plans; Councillor Siemens asked that it go to the next study session. No public decision was found in 2017. |
| 2017 | Stop sign at Industrial Road and North Front Drive | Won Approved the night it came to council, on the city manager's recommendation. |
| 2017 | Letter opposing federal small-business tax changes | Won Council resolved to write to the federal government asking it to abandon the changes. On Nov 7 council received a form reply from the Finance Minister and noted the government had since made some changes. |
| 2017 | Longer no-parking zone on Reimer Avenue West | Won Referred to administration by consensus; two weeks later, on the city engineer's review, council extended the no-parking zone to just west of the second leg of Cambridge Way. |
| 2017 | Paving rule for businesses on gravel roads | No answer The mayor had staff flag it for the zoning bylaw review that the annexation was prompting; no bylaw change in 2017. |
| 2017–18 | Hanover School Division: safer crossing at Barkman Avenue and Fourth Street | Partly Administration recommended keeping the two-way stop and the 50 km/h limit (adding only a no-stopping zone); council instead amended the traffic by-law to install a four-way stop, unanimously. The speed zone was not reduced. |
| 2017 | Parking and snow access at a community mailbox | Lost Staff recommended no parking change and pointed to Canada Post's snow-clearing duty; council agreed to reply explaining the Canada Post agreement. |
| 2017 | Hanover School Division: school-area traffic safety | No answer Referred to administration by consensus for a report; no report back was found in 2017. The earlier four-way-stop request had been refused in favour of no-parking/no-stopping changes. |
| 2017 | Paved shoulder on PTH 52 East | No answer Received as information without discussion; no public decision. PTH 52 is a provincial highway and no request to the province was made. |
| 2017 | Steinbach Fly-In Golf Club: $500,000 grant, then land sale | Won The grant was refused in closed session, but council approved buying the 40 acres for $500,000 (paid over 3 years, no appraisal mentioned) and leasing it back to the club for $1 a year until about 2083. The first public discussion was the night of the vote. |
| 2017 | Narrow, treacherous Henry Street near the hospital | No answer Staff said the street is standard width and widening would need costly study; council took the letter as information 'for now', with no public decision. |
| 2017 | Home daycare for 12 children | Lost Council said it could not allow it because 8-12-child daycares are not a permitted use in the RSF zone; members suggested looking at it in the upcoming zoning bylaw review. |
| 2017 | Accessible parking on Main Street | No answer Council voted to have administration examine accessible parking stalls on Main Street; no report back was found in 2017. |
| 2018 | Ten grant/funding letters received as information | No answer Each was 'received as information' with no discussion; under the city's policy grants are settled in budget study sessions. The 2017 grants list (R18-065) shows small grants that year to Youth for Christ, Today House and KidSport ($200-$300) and core grants to the Chamber ($115,296) and Mennonite Heritage Village ($50,000), so some of these likely continued through the budget. |
| 2018 | V.T.: thanks for snow clearing, and an idea for a volunteer park | No answer Received as information; no public decision on the suggestion. |
| 2018 | Pat Porter Active Living Centre: yearly grant in lieu of property taxes | Lost No grant in the 2018 Financial Plan: finance staff said grants were unchanged from 2017 and the mayor said the grants policy had not changed. The mayor promised a policy review and that the centre would be told; no later decision appears in the 2018 minutes. |
| 2018 | STARS air ambulance: an annual municipal pledge | No answer The Ste. Anne letter was received as information; the delegation was thanked. No pledge or grant appears in the 2018 minutes. |
| 2018 | Steinbach Taxi: a city by-law to license vehicles for hire after Bill 30 | No answer The mayor said administration would report back so council 'can choose to take action or not'. No report or vehicle-for-hire by-law appears in the 2018 minutes. |
| 2018 | Letter asking Ottawa to drop the Canada Summer Jobs attestation | Won Passed unanimously the same night; the city manager confirmed the letter was mailed March 20, and a reply from Employment and Social Development Canada was received as information on May 1. |
| 2018 | B.H.: move the new Brighton Lane sidewalk closer to the curb | Lost The city engineer said the design follows the council-approved standard and the contract was already awarded; council took no action, so the sidewalk was built as planned. Staff offered to help move a planter. |
