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MIKE DEAL \/ FREE PRESS FILES<\/p>\n
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One in five Winnipeggers surveyed in a new Free Press-Probe Research poll want to see Mayor Scott Gillingham re-elected in this fall\u2019s municipal election.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\u201cIf I were advising him, or looking at the state of things, I\u2019d be a bit concerned that this is where the electorate sees things right now,\u201d said Curtis Brown, a partner at Probe Research.<\/p>\n
There appears to be a lack of optimism regardless of who are filling the seats at city hall: fewer than one in 10 polled said they believed the next mayor and council could make major changes on city issues.<\/p>\n
Crime, violence, poverty, homelessness and the impact of the drug crisis topped the list of issues respondents flagged as the most severe. Other issues listed included the cost of living, infrastructure, health care and affordable housing.<\/p>\n
Gillingham said he shares the frustrations expressed in the poll\u2019s results.<\/p>\n
\u201cLess than 10 per cent of the people polled think a different mayor would make any difference, and so I think that goes back to the frustration people are feeling,\u201d he said Tuesday.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been in a few elections, and so I\u2019ve seen polls go up and down, and I appreciate that, but I\u2019ve worked hard on these very issues and have made some progress.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t The survey showed Gillingham supporters were more likely to be men, higher-income earners, federal Liberal voters, homeowners, and living in suburban areas.<\/p>\n Gillingham, who first ran for mayor in 2022 after incumbent Brian Bowman decided not to run again, defeated former mayor Glen Murray by 4,391 votes.<\/p>\n The current mayor is one of eight candidates registered to run. The group includes political newcomers Mazher Alam, Joshua Pagdato, Johnny Calderon, Umar Hayat and Mike Vogiatzakis. Grocery store clerk Christopher Clacio ran unsuccessfully for mayor in 2022, as did Don Woodstock, who also ran in 2018.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019d be a bit concerned that this is where the electorate sees things right now.\u201d<\/p>\n Gillingham has yet to release any campaign promises ahead of the Oct. 28 vote. He said Tuesday he plans to continue to focus on public safety, building new housing, and major infrastructure projects.<\/p>\n \u201cThe priorities that I have are clear, and I believe they position the city of Winnipeg well for the future,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd I\u2019ll be speaking about those priorities in greater detail through the campaign over the coming weeks and months ahead.\u201d<\/p>\n Several city councillors told the Free Press the results of the poll were unsurprising.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t JOHN WOODS \/ FREE PRESS FILES<\/p>\n Crime, violence, poverty, homelessness and the impact of the drug crisis topped the list of issues respondents flagged as the most severe.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not shocked that people think it\u2019s worse than four years ago,\u201d said Coun. Brian Mayes (St. Vital).<\/p>\n \u201cI think some of that is economic forces beyond the city\u2019s control but I also think there\u2019s a sense of, it\u2019s more dangerous, there are more encampments, it\u2019s just dirtier, it just seems like there\u2019s more garbage lying around.\u201d<\/p>\n Mayes, who was dropped from council\u2019s executive policy committee by Gillingham in 2024 after 11 years as part of the mayor\u2019s inner circle, lamented an \u201cattitudinal\u201d shift at city hall that has made it difficult for councillors to be heard equally.<\/p>\n \u201cYou just start feeling more and more alienated, and I think that\u2019s a shame,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Mayes has not said if he plans to run again.<\/p>\n Coun. Sherri Rollins noted that there had been attitude shifts outside of city council, too.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not an easy time to be an elected official,\u201d said Rollins (Fort Rouge-East Fort Garry).<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t think there ever has been an easy time, but definitely, we know how polarized the political arena has been, and will continue to be.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not shocked that people think it\u2019s worse than four years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n Rollins said low voter turnout was a concern of hers and it was up to incumbent candidates like her and Gillingham \u201cto say why we need to get back to city hall.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI really feel that this should be an election where people do get out, where people ask really difficult questions of candidates, given the social disorder that we\u2019re seeing on city streets, and the humanitarian crisis that we\u2019re seeing that has worsened,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Voter turnout in 2022 was about 37 per cent, lower than 2018 and 2014, where it sat at around 42 per cent and 50 per cent respectively.<\/p>\n The Social Planning Council of Winnipeg puts together voter guides distributed in inner-city wards, and holds information sessions around key issues and candidates.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t Those resources are finding an audience as the organization encounters \u201ca lot of hopelessness\u201d in the face of increasing social struggle, its executive director said.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s also unfortunate, in my mind, that people really don\u2019t understand what the city can do and should be doing, and I would actually look at successive mayors and council for that,\u201d said Kate Kehler.<\/p>\n \u201cBecause they tend to put everything of a social nature at the door of the province, so and then the province will respond by saying \u2018No, but we\u2019ve done all this,\u2019 and I would say that finger-pointing is also part of the problem \u2026 people do get turned off by that sort of politics.\u201d<\/p>\n The city has a role to play in people\u2019s feelings of apathy, Kehler said, describing the city\u2019s newcomer welcome and inclusion policy and poverty reduction strategies as examples of commitments council has made on paper but lack meaningful funding.<\/p>\n \n\t\tWinnipeg Free Press | Newsletter\n\t<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t \u201cThey are making choices to spend money in certain places and not spend it elsewhere. Those are their choices to have made, they were elected, and they get to do that,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cBut from my perspective, it\u2019s up to us as citizens to say, you\u2019ve been doing that for a very long time, and things are getting worse. So, perhaps it\u2019s time to do things differently.\u201d<\/p>\n Probe Research surveyed 600 adults living in Winnipeg between May 25 and June 8.<\/p>\n The poll\u2019s margin of error is plus or minus 4 percentage points 95 times out of 100.<\/p>\n malak.abas@freepress.mb.ca<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t Malak Abas Malak Abas is a city reporter at the Free Press. Born and raised in Winnipeg\u2019s North End, she led the campus paper at the University of Manitoba before joining the Free Press in 2020. Read more about Malak<\/a>.<\/p>\n Every piece of reporting Malak produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print \u2014 part of the Free Press\u2018s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press\u2019s history and mandate<\/a>, and learn how our newsroom operates<\/a>.<\/p>\n
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