ManitobaThe mayor of a Winnipeg suburb is taking flak from some constituents for making hot-mic comments about residents opposed to higher-density residential development in a corner of the rural municipality.’How many times can you dumb it down?’ Carla Devlin asks about plan to create more density in corner of RMBartley Kives · CBC News · Posted: Aug 27, 2025 6:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 2 hours agoThe entrance to East St. Paul’s council chamber, where Mayor Carla Devlin was caught on a hot mic on Aug. 19 expressing frustration with residents opposed to a new planning framework. (Jeff Stapleton/CBC)The mayor of a Winnipeg suburb is taking flak from some constituents for making hot-mic comments about residents opposed to higher-density residential development in a corner of the rural municipality.During a break in an East St. Paul council meeting on Aug. 19, people watching the Zoom broadcast of the meeting heard Mayor Carla Devlin express frustration about constituents who oppose a new planning framework for about 400 hectares (1,000 acres) of land east of Highway 59 and north of the Perimeter Highway.That framework would allow four-storey residential buildings and townhouses within three “city villages” in the planning area. Hundreds of residents of East St. Paul, which has a total population of approximately 10,000 people, registered their opposition to the plan — and dozens spoke out against it in person and online on Aug. 19.”This did me in. I’m actually ready to resign and walk out. I don’t need this shit,” Devlin told an official with the Red River Planning District during a break in the meeting, captured on an open microphone during the Zoom broadcast. “They don’t want to hear the truth.”Devlin expressed more frustration after the planning official said other members of council suggested the framework ought to be simplified.”Well, how many times can you dumb it down?” Devlin asked. “It’s not cut and dried.”WATCH | Open mic captures mayor’s comments during meeting:Hot mic catches East St. Paul mayor dissing high-density development opponentsThe mayor of East St. Paul, just outside Winnipeg, is taking flak from some constituents after she was caught on an open microphone during a break in Zoom meeting venting frustration about residents opposed to townhouses and apartment buildings in the municipality. East St. Paul resident Craig Hodkinson, one of the planning framework’s opponents, called Devlin’s comments disappointing.”I think most people here have a pretty good idea of what the secondary plan framework is and what the goal of it is, and us not liking it doesn’t mean that we’re too dumb to understand it,” Hodkinson said in a Monday interview.He’s concerned the municipality’s population could double if council approves the construction of medium-rise apartment blocks and townhouses.”East St. Paul has one three-storey apartment block [right now], and we’re proposing three huge areas of four-storey apartment blocks over 1,000 acres,” he said.Devlin said in a statement she was not feeling well during the council meeting and made an offhand comment in a private conversation during the break.”I had been ill for more than a week, sitting through a lengthy meeting, and I expressed myself poorly. My remarks were about feeling unwell and overwhelmed in that moment, not about the community or my commitment to serve,” Devlin said in the statement.”I regret that my words were overheard and caused concern. They do not reflect how I feel about the community or the responsibilities I’ve taken on as mayor. I take those responsibilities seriously, and despite difficult moments, I remain dedicated to moving forward with respect for the people I serve.” Debate follows demise of Winnipeg-area frameworkThe debate about residential density in East St. Paul comes months after the demise of a Winnipeg-area planning framework called Plan 20-50, which envisioned more homes on smaller lots in municipalities around the city as a means of making housing more plentiful and affordable in and around the provincial capital.Premier Wab Kinew’s NDP government effectively killed Plan 20-50 by allowing some municipalities to opt out of it. Some opponents of East St. Paul’s much smaller planning framework accuse Devlin of continuing to promote higher-density development at the expense of the larger residential lots that make up most of the rural municipality right now.”We’re losing trust in the mayor. We don’t think she’s working for us at all,” said Steve Bulejsza, another East St. Paul resident who opposes the new planning framework.”She’s a professional. She should act like a professional, and she’s not behaving like one.” Devlin suggested in her statement that courtesy extends in two directions. She said she and other members of council were subjected to rude gestures, verbal abuse and serious accusations during the Aug. 19 meeting.”No one who serves in public office takes an oath to accept harassment or personal attacks,” she said. “While we remain accountable to our residents, we also deserve to conduct council business in a respectful environment.”An aerial view of the former Meadows Golf Course and other properties subject to East St. Paul’s proposed planning framework. (Rural Municipality of East St. Paul Secondary Plan)The East St. Paul planning framework encompasses a mix of commercial, industrial and agricultural land, as well as land owned by Brokenhead Ojibway Nation and the Peguis First Nation Real Estate Trust.East St. Paul’s council and Manitoba’s municipal board both rejected a previous effort, led by Winnipeg consultant and developer Andrew Marquess, to rezone the Peguis-controlled land within the planning area to allow a residential development to take shape.That proposal was rejected in part because of the absence of water and sewer service in the area. In 2020, East St. Paul placed a moratorium on residential development until new water and sewage treatment plants are built.Hodkinson said he doesn’t understand why his municipal council needs to approve a new planning framework now, while the new treatment plants are not expected to be built for five years.”We’re hoping that they can re-evaluate this, because there doesn’t appear to be a rush,” he said.During the break in the council meeting, Devlin was also captured by the Zoom microphone accusing an unnamed planning framework opponent of grandstanding because he plans to run for mayor.Brian Wachko, an East St. Paul resident who ran for council unsuccessfully in 2022, said he believes the mayor was referring to him, because he was the last delegation to address council before the break.”When somebody talks about you after you speak, you wonder — are they thinking that about everyone who comes up to speak?” Wachko said Wednesday in an interview.Wachko served as a volunteer firefighter in East St. Paul until he was suspended in 2024 for unspecified code of conduct and social media policy violations, according to a letter from the municipal fire chief.Wachko said he formally resigned from the East St. Paul Fire Department on Friday in response to Devlin’s hot-mic comments.East St. Paul chief administrator Suzanne Ward said Wachko was suspended for wearing firefighter clothing to a public meeting. Wachko denies that.The Aug. 19 hearing about the planning framework at East St. Paul council was halted before a vote took place. The municipal council is expected to vote on the plan in September.ABOUT THE AUTHORBartley Kives joined CBC Manitoba in 2016. Prior to that, he spent three years at the Winnipeg Sun and then 18 at the Winnipeg Free Press, writing about politics, music, food and outdoor recreation. He’s the author of three books – two of them Canadian bestsellers – and the winner of a Canadian Screen Award for reporting.
East St. Paul mayor caught on hot mic dissing residents opposed to apartments, townhouses
