Winnipeg | 2026 Civic Election & City Affairs

[drew]

^ possibly. But it is even more pronounced in a province like Manitoba, with a relatively small population and small economy. Winnipeg needs to be the primary focus of any Provincial gov't, regardless of their political stripes.

[trueviking]

Originally Posted by thurmas

People may not like Gillingham on here but in 6 months already look at the progress he has made on portage place, portage and main a kenaston. you may not like the designs but atleast they are moving forward compared to the complacency and nothingness of the Bowman years.

the portage and main plan was started more than a year ago....and it's just a plan.

Kenaston is a disaster.

What did the City have to do with Portage Place?...

[esquire]

The provincial election call got me wondering... now that we're nearly a year into Scott Gillingham's mayoralty, what are this subforum's takes on the current mayor and council? Any verdicts yet or too soon to say?

[rivercity]

I was thinking the other day that I really haven't heard much of anything about Mayor Gillingham in the last while

[Sheepish]

Mayor Who? My expectations were low. Thus far I think he has managed to surpass Bowman's level of invisibility. As I drive south to north every morning, the problems continue to get worse. While this is not all on the heads of the Mayor and Council, they individually and collectively need to be more vocal on the urgency of finding solutions and setting priorities.

[ColdRain&Snow]

Originally Posted by Sheepish

Mayor Who? My expectations were low. Thus far I think he has managed to surpass Bowman's level of invisibility. As I drive south to north every morning, the problems continue to get worse. While this is not all on the heads of the Mayor and Council, they individually and collectively need to be more vocal on the urgency of finding solutions and setting priorities.

Yeah I agree. The current City Council is very status quo, which is better than making the city actively worse, but there are a number of urgent problems that need addressing. Problems such as crime, poverty, homelessness, crumbling infrastructure, etc.

[Biff]

I know they were just off for the summer only resuming council this week, but even my wife said randomly to me the other day - when was the last time we saw anything about the Mayor...what's his name?

[wags_in_the_peg]

it's summer folks, council is on break. look at his Twitter, he's been attending festivals

[thurmas]

I would give Gillingham a B - he's more proactive than Bowman but he's hamstrung by the lack of resources the city has as it always needs the province to be in a good mood to pony up cash or not for projects. Thankfully the squabbling of the Pallister Bowman days are over as it really put this city backwards by 10 years getting nothing done.

[bomberjet]

Council is basically the same as last time. So why would things be any different.

But ya we've been in this summer political lul. I expect things to ramp up soon or else.

[bomberjet]

Originally Posted by thurmas

I would give Gillingham a B - he's more proactive than Bowman but he's hamstrung by the lack of resources the city has as it always needs the province to be in a good mood to pony up cash or not for projects. Thankfully the squabbling of the Pallister Bowman days are over as it really put this city backwards by 10 years getting nothing done.

The Cities in the process of the largest project ever (NEWPCC). Bowman pushed that forward. Which is not 🞵🞵🞵🞵, but is needed. It's also eating up all the money the City does have right now. Hence why nothing's happened on RT for example.

Gillingham will have trouble finding money for his road projects unless he postpones next phases of NEWPCC.

[Winnipegger]

Originally Posted by bomberjet

The Cities in the process of the largest project ever (NEWPCC). Bowman pushed that forward. Which is not 🞵🞵🞵🞵, but is needed. It's also eating up all the money the City does have right now. Hence why nothing's happened on RT for example.

Gillingham will have trouble finding money for his road projects unless he postpones next phases of NEWPCC.

If Route 90 and CPT Extension have a combined total of $1B, and the City needs to fund 1/3rd, the City "only" needs to find ~$330 million. If financed entirely with debt, that's roughly $25 million/yr in debt payments over 30 years. Yes, it's a lot but not impossible. The City could find portions of it in frontage levies or local/regional street reserves, or dedicate future property tax increases to it (a one-time 3.5% property tax increase would be enough to fund the debt payments).