| 2018 | P.F. and M.F. (and neighbours): close the Cottonwood Bend walkway | Partly Staff recommended against removal (storm sewer underneath; path would stay public). By consensus council kept the sidewalk and instead agreed to remind residents to call the RCMP, write to Hanover School Division, and ask Citizens on Patrol to monitor. |
| 2018 | S.D.: sidewalk and walking paths for Clearspring Greens | No answer Referred unanimously to the July 2018 study session; no public decision appears in the 2018 minutes. |
| 2018 | D.B.: allow Sunday shopping, then a plebiscite on it | Lost The plebiscite motion was defeated 2-5; the follow-up petition was received as information because no councillor gave notice to reconsider. |
| 2018 | Steinbach Arts Council: match a $65,000 Co-op grant to fix the city-owned Arts Centre | Won Tabled 4-3 on June 19 for more detail; approved unanimously on Sept 4 after the Arts Council presented its plan. |
| 2018 | Calvary Chapel: shared parking so it can lease 305 Main Street | Won Against the city manager's advice, council unanimously gave up the city's 52 public stalls in the credit-union lot for the church's use (July 3), then approved a variance to 10 on-site stalls (Oct 2) subject to a development agreement that includes an annual parking-maintenance payment of about $5,200; attempts to drop the fee or all conditions failed 3-4. |
| 2018 | A.B.: deal with speeding on First Street | No answer No response or follow-up recorded. |
| 2018 | Steinbach Minor Hockey: keep downtown public parking near the arena | Lost Letter received as information; council had already given the stalls to the church (July 3) and then approved the Calvary Chapel variance (Oct 2), i.e. it acted against the request. |
| 2018 | M.T.: stop signs on Reimer Avenue at Elmdale Street | No answer By consensus, staff were asked for past traffic data to see whether a count study was warranted, with the answer to go in councillors' mail bins; no public decision followed in 2018. |
| 2018 | Residents (through Councillor Zwaagstra): the new left-turn-only lane at McKenzie and Brandt | No answer City manager said the design followed the consultant and the highway access plan and offered to ask engineering staff; no change recorded. |
| 2018 | Agape House: proclaim December 6 (day of action on violence against women) | No answer Received as information with no proclamation recorded; the mayor noted council would be at a meeting with the RM of Hanover that day. |
| 2018 | E.P.: refund of garbage fees in the annexed area before service began | No answer Ruled a separate issue; referred to administration, which was to contact her. No decision recorded in 2018. |
| 2018 | M.G. and A.D.: charge for garbage by volume, not a flat fee | Lost Council gave the flat-fee by-law second reading unanimously the same night ($137 in 2019). |
| 2019 | Other funding letters received as information (2019) | No answer All received as information without discussion (Katie Cares Feb 5; Flippers Mar 5 and Dec 3; JA Manitoba May 21; LGD of Pinawa Jun 18; Crime Stoppers Nov 19); no public decision. None of these groups appears in the city's 2019 or 2020 grant summaries (R20-064, R22-066). |
| 2019 | Pool lift access for the outdoor pool and hot tub | No answer By consensus council asked administration for a report with options; no report back appears in the 2019 minutes or transcripts. The city did apply for grants for an Aquatic Centre engineering study (R19-123, May 21) and a $2.735M renovation (R19-197, Oct 1), but neither resolution mentions lifts or accessibility. |
| 2019 | Developer's $10,000-per-lot demolition grant | Lost Denied unanimously the same night: council cited its developer-pay policy, precedent, and that city grant by-laws only allow grants to non-profits. |
| 2019 | Jake Epp Library one-time technology grant | Won Approved unanimously the same night as a one-time technology grant. |
| 2019 | Resident's proposal for a new city flag | No answer Received as information without discussion; no public decision and no flag adopted in 2019. |
| 2019 | Close the McKenzie-Cottonwood walkway | Lost Council referred it to administration (consensus, April 16), also asking staff to look at restricted parking. On Sept 3 administration recommended the walkway stay open (storm sewer under a public reserve; closing would be costly and could make the spot more secluded); council received the report as information and made no change. No parking change was adopted in 2019. |
| 2019 | Canadian Blood Services: blood donor week proclamation and staff donations | No answer Council asked questions (clinic hours) and thanked the delegate; no proclamation or other action is recorded in the 2019 minutes. |
| 2019 | Citizens on Patrol: help recruiting volunteers | Partly Verbal support only: the mayor thanked the group, encouraged council to attend the barbecue and wished them success recruiting; no formal action was needed or taken. Existing city support (fuel reimbursement) was acknowledged, not newly requested. |
