The City of Winnipeg was incorporated in 1873 by a charter granted by the legislature of Manitoba. At incorporation, the City established a committee system of government – while Council was the governing body for the City, it was in committee that civic policies were formed and executed. The initial task for the first and all subsequent Councils was to strike standing committees for the Council year. In addition to standing committees, Council established special committees to investigate and manage various projects, issues and questions placed before the City. Special committees were typically struck by a Council motion that outlined committee composition and responsibilities. From about 1924 onward, special committees and their associated files were assigned an alpha-numeric code beginning with the letter “A”.

The Special Committee to Enquire into the Employment of Married Women was appointed by Council on July 14, 1924 to determine how many married women were employed by the City. The Committee was also required to gather information regarding residency for all City employees. Based on a detailed survey of City departments, the Special Committee recommended to Council and Council adopted a policy of not engaging married women if they were not dependent on their work to manage their affairs and of not engaging any help resident outside the City. The Special Committee was composed of four aldermen. No file code was assigned to this special committee.

The City of Winnipeg was incorporated in 1873 by a charter granted by the legislature of Manitoba. At incorporation, the City established a committee system of government – while Council was the governing body for the City, it was in committee that civic policies were formed and executed. The initial task for the first and all subsequent Councils was to strike standing committees for the Council year. In addition to standing committees, Council established special committees to investigate and manage various projects, issues and questions placed before the City. Special committees were typically struck by a Council motion that outlined committee composition and responsibilities. From about 1924 onward, special committees and their associated files were assigned an alpha-numeric code beginning with the letter “A”.

The Special Committee on Investigation of the Fire Department was appointed by Council on May 13, 1919. It was composed of three aldermen, a representative of the Western Canada Fire Underwriters’ Association, one citizen member and one member of the Firemen’s Union. The Special Committee was instructed to review departmental operations with a view to recommending changes that would improve efficiency. The final report of the Special Committee was submitted to Council on May 25, 1920. While the Special Committee file does not contain a copy of the final report, the report was referred from Council to the Committee on Fire, Water, Light and Power and from there to the Committee on Public Safety (two copies of the report are located in File 12 of this committee’s communications). No file code was assigned to this special committee.

Winnipeg into the Nineties (WIN) was a volunteer group of citizens with a vision of how the City of Winnipeg should and could be developed. Created in January 1989, meetings were held bi-weekly at the Social Planning Council of Winnipeg offices and were chaired by Shirley Bradshaw. Members of the Founding Committee were: Shirley Bradshaw, Al Ducharme, Elizabeth Fleming, Mike Gidora, Barry Hammond, Marilyn Letts, Shirley Lord, Christine McKee, Evelyn Reese, Greg Selinger, Tom Simms and Donna Mae Yeo.

WIN was formed to oppose the so-called "Gang of 18", an informal group of councillors who held a majority on council and who met regularly before official council meetings to determine the city's agenda. The "Gang of 18" was a successor to the Independent Citizen's Election Committee, a right-wing municipal party that dominated Winnipeg's city council from the early 1970s to the early 1980s. WIN’s objectives were: to provide a vision for the City of Winnipeg and a future agenda based on clear policies for action; to promote open government and freedom of information in the interests of informed decision-making; to ensure accountability of elected officials on the basis of agreed, openly-stated policy positions; to promote ethical government and financial accountability through the open declaration of election contributions, individual statements of assets, and clear, conflict of interest by-laws; and to encourage citizen participation and consistent, reasoned decision-making that could be explained and justified to the general public. WIN worked to raise community awareness of municipal issues in Winnipeg, to facilitate the construction of a policy platform designed to achieve its stated objectives, and to field and support candidates who supported their objectives. WIN endorsed several candidates in Winnipeg’s 1989, 1992 and 1995 municipal elections, including future Mayor Glen Murray and future premier of Manitoba, Greg Selinger.

In the 1990’s WIN continued as a political organization in Winnipeg, under the name “Winnipeg in the '90s”. It was dissolved by members in late 1996.

In October 1981, Mayor William (Bill) Norrie created the Mayor’s Advisory Committee on Race Relations to examine racial matters, advise the Mayor and City Council on racial issues, and recommend ways to improve racial harmony in the City of Winnipeg.

