Winnipeg | 2026 Civic Election & City Affairs

[wags_in_the_peg]

Stereo, good on you! I don't live there but would love to follow yo see how it goes!

[biguc]

Good luck, Steve! I hope you win.

Originally Posted by thurmas

Gillingham proposing pop up teams of 30 people 3 units each at 1.1 million a pop responsible for pot hole filling and graffiti clean up. How inspiring ugh

That's not a lot of money to employ 90 people and provide them with materials. How is it a pop up team anyway? Are these just shittily paid jobs doing what already happens anyway? What does graffiti even have to do with anything?

[biguc]

Originally Posted by wags_in_the_peg

correct, aware of the whole Police HQ fiasco. What I'm saying is the "entire" city is not run by mafia

Corruption should be an issue in every election though. Has anyone done anything to prevent another debacle like the Police HQ?

Recent revelations about Public Works acting like a dictatorship that can ignore the instructions they receive from public officials are similarly concerning. The people responsible belong in jail.

[Highwayman]

Originally Posted by thurmas

I suppose would be nice if he addressed the panhandling at every red light intersection as we already have laws on the books to address it we just don't enforce it

Panhandleing could be easy to combat at most intersections. But public works just cannot put two and two together. Make the places where they panhandle impossible to stand at or make them narrow.

I know places like Bishop and St Mary's and Dakota and Bishop are hard to do. But most downtown ones can be solved on the cheap.

[WildCake]

Originally Posted by Highwayman

Panhandleing could be easy to combat at most intersections. But public works just cannot put two and two together. Make the places where they panhandle impossible to stand at or make them narrow.

I know places like Bishop and St Mary's and Dakota and Bishop are hard to do. But most downtown ones can be solved on the cheap.

Is panhandling really an issue? Do panhandlers regularly get aggressive with drivers? Or are they getting hit by cars at a high rate?

Or is it that most people are uncomfortable with the sight of poverty and would rather shove that problem somewhere you can't see.

I have never been or felt threatened from inside my vehicle by the presence of someone asking for change. I am a thin build white male if that helps with my biases.

I feel like anti panhandling laws are on the same scale as jaywalking. Just laws that exist for an I-told-you-so from police if you actually get hurt doing those things, or as a reason for police to ask you to leave if you are actually being threatening.

Redesigning and paving the median of all intersections to make them anti-people would be needlessly costly and on the same problem solving level as removing the KP bus shelters. Those that need spare change will find a way, even walking on the roadway (which I've seen before in the states).

[thurmas]

Originally Posted by WildCake

Is panhandling really an issue? Do panhandlers regularly get aggressive with drivers? Or are they getting hit by cars at a high rate?

Or is it that most people are uncomfortable with the sight of poverty and would rather shove that problem somewhere you can't see.

I have never been or felt threatened from inside my vehicle by the presence of someone asking for change. I am a thin build white male if that helps with my biases.

I feel like anti panhandling laws are on the same scale as jaywalking. Just laws that exist for an I-told-you-so from police if you actually get hurt doing those things, or as a reason for police to ask you to leave if you are actually being threatening.

Redesigning and paving the median of all intersections to make them anti-people would be needlessly costly and on the same problem solving level as removing the KP bus shelters. Those that need spare change will find a way, even walking on the roadway (which I've seen before in the states).

Panhandling is an eyesore and sign of city blight. I don't say shove the people away but offer them social supports while also enforcing laws already on the books so the city doesn't look like a giant empovrished ghetto

[michelleb]

Panhandling is a sign of corruption from the top and apathy from voters. Sorry the cracks are visible to you.

[esquire]

^ On a related note, it was weird to see the Finance Minister Cameron Friesen trumpeting a lobby group's PR gimmick (the CTF's tax freedom day) on social media when we are in a province where so many public services are starved for resources. Homeless encampments abound, unchecked addictions, panhandlers on the street... but hey, at least we have tax freedom day.

Who cares if our "tax freedom day" comes earlier than in New Brunswick or whatever when you look at the awful state of everything here. Roads, health care, social services, you name it... even parks.

