Winnipeg councillor remains mum on court ruling he directed city planners to stymie development

Winnipeg city Coun. John Orlikow is remaining silent about a Manitoba judge's conclusion the municipal politician directed two city planners to place obstacles in the way of a residential development in Fort Garry.

In a decision issued Thursday, Manitoba King's Bench Justice Shauna McCarthy ruled the City of Winnipeg must pay developer Andrew Marquess $5 million because former chief planner Braden Smith and city planner Michael Robinson engaged in misfeasance when they stymied the development of Fulton Grove, a Marquess development slated for the Parker lands.

While Orlikow was not a defendant in the case, McCarthy concluded Smith and Robinson acted at the River Heights-Fort Garry councillor's behest.

"The impetus and motivation for this deliberate interference with the plaintiffs' applications were primarily the wishes and demands of the area councillor, and the desire of some public servants to accommodate those wishes," the decision reads.

Orlikow said Tuesday he is still reviewing the decision. He declined an interview request.

Winnipeg Mayor Scott Gillingham said he read the decision and found it concerning because he campaigned on a promise to reduce the obstacles in the way of development in the Manitoba capital.

"I did read the entire judgment. All 92 pages of it. What I read was concerning," Gillingham said Tuesday at city hall.

The mayor did not fault Orlikow, who sits alongside Gilligham as a member of city council's executive policy committee.

"Coun. Orlikow was not a defendant in the case. He was not called as a witness so he did not have his opportunity to speak to the case either," Gillingham said. 

Marquess, who acquired the Parker lands in 2009 and began trying to develop them in 2013, said  he was not aware of the role Orlikow played in the progress of his development applications with the city.

"I never knew until all the productions [legal proceedings] came out that Coun. Orlikow wanted to slow down as much as he wanted to. I was always told there was a justifiable reason we were continually asked to jump through hoops," Marquess said in an interview on Friday.

Paul Thomas, professor emeritus of political studies at the University of Manitoba, said it appears Orlikow crossed a line.

"Deciding whether a particular development is in the public interest should not come down to the opinions and political calculations of a single councillor," Thomas said in a statement.

Thomas also noted judges and courts usually don't go out of their way to comment on the outcomes of the political process, based on the principle of keeping legislative and judicial functions in society separate.

"Therefore, the comment by the judge on Orlikow's behaviour must reflect the conclusion that the councillor seriously violated the legal principles of the development process," Thomas said.

"I find such a trespass on the norms of procedural fairness surprising given that Orlikow is an experienced councillor."

Orlikow was first elected to city council in a byelection in 2009.

Meanwhile, Transcona Coun. Russ Wyatt raised the question of what action the city will take regarding Michael Robinson, who still works for the city.

Winnipeg chief administrative officer Michael Jack said last week it would be premature to comment on any human resources issues stemming from the judge's findings.

The city also has yet to decide whether it plans to appeal the Marquess decision.