The bigger question is could the city better spend that $330 million on other things that will have greater benefits to the community? I'd argue CPT is a waste since the extension isn't needed for a long time, but Route 90 is imperative - it's not just about widening (which is a fraction of the cost), it's about bridge renewal and sewer replacement which has to happen sooner or later, so it just makes sense to tack on road widening to an at-capacity road when the big projects need to happen anyways.

[bomberjet]

The City needs that money for sewers though. That's the reality right now unless there is a significant new source of funding. The NEWPCC project is at a total of $2 billion right now for the 3 phases. Next phase is $800 mil or something. That's a huge price tag, biggest ever for Winnipeg. I know I keep saying it, but we are stuck in this cycle right now.

I would expect A very limited selection of other major projects in the next few years. MAYBE the Mayor can get one of those road projects moving by the next election.

[Winnipeg Grump]

The thing that's really setting me off about the Rt 90 discussion is - the City has no funding lined up for this. Zero, zilch, nada, zip. The city is broke. And even if they did ALL of the project consultations and came to an agreement with the Province and somehow, magically convinced the Liberals in Ottawa to throw 100's of millions of dollars at a road project, we wouldn't see shovels in the ground for how many years? Maaaybe 5?

So why won't they spend $10 M on a mill and fill from Taylor to Academy to at least make the road somewhat drivable while they wait?

[Winnipegger]

Originally Posted by bomberjet

The City needs that money for sewers though. That's the reality right now unless there is a significant new source of funding. The NEWPCC project is at a total of $2 billion right now for the 3 phases. Next phase is $800 mil or something. That's a huge price tag, biggest ever for Winnipeg. I know I keep saying it, but we are stuck in this cycle right now.

I would expect A very limited selection of other major projects in the next few years. MAYBE the Mayor can get one of those road projects moving by the next election.

When it comes to the city's financial responsibility, utilities projects will mainly be funded by the utility rates paid by water and sewer users so the municipal revenues levied for NEWPCC will come from Winnipeggers' utility bills. When it comes to road projects, the city's financial responsibility will be funded by things like street reserves (dedicated property taxes), gas tax grants, and frontage levies.

So while the City is a single organization, utilities and tax-supported operations are two separate entities at a high level. Of course, the City's overall debt capacity will have a council-mandated metric that combines debt on tax-supported and utilities operations so that will certainly be a factor. Also, the Province and Fed's pockets are only so deep, so it's fair to question their abilities to fund both NEWPCC and major road investments but that's beyond the municipal level.

[Jeff]

I rate the mayor’s effectiveness in relation to the fact that even before he became mayor there is an out of place streetlight in front of city hall ever since the decorative one was taken out in the winter of 2021. He can’t even get that done. Such a simple thing but shows how cumbersome this city’s government is.

[wags_in_the_peg]

Originally Posted by Jeff

I rate the mayor’s effectiveness in relation to the fact that even before he became mayor there is an out of place streetlight in front of city hall ever since the decorative one was taken out in the winter of 2021. He can’t even get that done. Such a simple thing but shows how cumbersome this city’s government is.

i blame unions for that (insert sarcasm font here)

[pspeid]

So in Gillingham's first year, he's basically made friends. Well, that's good....I guess....

https://globalnews.ca/news/10050397/winnipeg-mayor-scott-gillingham-first-year/

[Jeff]

he even embraces the fact that he looks like every other white guy and blends in. they might as well have just promoted the CAO to mayor and saved us an election. same thing.

[Wpg_Guy]

Gillingham lists first-term mayoral accomplishments on way to register for Round 2
Joyanne Pursaga
Friday, May. 1, 2026


Ruth Bonneville / Free Press
Scott Gillingham and his wife Marla are all smiles after he officially registered his bid to be re-elected to a second term as Winnipeg mayor at city hall, Friday.

Mayor Scott Gillingham says he’s the right candidate to provide consistent leadership for Winnipeg over the next four years, amid affordability and crime concerns.

