Listen to this article
Estimated 4 minutes
The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations can occur. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve the results.
Mayoral candidate Kevin Klein is promising to make Winnipeg “the safest city in Canada” within four years on the basis of metrics he said he would define after winning the October election.
In his first campaign promise since he joined the mayoral race early in September, Klein said he will appoint a crime-reduction task force that will determine how to measure safety in Winnipeg and suggest ways to improve it.
“We will make Winnipeg the safest city in Canada by calling on the help of experts, who will develop a plan, a focused strategy, with clear objectives,” the former city councillor and Progressive Conservative MLA said in the restaurant at the Four Crowns Hotel on McPhillips Street.
Klein said former Winnipeg police chief Devon Clunis would lead this task force.
Clunis said in an interview he is not endorsing Klein. The former police chief said he has been approached by several mayoral candidates and would offer assistance to any of them if they are elected.
“There is no task force,” Clunis said.
Robert-Falcon Ouellette, a former Winnipeg Liberal member of Parliament and two-time mayoral candidate, said he will sit on the task force and is endorsing Klein.
Ouellette, who writes for the Winnipeg Sun, praised Klein — who runs the newspaper — for his commitment to independent journalism.
Klein also promised Friday to hire 100 to 110 more police officers if he’s elected — a pledge he said he would cost out later in the campaign — and equip Winnipeg Transit buses with panic buttons that would trigger an automatic 911 response.
Former River Heights-Fort Garry councillor Garth Steek, former Winnipeg South Progressive Conservative MP Dorothy Dobbie and former Winnipeg Police Service spokesperson Rob Carver attended Klein’s campaign event.
Guaranteed jobs for trainees: Vogiatzakis
Speaking at city hall on Friday, mayoral candidate Mike Vogiatzakis proposed a three-year apprenticeship program for police officers, firefighters and paramedics.
He also guaranteed employment for people who complete the program.
Vogiatzakis said the program would start with 30 spots — 10 apprenticeships each for police, firefighters and paramedics.
Participants would be paid while receiving classroom instruction and supervised work experience.
“The message is simple: paid to train, required to qualify, hired when you succeed,” Vogiatzakis said.
Apprentices would handle non-emergency duties, allowing fully qualified workers to focus on more urgent calls and helping to reduce overtime and burnout, Vogiatzakis said.
Apprentices who complete the program and meet education, medical, physical fitness and other licensing requirements would receive a job offer from the City of Winnipeg, he said.
He did not specify how the city could guarantee employment for graduates, a practice that would circumvent the city’s normal hiring process.
Vogiatzakis estimated the program would cost between $1.8 million and $2.2 million per year.
More transit security officers: Gillingham
Incumbent mayoral candidate Scott Gillingham promised Friday to increase the number of community safety officers in Winnipeg from the current complement of 33 to 75 during the next term.
The additional staff would increase security on Winnipeg Transit buses, Gillingham said in a press release.
Earlier this week, he promised to increase the number of police officers and firefighters in Winnipeg by asking council to establish hiring benchmarks tied to the city’s population growth.
In a separate release, Gillingham’s campaign alleged Klein has changed some of his old columns for the Winnipeg Sun.
It pointed to a March 24, 2025, column about Prime Minister Mark Carney’s “globalist agenda” as an example of a column that could not be found using the original social media links.
That column still appears on the Winnipeg Sun’s website, although the byline is now listed as “Pam Fedack.”
Klein called Gillingham a liar for suggesting the columns were changed.
Gillingham, Klein and Vogiatzakis are among the now 15 registered Winnipeg mayoral candidates in the Oct. 28 civic election as of Friday, including two newly registered candidates — Ed Ackerman and Abdel-Kareem Chehadi.
The others are Mazher Alam, Gagandeep Bawa, Johnny Calderón, Chris Clacio, Tracey Drexler, Brad Gross, Umar Hayat, Josh Pagdato, Noah Redden and Don Woodstock.
Candidates must complete the nomination process in order to appear on the Oct. 28 ballot.