| 2019–20 | KidSport South Region funding request | Partly Minutes record 'received as information', but on the video council left the decision to the mayor's discretion; the 2019 grants summary (R20-064) lists $300 to KidSport Canada. Whether $300 matched the request is unverified. |
| 2019–21 | Clearspring Greens pathway along Old Tom Road | Partly No decision in 2019: the mayor said council was working on it privately and might bring something after the November study session. The pathway was later approved as a local improvement: a Jan 2020 plan charging residents (R20-005, 5-2) was cancelled in Jan 2021 after 78 objections (R21-011); a new plan splitting costs 50/50 with residents to a maximum $1,610 per lot (R21-012) got third reading and was tendered in April 2021 (R21-076, R21-077). Residents got the pathway about 21 months later, but paid part of it. |
| 2019 | Southeast Event Centre: city partnership for a downtown events centre | Won Council approved the MOU unanimously the same night (R19-193) and, later in the meeting, a unanimous resolution to submit the project for ICIP funding committing the city's $10M share (R19-198). The project remained conditional on $17.5M in federal/provincial grants and the $15M private pledge. |
| 2019 | Steinbach Chamber of Commerce grant request | No answer Received as information on Nov 5. The Chamber continued to receive its regular annual city grant ($129,869.80 for 2019; $130,705.54 for 2020 per R20-064 and R22-066), but no decision on this specific letter is recorded. |
| 2019 | Agape House: support for a proclamation | No answer Received as information; no public decision and no proclamation recorded. |
| 2020 | Clearspring Greens pathway: lower the residents' levy | Partly On Jan 7 council gave the levy by-law first and second reading 5-2 after defeating a Siemens/J. Hiebert amendment to cut the scope (limestone, no lighting). On Jan 21 council moved the $208,000 lighting cost to the city reserve (6-1), cutting the estimate to about $2,800 per lot. Objections went to the Municipal Board; on 2021-01-05 council cancelled the 2020 plan (78 objections) and adopted a 50/50 split capped at $1,610 per parcel; the pathway was tendered in April 2021 (R21-011, R21-012, R21-077). |
| 2020 | Funding and sponsorship letters received as information | No answer All received as information (no public decision) with no discussion at the meeting (Feb 4, Feb 18, Mar 17, Jun 16, Jul 21, Nov 3, Dec 15). The Chamber and Mennonite Heritage Village already receive annual city grants (2019: $129,869.80 and $53,200, R20-064), so their letters were part of a continuing funding relationship; on Nov 3 a councillor noted Safe Families had obtained its full funding elsewhere. |
| 2020 | Letters of support not acted on (March of Dimes; Barrier-Free Manitoba) | No answer Both received as information; no letter was approved at the meeting and no explicit refusal was recorded. On Feb 4 a councillor said council did not have enough information. |
| 2020 | East Region Water Co-op exploration | No answer Council asked questions (why Steinbach would need it given its new water treatment plant; who controls the water; who pays) and the mayor thanked the delegation; no motion. The group returned in 2022 (see published report). |
| 2020 | Ronald McDonald House capital campaign | No answer No questions from council; the mayor said council would take the presentation as information. No public decision on a contribution. |
| 2020 | Reopen the Jake Epp Library during COVID | No answer The library board (not council) controls reopening; on May 19 only pre-ordered pickup was offered and the next phase had no date. No council decision; in November the library was offering curbside pickup under provincial restrictions. |
| 2020 | Four-way stop at McKenzie Avenue and Giesbrecht Street | Partly Council asked staff for traffic counts (July 21, consensus). Staff found a four-way stop was not warranted but recommended a push-button flashing pedestrian crossing; council approved that recommendation on Nov 17 (four months). |
| 2020 | Basketball court pad for a donated hoop | No answer Council agreed by consensus to send it to the Parks and Recreation department for the annual parks budget review; no public decision found in 2020. |
| 2020 | STARS air ambulance: annual city contribution | Won On Sept 15 the mayor said council would take the request under consideration and, at Councillor Siemens' request, council agreed by consensus to put it on the fall study session agenda. No public 2020 decision; in 2021 STARS asked for $1 per capita and the grant was paid ($15,829 in the city's 2021 grant summary). |
| 2020 | Letter of support for seniors' centre funding application | Won Councillor Zwaagstra suggested the mayor send the letter; the mayor agreed the same night (consensus, no motion). |