“I know I have the team and the experience to continue to provide that stable leadership in times that are uncertain,” said Gillingham.

The incumbent candidate spoke with reporters Friday afternoon, just before registering his bid to be re-elected to a second term as mayor.

Gillingham credited the first city council he led with taking action on several long-standing issues, such as furthering work on the North End sewage treatment plant upgrade, the redevelopment of Portage Place and the reopening of Portage Avenue and Main Street to pedestrians.

“We have made a lot of progress in this first term, as a council. I think I’ve led decisions that (had) been held up for years,” he said.

While incumbent Winnipeg mayors have proven tough to beat in the past, Gillingham faced criticism last year for backing off some 2022 election promises.

He initially said he would respect the results of a 2018 non-binding plebiscite in which 65 per cent of Winnipeggers voted “no” to reopening Portage and Main to pedestrians.

But the historic intersection — blocked off to pedestrians forced underground to cross the street since 1979 — reopened last June, several weeks after Gillingham declared an estimated $73 million to repair the concourse below was far too expensive.

The mayor also promised to raise property taxes by 3.5 per cent per year but levied a 5.95 per cent increase, marking Winnipeg’s largest annual tax hike since the 1990s.

Two other major fee hikes took effect April 1, 2025, when the annual per-home garbage fee rose to $254 from $93, and the typical home’s sewer rate increased by $18.67 per month, or $168.03 for the rest of that year.

On Friday, Gillingham said those changes allowed the city to raise much-needed revenue to fund sewage treatment projects, transit security officers, firefighters and police officers.

“As a council, we have had the courage finally to make the decisions to raise the revenue needed for the city, to make sure that we are adding more public service…. All of that costs money at a time when costs for everybody, including the City of Winnipeg, are going up,” he said.

Gillingham declined to offer any hint on the level of future garbage fees or property taxes if he’s re-elected, though he committed to releasing a fully costed platform.

He noted city council has approved a plan to freeze water and sewer rates in 2027, if the province and Ottawa each commit to fund one-third of the cost of the final phase of the overall $3.1-billion North End sewage treatment plant upgrade.

The mayor said city council will continue work to improve the transit system, calling the route network criticized by many riders a “bold” choice that will help prepare Winnipeg for the future.

He said there will be more work to boost public safety.

In 2022, Gillingham won 27.5 per cent of the vote, narrowly beating second-place contender Glen Murray, who finished with 25.3 per cent.

Murray, who served as Winnipeg’s mayor from 1998 to 2004, said Friday that he will not enter the 2026 mayoral race.

The former mayor now divides his time between Winnipeg and Toronto and said he is currently focusing on work related to artificial intelligence and affordable housing.

Former city councillor and provincial cabinet minister Kevin Klein, who claimed third place in the 2022 election, did not respond to requests for comment.

Social enterprise expert Shaun Loney, the fourth-place mayoral candidate in 2022, previously confirmed he will not run again.

Christopher Clacio was the first person to register a mayoral bid on Friday morning; he received less than one per cent of the 2022 vote, as did Don Woodstock, who has also said he plans to run again this year.

Mayoral candidates can register until Sept. 22.

Most of Winnipeg’s 15 city councillors say they plan to seek re-election, though John Orlikow (River Heights-Fort Garry), Emma Durand-Wood (Elmwood-East Kildonan), Brian Mayes (St. Vital) and Russ Wyatt (Transcona) say they are still considering their options.

Coun. Evan Duncan (Charleswood-Tuxedo-Westwood) did not respond to requests for comment.

Candidates can register to run for city councillor positions between June 30 and Sept. 22.

Voters can also expect two key election changes.

The city will replace paper voter-registration records that required workers to manually strike off names and, instead, employ electronic poll books, which were used during advance voting in both 2018 and 2022.

“Electronic poll books are expected to make the voting process on election day quicker and easier. They also allow for eligible voters to cast their ballot at more locations in their ward,” city spokesperson Tamara Forlanski said in an email.

Election day is Oct. 28.

Winnipeg Free Press