Coun. Browaty? Meet Joe Downtown; he rides a bike, doesn’t like coffee and — surprise! — he’s a Winnipegger, too

https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/2023/05/01/coun-browaty-meet-joe-downtown-he-rides-a-bike-doesnt-like-coffee-and-surprise-hes-a-winnipegger-too

WINNIPEG, we have a Jeff Browaty problem. In this city’s ongoing efforts to build a better, more progressive and more sustainable city — for those of us here now and future generations — the veteran North Kildonan councillor has emerged as a major impediment.

Now, let me say that I respect the fact that Browaty puts his name on a ballot every four years and — if election results are any indication — has done an excellent job of representing his ward. His current position as chair of the finance committee of council proves he has the respect of at least some of his fellow councillors.

However, I cannot be alone in squirming any time Browaty ventures out of his suburban enclave to engage on citywide issues.

That was certainly my reaction when he almost single-handedly triggered the 2018 plebiscite on reopening Portage and Main. Browaty weighed into an issue that didn’t really affect his constituents, screwed over the people who live and own businesses downtown and then scurried back to the ’burbs.

If that were his only crime against progress, it would be tolerable. But he’s at it again, this time at the April 26 meeting of the East Kildonan-Transcona community committee.

One of the delegates at that meeting was Marianne Cerilli, founder of the Transportation and Land Use Coalition, an advocacy group that supports progressive and sustainable urban planning. The TLUC is well-informed, well-supported and regularly makes a valuable contribution to discussions on the future of the city.

Cerilli told the committee the city’s plan to spend $1 billion widening Kenaston Boulevard and extending Chief Peguis Trail — projects that Browaty passionately supports — are inconsistent with the principles expressed in the city’s proposed strategic priorities action plan.

Cerilli is hardly the first person to make this observation, and she is not wrong in her assessment. At a time when the city is struggling to maintain existing infrastructure, and the world is trying to slow climate change, spending a billion dollars on bigger, longer roads is harmful.

Perhaps it was because Cerilli is a former NDP MLA, and Browaty is a true-blue Tory. Perhaps it’s Cerilli’s contempt for suburban sprawl, for which Browaty is Winnipeg’s self-proclaimed poster boy. Whatever the reason, Browaty launched into a rant about how advocates such as Cerilli “do not represent most Winnipeggers.”

Who, you may ask, are “most Winnipeggers?”

They are, according to the councillor, the people who “want their street lights timed well so they can get to work as fast as possible. They want to drive their SUVs through the Tim Hortons drive-thru to get their coffee on the way to hockey practice.”

Browaty then proclaimed that delegations at committee are “not relevant” and “not representative of Joe Lunchbox Winnipeg who work all day long, who pay taxes, to provide for their families and make a life for themselves.”

Browaty is hardly the first politician to play the Joe Lunchbox card or to disparage lobby groups. Former NDP premier Gary Doer regularly referenced the perspective he gained at his daughter’s soccer games, and called lobby groups “one-trick ponies.” But there’s no evidence he ever insulted any of them face to face.

There’s a ton of offensive stuff to unpack here.

First and foremost, it’s not Browaty’s job to disparage the people who go before committee or council to express their concerns. Or to label them as representative or unrepresentative. He is an elected official and part of the job is listening to citizens, particularly those of the informed variety, such as Cerilli.

More important, however, it is very hard not to gag over Browaty’s absurd description of a typical Winnipegger.

No doubt some people living in his ward fit the image of a Tim Hortons- clutching, SUV-driving hockey mom or dad complaining about the timing of traffic lights. But surely Browaty has travelled outside his ward enough to realize the city is so much more than that.

Let’s remember that Browaty represents about 45,000 people out a community of more than 750,000 people that has become infinitely

more diverse and multicultural in the last 20 years. Even in his own ward, you can bet more people do not own a car or truck, or drive smaller vehicles, than those who pilot SUVs.

And perhaps most important, there are a lot of people in this city who “work all day long, who pay taxes to provide for their families and make a life for themselves” who also want to see the city take a more progressive approach to urban planning. Some of them might even agree that extending Chief Peguis Trail is not warranted.

Perhaps Browaty has been stuck in his SUV in the drive-thru too long to notice how much the city has evolved. Or, he simply hasn’t learned how to make friends outside his peer group in North Kildonan.

Either way, it’s time for Browaty to start showing some respect to the people who take the time to engage with him and broaden his understanding of what it really means to be a Winnipegger. Or, alternatively, find another line of work.

Heck, maybe he could ask Joe Lunchbox where he works and try to get a job there.

dan.lett@winnipegfreepress.com