The Race Relations Committee replaced the Mayor’s Advisory Committee on Race Relations in the fall of 1984. Shortly thereafter, a steering committee was formed to report on the role, operation, and structure of the Race Relations Committee. On March 23, 1985, it recommended that the Race Relations Committee be reconstituted as the City of Winnipeg Race Relations Commission. The steering committee believed the Commission would have more authority as it would report directly to the Mayor and City Council. As well, the steering committee determined that “if [the commission] was placed in any other context, the body would not appear to have sufficient authority.” The steering committee also recommended that the City create an ad hoc committee of the Mayor’s Race Relation Committee to hold public meetings.

The final outcome of this work was the creation of the Community and Race Relations Committee (CRRC) by City Council on June 11, 1986. The CRRC was mandated to develop policies and programs to improve racial relations within Winnipeg and to provide guidance for individuals and organizations seeking aid on matters of racial discrimination. The CRRC was also tasked with mediating disputes in order to foster understanding between ethnic groups.

Initially, the CRRC consisted of seven community at large members, seven institutional members, the Mayor, Chief of Police, Chief Commissioner, and the Chairperson of the Executive Policy Committee. The Mayor served as Chairperson and the role of Vice-Chairperson was given to the Chairperson of the Executive Policy Committee.
There were also several sub-committees including the Education and Management Sub-Committees. The CRRC reported the Executive Policy Committee.

In 1988, the Management Sub-Committee recommended that the Chairperson be a citizen member and the Mayor become the Vice-Chairperson. It was also recommended that the community at large members be reduced from seven to three and the institutional membership be increased to eleven. City Council adopted these recommendations on June 11, 1988.

The CRRC was criticized as having too much institutional representation and not enough from the community. Beginning in 1993, the Management Sub-Committee began a review of the CRRC’s structure. In response to demographic changes in Winnipeg, City Council dissolved the CRRC on December 31, 1999. It was later replaced with the Task Force on Diversity on January 1, 2000. The Task Force on Diversity became the Citizen Equity Committee the following year.

The City of St. James-Assiniboia, Manitoba, was incorporated in 1968, the product of a merger between the City of St. James and the Rural Municipality of Assiniboia, and was dissolved in 1972 when it joined eleven other municipalities in amalgamation with the City of Winnipeg. The City of St. James grew out of the Rural Municipality of St. James, which had been partitioned out of the Municipality of Assiniboia and incorporated in 1921 (in effect, separating the urban and rural parts of the Municipality of Assiniboia, with St. James representing the urban portion). The Rural Municipality of St. James, became the City of St. James in 1956 and merged with the Town of Brooklands in 1967. The mandate was to provide municipal services to citizens of the area.

The name “St. James” originated in 1853 when the Church of England received a grant of land from the Hudson’s Bay Company and formed the Parish of St. James. Prior to creation of the Province of Manitoba in 1870, the area was administered by the Council of Assiniboia (1835-1870). Following the Dominion Government of Canada’s purchase of land from the Hudson’s Bay Company in 1869, the newly formed Province of Manitoba had jurisdiction over the area and began the process of municipal incorporation. Once Treaty 1 was signed in 1871, settlement in the region increased, as did the process of municipal development. The name “St. James” continues as an electoral ward within the City of Winnipeg.

The municipality of Kildonan was originally formed from the municipality of Kildonan and St. John’s (incorporated in 1876) after the passing by the Provincial Government of the Municipal Incorporation Act of 1873. The municipality of Kildonan and St. John’s was renamed Kildonan after the Provincial Act of 1880, with jurisdiction over land on both the east and west sides of the Red River. The name “Kildonan” dates from 1817, when the Earl of Selkirk created the Parish of Kildonan while visiting the colony he had established in 1812. The name refers to the Strath of Kildonan on the Sutherland estate in Scotland from whence a number of his settlers had come.

The Committee on Public Safety was responsible for supervision of the City Fire Department, Signal System, Building, Plumbing and Electrical Inspection Services, and Transportation and Traffic. The name of the Committee changed from the Committee on Public Safety to the Public Safety Committee for the years 1951-1957. In 1958 the duties of the Public Safety Committee were taken over by the Committee on Public Works.