| 2020 | enVision: exempt a charity from the Acres Drive levy | Lost Council gave By-law 2161 first reading 5-1 the same night; the majority cited a 2007 development agreement in which the organization agreed to pay frontage levies (at 50% for a corner lot), about $102,876 over 5 years. An objection later went to the Municipal Board, which in 2021 approved the by-law 'subject to an amendment'; council gave third reading as amended on 2022-02-15 (R22-044). |
| 2021 | Clearspring Greens pathway: lower the residents' local-improvement levy | Partly Council cancelled the 2020 plan and replaced it with one that dropped the lighting, split asphalt costs 50/50 and capped each parcel at $1,610 (down from about $2,850). Objections fell from 78 to 7 (one withdrawn at the hearing); the by-law got third reading and the tender was awarded on April 20, 2021. |
| 2021 | Other funding letters received as information (2021) | No answer Each was received as information, usually in a few seconds. None appears on the city's 2021 grant summary (R22-066) except Steinbach Alternative Justice, which received $200 in both 2020 and 2021; its December letter was probably for 2022. Any other funding would have been settled at budget sessions. |
| 2021 | Pat Porter Active Living Centre: fundraising contribution and heating/cooling grant | No answer The January letter was received as information. The October request was sent to the fall study session; no public decision was found. The 2021 grant summary (R22-066) shows $500 to Serving Seniors, which may or may not relate. |
| 2021 | Steinbach Chamber of Commerce: city matching grant for an economic development office | Won Council adopted terms of reference matching private-sector funding up to $65,000 a year for five years (2021-2025), with reports to council twice a year and a renewal deadline of June 30, 2025. The city's 2021 grant summary shows $192,669.87 to the Chamber (all programs). |
| 2021 | Steinbach & Area Animal Rescue: $20,000 toward a new shelter | No answer The mayor sent it to the July budget study session because the 2021 budget was set. No public decision followed; a second funding letter on December 7 was received as information, and the group is not on the city's 2021 grant summary (R22-066). |
| 2021 | G.G.: high water bill at a condominium | Lost Received as information without discussion. |
| 2021 | Chicken Chef: temporary sidewalk patio on Main Street | Won Approved the same night as a temporary permit, renewable yearly, with pedestrian access kept and the city able to end it at any time. |
| 2021 | STARS air ambulance: per-capita grant | Won The mayor called the August 17 letter a thank-you 'for the grant that we approved'. The 2021 grant summary (R22-066) shows $15,829 to STARS, about $0.89 per resident at the 2021 census count of 17,806 (no STARS grant is listed for 2020). |
| 2021 | C.B.: construction traffic on Home Street North | Lost Received as information after the City Manager said trucks may use residential streets for permitted construction projects for the length of the project. |
| 2021 | Residents: stop street racing and noise on Main Street | Won The same night council asked the province for one more RCMP officer from January 1, 2022, dedicated to traffic enforcement (about $200,000 a year), and for authority to install red-light cameras on Main Street. A councillor said on 2022-05-17 that the new traffic officer was on Main Street; no record was found that the province allowed red-light cameras. |
| 2021 | R.L. and J.L.: reopen a blocked public lane behind Willow Crescent | Won Before the meeting, staff had the neighbouring owners clear bushes so there is a straight path through, and city parks staff were to plant grass in the fall. Council then received the letter as information. |
| 2021 | Steinbach Community Outreach: city recommendation for provincial affordable-housing money (24 units) | Won Council recommended only this proposal, so it would get essentially the whole grant. Council approved grant funding to Steinbach Community Outreach, subject to an agreement, on 2022-07-05 (R22-161). |
| 2021 | Habitat for Humanity (Southeast Chapter): city recommendation for affordable-housing money (duplex) | Lost Administration recommended both the Habitat and Community Outreach proposals; council recommended only Community Outreach, saying the $1.337 million grant could not fully fund both. |
| 2021 | Vogt Building: city recommendation for affordable-housing money (18 units) | Lost Neither administration nor council recommended it; council chose Steinbach Community Outreach alone. |
| 2021 | K.P. (for a family-owned commercial property): turn lanes and a median opening at Loewen Blvd / PTH 12 | No answer The mayor ruled that the hearing was about the borrowing, not the design, and said the comments were noted. Council gave the borrowing by-law first and second readings; no public decision on the design requests was found in 2021. |