One of the more depressing realizations I had lately as a Manitoban was when I was in BC a couple months ago and I stopped to visit Shannon Falls on the Sea to Sky Highway. I had to use the washroom while I was there and I kind of braced myself for the typically awful conditions of a provincial park facility. Lo and behold I was blown away by the BC Parks facilities which looked like something you'd see in a nice hotel. It was kind of like "oh yeah, things can actually be nice"

But at least our tax freedom day comes early

[thurmas]

Originally Posted by esquire

^ On a related note, it was weird to see the Finance Minister Cameron Friesen trumpeting a lobby group's PR gimmick (the CTF's tax freedom day) on social media when we are in a province where so many public services are starved for resources. Homeless encampments abound, unchecked addictions, panhandlers on the street... but hey, at least we have tax freedom day.

Who cares if our "tax freedom day" comes earlier than in New Brunswick or whatever when you look at the awful state of everything here. Roads, health care, social services, you name it... even parks.

One of the more depressing realizations I had lately as a Manitoban was when I was in BC a couple months ago and I stopped to visit Shannon Falls on the Sea to Sky Highway. I had to use the washroom while I was there and I kind of braced myself for the typically awful conditions of a provincial park facility. Lo and behold I was blown away by the BC Parks facilities which looked like something you'd see in a nice hotel. It was kind of like "oh yeah, things can actually be nice"

But at least our tax freedom day comes early

Thats what happens when the pcs starve every department to fight the deficit only in the long run creates a longer list of items needing repairs in the province. Thankfully they only have 1 more year and then the electorate will boot them out.

[Danny D Oh]

Originally Posted by esquire

^ On a related note, it was weird to see the Finance Minister Cameron Friesen trumpeting a lobby group's PR gimmick (the CTF's tax freedom day) on social media when we are in a province where so many public services are starved for resources. Homeless encampments abound, unchecked addictions, panhandlers on the street... but hey, at least we have tax freedom day.

Who cares if our "tax freedom day" comes earlier than in New Brunswick or whatever when you look at the awful state of everything here. Roads, health care, social services, you name it... even parks.

One of the more depressing realizations I had lately as a Manitoban was when I was in BC a couple months ago and I stopped to visit Shannon Falls on the Sea to Sky Highway. I had to use the washroom while I was there and I kind of braced myself for the typically awful conditions of a provincial park facility. Lo and behold I was blown away by the BC Parks facilities which looked like something you'd see in a nice hotel. It was kind of like "oh yeah, things can actually be nice"

But at least our tax freedom day comes early

They've also done nothing to actually leave more money with Manitobans aside from the rich. They've cut PST, which is really only a tax cut for people buying cars and boats. Price elasticity tells us that in general sales/consumption tax cuts just increase profits of retailers as they raise prices around them. It's why this isn't an answer to inflation surrounding fuel prices.

They refuse to cut income taxes aside from a slight rise in the basic personal amount and raising all brackets meaning those at the top pay less, they rebate property taxes to landowners which on the whole just gives more capital to the people who already have a lot of it as it is literally indexed to the value of the property.

All the while our public assets have been allowed to burn to the ground and most of us have seen a decrease in real income. The government has borrowed now over a billion dollars to support tax rebates to landowners over the past two years, will be nearly $2 billion by the next election. I'm one of them, but for the $1200 cost to rebate me $900 plus the continued ruin of my community I'd make do without that rebate. Pretty clear who this government is working for...it's not the typical Manitoban, the taxpayer, it's the families swimming in generational wealth who have no interest in our communities, who just come here to go to the lake and laugh at how 🞵🞵🞵🞵🞵🞵 Winnipeg is on the way to and from Toronto/Florida or the next tropical paradise. Cripes our current and last premier are in that camp.

[thurmas]

Originally Posted by Danny D Oh

They've also done nothing to actually leave more money with Manitobans aside from the rich. They've cut PST, which is really only a tax cut for people buying cars and boats. Price elasticity tells us that in general sales/consumption tax cuts just increase profits of retailers as they raise prices around them. It's why this isn't an answer to inflation surrounding fuel prices.

They refuse to cut income taxes aside from a slight rise in the basic personal amount and raising all brackets meaning those at the top pay less, they rebate property taxes to landowners which on the whole just gives more capital to the people who already have a lot of it as it is literally indexed to the value of the property.

