A candidate running for Winnipeg mayor is calling on the incumbent to denounce and reject the endorsement of the city’s largest union over campaign flyers containing what he described as “false” and “divisive” information about him.
Kevin Klein held a news conference Tuesday, calling attention to handouts produced by the Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 500, which accused Klein of “committing himself to the broader alt-right political movement” and putting “the interests of well-connected American business elites ahead of Canadian interests.”
“The tone is an American-style politics, exaggeration, guilt-by-association and attempts to paint disagreement as disloyalty,” he said.
The mailers, which Klein says were distributed to homes around Winnipeg, depict Klein next to an American flag.
They state that Klein “criticized Canada’s response [to the U.S. trade dispute] while defending Washington’s position,” called Prime Minister Mark Carney a “globalist,” defended meeting with U.S. ambassador Pete Hoekstra, and used rhetoric associated with the “alt-right MAGA crowd” by attacking “globalists” and “unelected elites.”
Klein says the accusations refer to columns he wrote for the Winnipeg Sun newspaper. He is the president and CEO of the company that owns the paper.
The union declared its support for incumbent mayoral candidate Scott Gillingham last week.
WATCH | Candidate Klein calls union flyers ‘misleading’:
Klein calls out CUPE flyers, calls on Gillingham to reject endorsement
Winnipeg mayoral candidate Kevin Klein called flyers produced by CUPE 500 misleading and divisive Tuesday. He also called on Scott Gillingham to reject the union’s endorsement of his re-election campaign.
Earlier in the campaign, CUPE sent out a news release accusing Klein of advocating for a softer position on U.S. trade.
At the time, CUPE 500 spokesperson Garrett Williams said the union’s comment stemmed from an Aug. 29 Sun column by Klein headlined, “Strong leadership isn’t trading jabs for applause.” The column criticized Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew for inflaming Canada-U.S. trade tensions by insulting U.S. President Donald Trump.
In another column posted this year, Klein said he attended a gathering at the U.S. Embassy in Ottawa and defended Hoekstra’s approach to cross-border diplomacy.
“We can debate policy without resorting to personal smears, and American flag imagery,” Klein said Tuesday.
“But that is unfortunately what mayor Gillingham started the campaign on — a smear campaign. And it seems now he is using his friends at CUPE to do that attack.”
In an emailed statement, Gillingham spokesperson Colin Fast denied the campaign had anything to do with the flyers.
“CUPE has been running its own advocacy campaigns for decades. They make their own decisions about who to support, what issues to raise and how to communicate their views,” Fast wrote.
He added that the Gillingham campaign “shares CUPE’s concerns” about Klein’s columns “criticizing Canadian governments while expressing admiration” for Trump’s administration.
CUPE 500 president Patrick Troughton did not accommodate an interview. He said in an emailed statement that the union based its handouts on Klein’s own statements and writings and did not co-ordinate its advertising with outside organizations.
“Our materials draw attention to publicly available information. We stand by our decision to share that information with Winnipeg voters,” Troughton wrote.
Klein questioned the legality of the mailers and said his campaign will file a complaint with the city.
He also accused the city, under Gillingham, of favouring American interests, pointing to recent decisions that awarded contracts to U.S. companies, including one a local restaurant chain, Salisbury House, lost to Aramark Canada.
Klein proposes hiring cadets to cover hospital shifts
On Tuesday, Klein also announced a plan to have cadets replace police officers overseeing people in custody who are getting assessed or treated in hospitals.
He said officers sometimes wait hours for people in their custody to get treated, drawing away responders who could be attending 911 calls or patrolling.
“We know we don’t have enough officers. Now, we’re putting more pressure on them by making them sit and wait in hospitals,” Klein said. “That is not a good use of our resources.”
He proposed hiring an additional 100 cadets over two years, some of whom would be assigned to Health Sciences Centre and St. Boniface Hospital to start.
Klein says cadets are already authorized to remain with people getting involuntary medical or psychiatric examinations.
The plan would cost $2 million annually, Klein said, adding he would ask the Manitoba government to cover half the price tag.
Woodstock promises free hospital parking
Another mayoral candidate is proposing that patients and their visitors be allowed to park for free on city streets near hospitals.
In a news release Tuesday, Don Woodstock called the current practice a “municipal health-care parking tax.”
“When a Winnipegger goes to the hospital, their focus should be on getting healthy or being there for a loved one, not worrying about an expiring street meter or an unfair bill from city hall,” he said in the release.
Candidate Don Woodstock, seen here in a photo from last month, says patients and their visitors should be allowed to park for free on city streets near hospitals. (Kevin Nepitabo/CBC)
“Charging people who are forced to access health care isn’t fiscal management, it’s a predatory tax on sickness.”
Woodstock says drivers would get a digital validation code from hospital reception.
His plan would cost an estimated $300,000, he said.
Hayat pledges greater accountability, oversight
Mayoral candidate Umar Hayat called for stronger accountability and transparency at city hall after the release of the Winnipeg police headquarters inquiry report Monday.
“Why did city council approve the settlement in 2023 rather than wait for the inquiry’s findings?” he said near Portage and Main.
Lawsuits over the construction of the headquarters ultimately recovered $29 million. The inquiry found the city was overcharged by more than $43 million.
If elected, Hayat committed to implement better rules around conflict of interest disclosure and more oversight and transparency surrounding city spending.