Winnipeg mayoral rivals spar over province ties, taxes

Winnipeg’s three leading mayoral candidates clashed over who can work best with Premier Wab Kinew and how much property taxes should rise, in two debates on Wednesday, Oct. 21, a week before the Oct. 28 election.

Incumbent Scott Gillingham, former MLA and city councillor Kevin Klein and funeral director Mike Vogiatzakis met first on 680 CJOB in the morning and again in a supper-hour debate on CBC Manitoba. They were the only three of the 12 mayoral candidates to reach more than 10 per cent of decided voters in a September Abacus Data poll, CBC News reported.

Gillingham pointed to his quarterly meetings with Kinew and his work on federal bail reform as proof he can work with other governments, and questioned whether Klein could, citing Klein’s newspaper columns critical of the premier and Prime Minister Mark Carney, Global News reported. Klein, a former Progressive Conservative cabinet minister, said he has already earned Kinew’s trust. Vogiatzakis said the city needs a mayor without political ties.

On taxes, Gillingham said the city is locked into a 3.5 per cent property tax increase next year. Vogiatzakis said he would freeze property taxes in 2027 and raise them later, while Klein would not yet say how large an increase he plans, CBC reported.

On crime, Klein repeated his pledge to hire 100 more police officers and create a crime-reduction task force, according to Global News coverage of the CJOB debate. Vogiatzakis promised to end what he called “catch and release,” and Gillingham pointed to the city’s falling crime rate while saying residents’ sense of safety matters.

Vogiatzakis also said he would scrap the executive policy committee, council’s equivalent of a cabinet. Gillingham said the City of Winnipeg Charter Act requires one.

On homelessness, Gillingham wants more housing, while Vogiatzakis favours turning a warehouse into a “village” for unhoused people with 24-hour supports. Vogiatzakis also wants to reverse the 2025 transit route overhaul.

Gillingham led a poll earlier this month, though many voters were undecided. Advance voting ends Oct. 23, and our guide explains where and how to vote.

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