All the while our public assets have been allowed to burn to the ground and most of us have seen a decrease in real income. The government has borrowed now over a billion dollars to support tax rebates to landowners over the past two years, will be nearly $2 billion by the next election. I'm one of them, but for the $1200 cost to rebate me $900 plus the continued ruin of my community I'd make do without that rebate. Pretty clear who this government is working for...it's not the typical Manitoban, the taxpayer, it's the families swimming in generational wealth who have no interest in our communities, who just come here to go to the lake and laugh at how 🞵🞵🞵🞵🞵🞵 Winnipeg is on the way to and from Toronto/Florida or the next tropical paradise. Cripes our current and last premier are in that camp.

Exactly

[blueandgoldguy]

Originally Posted by Danny D Oh

They've also done nothing to actually leave more money with Manitobans aside from the rich. They've cut PST, which is really only a tax cut for people buying cars and boats. Price elasticity tells us that in general sales/consumption tax cuts just increase profits of retailers as they raise prices around them. It's why this isn't an answer to inflation surrounding fuel prices.

They refuse to cut income taxes aside from a slight rise in the basic personal amount and raising all brackets meaning those at the top pay less, they rebate property taxes to landowners which on the whole just gives more capital to the people who already have a lot of it as it is literally indexed to the value of the property.

All the while our public assets have been allowed to burn to the ground and most of us have seen a decrease in real income. The government has borrowed now over a billion dollars to support tax rebates to landowners over the past two years, will be nearly $2 billion by the next election. I'm one of them, but for the $1200 cost to rebate me $900 plus the continued ruin of my community I'd make do without that rebate. Pretty clear who this government is working for...it's not the typical Manitoban, the taxpayer, it's the families swimming in generational wealth who have no interest in our communities, who just come here to go to the lake and laugh at how 🞵🞵🞵🞵🞵🞵 Winnipeg is on the way to and from Toronto/Florida or the next tropical paradise. Cripes our current and last premier are in that camp.

That was one of the reasons I voted for the conservatives back in 2016 and they didn't do nearly enough there.

Sellinger was jet-setting off to tropical paradises on a frequent basis? I'm trying to remember...

[thurmas]

And we still have the stupid payroll tax one of the biggest disincentives for larger companies to ever setup shop in manitoba

[Danny D Oh]

Originally Posted by blueandgoldguy

That was one of the reasons I voted for the conservatives back in 2016 and they didn't do nearly enough there.

Sellinger was jet-setting off to tropical paradises on a frequent basis? I'm trying to remember...

Pallister and Stefanson.

Stefanson is the master of disappearing from public view for weeks at a time with no explanation even back to her time as a minister. Media doesn't go after her as hard as they did Pallister, think they are as apathetic at this point as everyone just running the clock down to 2023.

[bomberjet]

Filling potholes? Any election issue? How 🞵🞵🞵🞵🞵🞵🞵 low can we sink? lol $1 million dollar issue is so small in the larger City view it's laughable.

This is what I mean when there is no vision. Potholes?

[davequanbury]

The city's 1995 panhandling law always struck me as odd. Link below for anyone interested.

https://clkapps.winnipeg.ca/dmis/documents/docext/bl/1995/1995.6555.pdf

Why would fining someone $1,000 for panhandling solve anything?

In the old days, there was a vagrancy law... If you were caught in Winnipeg without a job or a home you could be charged with vagrancy. You'd be remanded to jail and then go before a magistrate who would ban you from the city for 6 months. Trouble is, the time spent in remand was room and board -which was actually a pretty good deal for a 'vagrant'

I think that for all the annoyance and frustration about panhandling and homelessness, society has been unsuccessful at solving it through criminalization.

[thurmas]

The panhandling never was much of an issue until the last 5 years or so where its just exploded city wide

[bomberjet]

Is it actually an issue though?

[thurmas]

Originally Posted by bomberjet

Is it actually an issue though?

I don't think it helps the city thats already been struggling with image issues and I don’t think its something people like to see and deal with everyday. I don't see the benefit of leaving it be or letting it grow

[bomberjet]

You just look and nod and they move on. Image issue sure.