Winnipeg councillors Wyatt and Lukes call for moratorium on closed-door meetings

Two members of Winnipeg city council's unofficial opposition want the mayor's inner circle to stop holding meetings behind closed doors.

TransconaCoun. Russ Wyatt and South Winnipeg-St. Norbert Coun. Janice Lukesauthored a motion that would require executive policy committee to end its practice of holding informal meetings until the city getsexternal opinions about the legality of these gatherings.

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Informal EPC meetings took place under the Sam Katz administration and continue to be held today. Bowman has described the meetings as "informal briefings."

"All members of council meet with each other in that fashion," Bowman said in an interview in October, referring to members ofEPCas well as council's unofficial opposition.

"What's important for me is that decisions are made in an open, transparent way andthe information we're using to base decisions on is proactively put out in the public for everybody to look at."

The motion by Wyatt and Lukeswas submitted to city council Wednesday and was automatically referred to executive policy committee.