How would this effect finances for the city of Winnipeg? I know Winnipeg is struggling for cash right now and imo the mayor is overextending the cities budget to the point of recklessness with all his planned highway expansion projects. So could this change the cities financial situation? I assume that the provinces finances would affect the finances of the cities within the province. Would that be through grants and loans exclusively or is there some other mechanism through which that would occur?

That's an interesting question. The way I understand it, provincial and municipal finances are pretty silo'd, which is why the cities are constantly lobbying for more (or at least different) taxation powers.

But I suppose grants and stuff like that could be affected, like you said.