| 2022 | Funding letters received as information (2022) | No answer All 'received as information'; any funding was settled in budget sessions. |
| 2022 | Annual grant at $1.50 per resident | Partly Funded every year, but at about $1 per resident. |
| 2022 | Join an East Region Water Co-op | No answer Sent to staff for a report; never returned. |
| 2022 | Legion memorial wall and office in the new Event Centre | No answer Council did not decide the request itself: by consensus it forwarded the letter to the Southeast Event Centre group (which will manage the building) with its endorsement, asking that the request be accommodated if possible. No later public decision on the memorial wall or office was found in 2022-2026 minutes or transcripts. |
| 2022 | Fly the Ukrainian flag at City Hall | Lost Received as information. (Council separately passed a resolution supporting the people of Ukraine, R22-058, Mar 1, 2022.) |
| 2022 | Tax receipts for donations to an irrigation project | Won Approved unanimously three weeks after the delegation (R22-079). |
| 2022 | Temporary sidewalk patio on Main Street | Won Approved unanimously the night it reached council, with conditions (keep the entrance and sidewalk clear, stay within the building frontage, city can end the permit, annual reapplication) (R22-093). |
| 2022 | Weekday no-parking near a school crosswalk | Won Unanimous, against administration's recommendation, about three months after the first letter (R22-182). |
| 2022 | Rules on cannabis grown in homes | No answer Referred by consensus to administration for a report and recommendation on possible restrictions, and to the RCMP advisory group. No report or by-law change on home cannabis growing was found in later minutes or transcripts (2022-2026). |
| 2022 | A school RCMP officer, cost-shared with the city | Partly Approved only if the division pays 100% (R22-170). |
| 2022 | Engine-brake signs on provincial highways | Won Resolution sent the same night (R22-177). |
| 2022–23 | Three-way stop near a school | Partly Stop refused after 10 months of counts; 'No Stopping' zone instead, 6-1 (R23-125). |
| 2022 | Letter about the new Cottonwood parking ban | No answer Received as information without discussion; the restriction (R22-182, Aug 2, 2022) stayed. |
| 2022 | Consent to apply for provincial pool-equipment grants | Won Unanimous both times, same night (R22-232; R23-087, May 2, 2023). |
| 2022 | Council resolution backing a provincial building grant | Won Supporting resolution passed unanimously the same night (R22-243). No city money was involved. |
| 2022–23 | Host the RCMP Musical Ride | Lost On Dec 6, 2022 council asked staff to look into costs and space. Four months later staff estimated $15,000-$20,000 plus volunteers, found no local group willing to organize it, and noted the arena would be under construction; council voted unanimously not to host (R23-066). |
| 2023 | Fix traffic-light timing on PTH 12 North | Won Council agreed by consensus the same night (minutes item 20). On May 2 the City Manager reported the province had found and corrected signals 'locked into certain cycles'; older camera equipment needs replacing, with no timeline. The night-time flashing idea was not taken up. |
| 2023 | Letter of support for a Recreation Manitoba grant application | No answer Received as information without discussion; no letter of support was recorded. |
| 2023 | Congratulatory ad for a Baseball Hall of Fame induction | Won Council consensus to place an advertisement/congratulatory message in the banquet program (minutes item 11). |
| 2023 | Support for a provincial grant to the Steinbach Curling Club | Won Supported the same night (R23-088, unanimous). |
| 2023 | Donate old arena glass to the RM of La Broquerie | Won Unanimous (R23-089). |
| 2023 | Two-hour parking near the hospital | Partly Approved on Henry Street, not on Ash Avenue (R23-196). |
| 2023 | Steinbach Chamber of Commerce business-tax grant | No answer No motion was made; members said grants are decided in the budget/grants discussion. The Chamber received $208,542 for 2022 (R23-039 grant summary); no 2023 figure was found in the minutes searched. |
| 2023 | Other funding and sponsorship letters, 2023 | No answer All four were received as information without discussion; any funding would have been settled in budget sessions. |
| 2023 | City role in physician-recruitment events | Partly Council joined one of the three events, the Family Medicine Resident Retreat in Steinbach (Sept 22-24, 2023), with up to $10,000 from the 2023 surplus (R23-153, unanimous). |
| 2023 | No parking on Chapel Drive | Won Unanimous, same night (R23-204). |
| 2023 | Grant request | No answer Referred to the November study session. |
| 2023–24 | Three-way stop at Loewen and Hespeler | Lost Defeated 3-4 on a recorded vote. |
| 2024 | On-demand transit plan and $6,000 seed money | No answer Verbal support only; see the Transit report. |