In 1960, the Committee on Utilities and Personnel was formed by By-law 18236 to perform the combined functions of the former Committee on Public Utilities and Committee on Personnel and Legislation.

In 1936, after considering a number of sites for the establishment of an airport, the City of Winnipeg and the Rural Municipality of St. James agreed to develop Stevenson Field as a modern municipal airport. Stevenson Field had been operated by the Winnipeg Flying Club on land in the Rural Municipality of St. James since 1929. It was named for Captain F. J. Stevenson, a noted Manitoba flyer who died in a crash in 1928. Private flyers, commercial companies and the RCAF Non-Permanent Squadron used this field. The new airport was to be managed and controlled by a commission.

The St. James - Winnipeg Airport Commission Act was passed by the Legislature of Manitoba in 1938 and the inaugural meeting was held on March 30, 1938. The Commission was a statutory corporation with full control over the operation of the airport, with the added intent to work toward making the airport into a self-sustaining commercial entity. In 1940, the Government of Canada embarked on its Empire Air Training Scheme and Stevenson Airport was placed under the direction of the Minister of Transport for the duration of World War Two. During this time, the Commission continued in an advisory capacity. Following the war, the federal government retained control of the airport and the Commission continued in an advisory role. In 1962, the name "Stevenson Field" was changed to "Winnipeg International Airport". In 1965, the Commission was wound up and its assets distributed. In 1997, Transport Canada transferred control of the Winnipeg James Armstrong Richardson International Airport to the Winnipeg Airports Authority, Inc.

The Commission was comprised of seven members: two were members of the Council of the City of Winnipeg; two were members of the Council of the Rural Municipality of St. James; two were non-Council members (one selected by the City of Winnipeg and one selected by the Rural Municipality of St. James); and one was a representative of the aviation industry in the Greater Winnipeg area appointed by the six other members. Under the terms of incorporation, the Commission was required to report to Council at the end of each year or as required.

The City of Winnipeg was incorporated in 1873 by a charter granted by the legislature of Manitoba. At incorporation, the City established a committee system of government: while Council was the governing body for the City, it was in committee that civic policies were formed and executed. The initial task for the first and all subsequent Councils was to strike standing committees for the Council year. In addition to standing committees, Council established special committees to investigate and manage various projects, issues and questions placed before the City. Special committees were typically struck by a Council motion that outlined committee composition and responsibilities. From about 1924 onward, special committees and their associated files were assigned an alpha-numeric code beginning with the letter "A".

The Special Committee on Housing Conditions was formed in December of 1933. In the original motion, the committee was instructed to conduct a detailed survey of housing conditions in Winnipeg. This motion was amended and the scope of the committee expanded to address the "whole matter of housing conditions in the City of Winnipeg". In 1935, the committee was further instructed to look into overcrowding and to determine areas that could be cleared and redeveloped. Between 1937 and 1945, the committee formed and managed the Winnipeg Housing Company Limited and its demonstration home project.

Throughout its history, the committee worked with the federal and provincial governments to take advantage of programs and funding sources for housing starts and renovations. In particular, the committee worked with Wartime Housing Limited to address housing needs for returning servicemen and veterans. In 1947, the committee created a Fact Finding Board to prepare a report on housing conditions up to that point in time.

Acute housing shortages during the 1940s lead to creation of the Emergency Housing Department in 1945, reported to Council through the Special Committee on Housing Conditions. This city department maintained a registry of applicants for housing and available housing units, lead a campaign to encourage citizens to register and rent out unoccupied rooms in their homes, administered various emergency and low rental housing sites, and became increasingly involved in welfare and social work relating to tenants in city housing projects (individual or family case histories are contained in some communications files). Annual reports prepared by the Emergency Housing Department provide statistical data and analyses of the effects of acute housing shortages on those living in substandard housing as well as on the city as a whole.

Effective January 1, 1957, the staff of the Emergency Housing Department were transferred into the Public Welfare Department of the City of Winnipeg, which then reported to Council through the Public Welfare Committee. At the first council meeting in 1957, a motion to "not reappoint" the Special Committee on Housing Conditions carried by majority and it was discontinued.