| 2024 | Five other funding and sponsorship letters | No answer Each was 'received as information' with no discussion and no public decision to fund. The Rady request matched council's 2024 doctor-recruitment priority but was still only filed. |
| 2024 | Flashing crosswalk lights on Main Street and Brandt Street | Partly Council letter to the province sent unanimously; no lights installed through 2026 (R24-040). |
| 2024 | Support for a bid to host the Manitoba 55+ Games | Won Unanimous resolution; Steinbach hosted in 2025 (R24-039). |
| 2024 | Standing water on Chrysler Gate and Harmony Lane | Lost Staff report: built to the approved plans; no city fix. |
| 2024 | Hedges overgrowing sidewalks | Partly No new action was decided. City Manager Troy Warkentin explained that the city trims plants on city land when told, that owners must trim plants on private land, and that if residents report locations the city will follow up with the owners. |
| 2024 | $40,000 start-up grant | No answer The mayor promised an answer on an agenda; none appears through 2026. |
| 2024 | Letter backing an objection to a telecom tower | Won Unanimous letter of support (R24-186). |
| 2024 | Options for dealing with homeless encampments | Partly By consensus (no resolution), council asked administration to look at how other municipalities handle homelessness and encampments and report back; Mayor Funk said he wanted a written policy. No report back or policy on encampments was found in the 2024–2026 minutes checked. In December 2024 the draft zoning by-law added definitions for emergency residential shelters and supervised consumption sites, but that is not the requested report. |
| 2024 | Mobile outreach unit through the federal Emergency Treatment Fund | Lost Council resolved to 'take no action' on the proposal (R24-215, unanimous). City Manager Troy Warkentin's memo had offered three options (no action; no action but keep the request open for a future intake; or apply subject to an agreement with SCO) and warned that health and social programming is generally outside the City's legislated obligations. Council chose the first option and did not keep the request open. |
| 2024 | $10,000 toward 55+ Games facility rentals | Lost Received as information after council heard it had no precedent. |
| 2024–25 | Stop sign on Harmony Lane | Partly Stop refused on the engineer's report; RCMP patrols instead. |
| 2025–26 | 'Children playing' signs on First Street | Lost Received as information; referred to RCMP enforcement. |
| 2025 | Other sponsorship and funding letters, 2025 | No answer All 'received as information' without discussion (Mar 4, Mar 18, Apr 1, Apr 15, May 6, Jul 15, Oct 21, Nov 4, Dec 16); any funding was left to budget sessions. |
| 2025 | Farmers' market at the Southeast Event Centre | Won Approved the same night, unanimously, as requested (R25-053). |
| 2025 | School-zone safety improvements | Won A reduced-speed school zone, more than staff recommended (R25-154). |
| 2025 | Resident letter on the Jake Epp Library | No answer Received as information with no discussion. |
| 2025 | More traffic enforcement for street racing on Main Street | Won Council consensus the same night to collaborate with the Town of Ste. Anne on extra MPI-funded enforcement, as proposed by the Steinbach RCMP (minutes items 28-29). In June council also approved a private overnight security pilot (R25-118), citing the same RCMP shortfall. |
| 2025 | About $70,000 toward field lighting | No answer Referred to the July budget session; no public decision. |
| 2025 | Renew the city's economic development matching grant | Lost Not renewed, unanimously, for lack of results. |
| 2025 | Cannabis retail plebiscite at the 2026 election | Lost Council resolved 6-1 not to initiate a plebiscite on cannabis sales (R25-167); Councillor Siemens voted against the refusal. |
| 2025–26 | Sewer backups in Georgetown and Golfview | Partly Sewer reroute, lift station upgrade and two resolutions to the province on disaster aid (R26-020, R26-129); no compensation and no independent study. |
| 2025 | Clear and fix the creek beside the animal rescue | Partly No council resolution. Staff cleaned out the Keating Drain from PTH 52 West to Park Road West (about $30,000), completed by November 2025, as the city manager reported on March 17, 2026; no engineering reassessment or maintenance schedule for this creek was found. |
| 2025 | Ribbons of Hope at City Hall | Won By consensus council received the letter and agreed to let Agape House have its ribbons at City Hall; the minutes record only 'received as information'. |
| 2025 | Two more years and $15,000 for the Sports Heritage Committee | Won Term extended to December 31, 2027 and a $15,000 grant approved, unanimously (R25-236), subject to the 2026 budget. |
| 2026 | Other 2026 funding and sponsorship letters | No answer Recovery of Hope and the Community Foundation letters were 'received as information'; the SEG letter was put to the summer study session and taken as information. No public funding decision found for any of them. |
| 2026 | An independent study of the sewer system | Lost Ruled off-topic at the hearing; no study ordered. |
| 2026 | Security upgrades at the Jake Epp Library | No answer The library was left off administration's July 21 list for the security grant ($65,000 CSO truck + $135,000 cameras at other city sites). After objections from Siemens, S. Penner and Zwaagstra the decision was deferred to a special meeting on Aug 11, 2026; no public decision on the library was found. |
| 2026 | Traffic safety measures near Parkhill School | No answer By consensus the letter was referred to administration for a report 'at a later date' (the mayor guessed around summer). No report or decision appears in the minutes or transcripts to Nov 3, 2026. |
| 2026 | Endorse 'The Bridge on Third' supportive housing | Won Council passed a resolution formally endorsing the project; the mayor said a letter would go out for use with every grant application. |
| 2026 | $400,000 operating loan for the event centre | Won Lending By-Law 2272 passed first reading June 2 and second and third readings June 16, approving the loan and the related loan and security agreements. |
| 2026 | Concerns about a shelter and pathway near Oak Crescent | No answer The city manager reported that community safety officers had already checked the sites, spoken with the people there and found the areas clean; council received the letter as information with no further action. |
| 2026 | Tax receipts for donations to replace bridges | Won Unanimous, same night (R26-144). |
| 2026 | A 'partnership' with the city | No answer Asked to put it in a letter. |
| 2026 | Accessible exit ramp on city right-of-way | Won Approved, subject to an annual review and permit (modelled on the Main Street patio permits). |
| 2026 | Keep aging seniors in Steinbach while awaiting care-home beds | Partly Council created the Mayor's Task Force on Keeping Aging Seniors in Steinbach, approved its terms of reference and ratified four citizen members; it is to recommend options (e.g. transitional care beds) to take to the province. No beds or services yet. |
| 2026 | Grant to offset property taxes on an outreach office | No answer Referred by consensus to the budget study session, with the mayor promising an answer afterwards; no decision by Nov 3, 2026. |
| 2026 | Standards along the La Broquerie boundary and Hirschfeld Road | No answer Received as information with thanks; council had already objected to La Broquerie's by-laws on Sept. 15 (R26-192), but no action on the Hirschfeld Road or forest suggestions. |
| 2026 | Grand Slam of Curling host fee, 2027-2030 | No answer Referred by consensus to the budget study session; no public decision by Nov 3, 2026. |
Download the data (CSV, opens in Excel or Google Sheets): requests.csv (one row per request: dates, term, requester, route, topics, outcome and the reasons, resolution, mover, seconder, vote, campaign) · involvement.csv (one row per council member per request: what they did) · moments.csv (one row per quote: date, timestamp, video link, speaker, confidence, text).
About this page
- Transcripts. Meeting quotes come from automatic transcripts of the official videos and are left as transcribed, including repeated words and false starts. The one exception is the city's name, which the transcription often misspells and which quotes show correctly as Steinbach. Ellipses mark trimmed text; no sentence breaks were added. Each quote links to its moment in the video; check there before quoting elsewhere.
- Speakers and names. Speakers were matched to names by hand from how they are addressed in each meeting, and every quote here is from a speaker identified with high confidence. Council members, the mayor and city staff are named in full. Residents, delegations and other members of the public, including people presenting for organizations, are identified only by initials. Organizations and businesses are named.
- Coverage. Every regular council meeting from December 15, 2015 to November 3, 2026 with a recording or minutes was searched: transcripts of 243 meeting videos and minutes from January 2018 on (the city's older minutes are not online). Not covered: the first four 2015 videos (September to December 1, 2015, not yet transcribed); four videos that failed to download (April 4 and October 17, 2017; September 15, 2020; July 6, 2021), where the minutes were used if they exist; and three meetings with no minutes online (July 17, 2018; May 19 and November 17, 2020), where the video was used. Committee and study sessions are closed and unrecorded, so funding outcomes decided there are mostly unknown; where we could not find an outcome, the tables say “No answer.” Classifying a result as won, partly, no answer or lost is our judgment, and the reasons are recorded for each request in the data.