The City of Winnipeg was incorporated in 1873 by a charter granted by the legislature of Manitoba. At incorporation, the City established a committee system of government: while Council was the governing body for the City, it was in committee that civic policies were formed and executed. The initial task for the first and all subsequent Councils was to strike standing committees for the Council year. In addition to standing committees, Council established special committees to investigate and manage various projects, issues and questions placed before the City. Special committees were typically struck by a Council motion that outlined committee composition and responsibilities. From about 1924 onward, special committees and their associated files were assigned an alpha-numeric code beginning with the letter "A".

The Special Committee on the Future of the Winnipeg Board of Parks and Recreation was established by Council motion in May of 1962. It was composed of the mayor and two aldermen each from the Committees of Finance, Utilities, Personnel and Public Works and was instructed to determine whether or not to submit a referendum to ratepayers concerning dissolution of the Winnipeg Board of Parks and Recreation, and what to do should ratepayers vote to retain the Board. Although the committee advised against a referendum and prepared a draft agreement identifying services the City would perform for the Board, a referendum held in October of 1964 (By-Law 19003)) resulted in dissolution of the Winnipeg Board of Parks and Recreation. The file code for this special committee was A107.

The City of Winnipeg was incorporated in 1873 by a charter granted by the legislature of Manitoba. At incorporation, the City established a committee system of government: while Council was the governing body for the City, it was in committee that civic policies were formed and executed. The initial task for the first and all subsequent Councils was to strike standing committees for the Council year. In addition to standing committees, Council established special committees to investigate and manage various projects, issues and questions placed before the City. Special committees were typically struck by a Council motion that outlined committee composition and responsibilities.

The Special Committee on Arrangement of Committees for Incoming Council was appointed in January of 1920 to consider the arrangement of committees for the incoming council together with any rearrangement of departments that might be necessary. The committee consisted of six aldermen.

The Volunteer Aid and Relief Fund Committee was established by Council Motion on April 13, 1885. The Motion provided an initial sum of $1000 to be used exclusively for the relief of the "wives and families of those volunteers" called to the front, and established a committee to administer the fund. The Committee consisted of the mayor and six aldermen. The Committee was assisted by a Ladies Association, the members of which found "cases of necessity among the families of the Volunteers". The work of the Committee concluded in October of 1885. An audit of their papers and books was approved by Council and forwarded to the newspaper for publication.

The Information Officer (Information Research Officer prior to 1967) was responsible for compiling, interpreting, and preparing written information for the use of the Chairman, Council, and Directors of the Metropolitan Corporation, and for explaining to the public the Corporation's aims, policies, and activities. This involved establishing good relations with and disseminating information to the press, radio, and television, and maintaining a library of informative material on municipal government, affairs of the Corporation, and other subjects of concern to the Corporation. The Information Officer was directly accountable to the Executive Director. The position was first held by Arthur Fletcher, during which time the position was called "Information Research Officer". Fletcher stepped down on November 11, 1966, leaving the position vacant for several months. On May 4, 1967, Council voted to appoint Allan S. Bready to the position and change its title to "Information Officer". Bready began on June 1 and remained in his position until Metro's dissolution in 1971.

Morris Block was born in Winnipeg on December 24, 1929. He was educated in Winnipeg where he earned two undergraduate degrees at the University of Manitoba (Science and Engineering) and graduated at the top of his Civil Engineering class in 1955. In 1958, he started the engineering firm M. Block & Associates. His interests included the history of Winnipeg and Manitoba and he collected a wide variety of materials relating to these two themes.

Shortly after graduation, Morris Block married Clara. They had six children. Morris Block died in December of 1998.

For more information on Henry Kalen, see the Henry Kalen fonds at the University of Manitoba Archives and Special Collections.

Henry Kalen was born in Winnipeg on January 20, 1928. He attended the University of Manitoba and obtained a Bachelor of Architecture degree in 1957. Kalen became a well known photographer, particularly for architecture firms, and eventually became a lecturer at the University of Manitoba. Kalen passed away in 2004.

Martin Berman grew up in Winnipeg but moved to Toronto to raise his family. He collected his first postcard on March 15, 1985. His goal was to collect postcards of Winnipeg and rural Manitoba.