- What counts as a request. 164 requests from residents, community groups, businesses and institutions such as the school division, including those a council member raised for residents. Not counted: council's own initiatives, requests from other governments and municipal associations, routine agency reports, and public-hearing objections to planning applications (see Public notice). Several routine funding letters from the same year are grouped into one row, so counts are of requests, not letters. Funding letters that were only “received as information” count as “No answer”; other letters filed without action count as “Lost” only where council clearly declined.
- Speakers before 2022. Meetings from January 2022 have speaker maps checked by hand. For earlier meetings, speakers were identified from how they were addressed and from the minutes; only speakers identified with high confidence are quoted by name. In 2015–2017 the two Councillors Penner often could not be told apart, and their remarks are not attributed unless certain.
- Data. The data downloads list every request, every council member's part in it, and every quote with its timestamp and link. Quotes in the downloads come only from council members and staff identified with high confidence, and leave out any that name a member of the public. Every quote was checked word for word against its transcript.
- Not confirmed. Whether the Eastman Raiders, Steinbach Minor Hockey or Southeast Cancer Support Services were funded in a budget; whether the Southwood school-zone by-law amendment has been passed; and which neighbourhood the mayor meant by the delegation that “asked for a path.” The safety survey count (827 adults and 33 youth) is from the published plan; at the March 3, 2026 meeting the mayor recalled it as 872. For 2015–2017, where there are no minutes, decisions come from the recordings and most were made by consensus without a counted vote; the December 5, 2017 golf-club vote is inferred from members' stated positions. Later results not traced: whether the 2021 request for red-light camera authority was granted, and whether the Legion got space in the event centre.
- Peers and law. Peer practices come from each city's own website and by-laws, checked November 6, 2026. Morden's website blocks automated reading, and some Winkler details (its procedure by-law and petition rules) could not be found online. The 300-person objection threshold is from S.M. 2025, c. 3.
- Council change. The council elected in October 2026 held its inaugural meeting on November 3, 2026. Quotes are from members serving at the time, some of whom are no longer on council. Council membership by term is from the minutes' attendance lists and the inaugural minutes of 2018 and the 2026 oaths of office; the 2026 election results are from SteinbachOnline (unofficial counts). Process rules may change with a new procedure by-law.
Sources
Council meetings (official YouTube recordings): Jan 4, 2022 · Mar 15, 2022 · Jul 5, 2022 · Aug 2, 2022 · Oct 4, 2022 · Nov 15, 2022 · May 2, 2023 · May 16, 2023 · Jun 20, 2023 · Oct 3, 2023 · Feb 20, 2024 · Apr 16, 2024 · Jun 18, 2024 · Jul 16, 2024 · Sept 3, 2024 · Oct 15, 2024 · Nov 19, 2024 · Feb 18, 2025 · Apr 15, 2025 · May 6, 2025 · Aug 5, 2025 · Sept 16, 2025 · Oct 21, 2025 · Jan 20, 2026 · Mar 3, 2026 · Mar 17, 2026 · Apr 21, 2026 · Jul 7, 2026 · Jul 21, 2026 · Aug 4, 2026
Earlier and other meetings quoted (by term, story and member sections): Dec 15, 2015 · Nov 21, 2017 · Dec 5, 2017 · Mar 20, 2018 (financial plan hearing) · Jul 17, 2018 · Aug 7, 2018 · Mar 19, 2019 · Oct 1, 2019 · Jan 7, 2020 · Jan 21, 2020 · Jan 5, 2021 · Feb 16, 2021 · Sept 7, 2021 · May 21, 2024 · Oct 6, 2026. Every other meeting cited in the request list is linked, with its timestamp, in moments.csv.
- Council minutes and recorded votes, Jan 2018 – Oct 2026, and council packages (City of Steinbach; minutes before August 2025 from the city's former website via the Internet Archive).
- Elections: SteinbachOnline, 2026 municipal election results (unofficial); council membership by term from the minutes.
- Steinbach: Procedure By-law 1809; Mayor's Open Door Day; contact form; Community Safety and Well-Being Plan (2026)
- Manitoba: The Municipal Act (ss. 149, 152, 153–159, 160, 162); S.M. 2025, c. 3 (300-objection threshold)
- Research and guidance: Einstein, Palmer & Glick, “Who Participates in Local Government?” (2019); AAPOR disclosure standards; Pew Research Center, writing survey questions; Strong Towns, “Walk Into City Hall” (2023)
- Related reports: Public notice; Behind closed doors; Taxes and spending; Sewer backups; Transit; Business growth