Winnipeg mayoral candidates make final pitch as voters face a choice between stability and reckless change
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With election day approaching, incumbent mayor Scott Gillingham and several challengers toured Winnipeg, offering competing plans on taxes, recreation and infrastructure while asking residents to choose the city’s direction.
Incumbent mayor Scott Gillingham spent Tuesday visiting all 15 Winnipeg wards to make his final appeal to voters, stressing his experience and his partnerships with senior levels of government and Indigenous governments. He said a proposed 3.5% property-tax increase for next year would protect current service levels and support growth-related investments, and he pledged to keep future tax hikes within about three-quarters of a percentage point of inflation.
Challenger Kevin Klein warned that vote-splitting could help preserve the status quo and urged supporters to back only his campaign. He criticized Gillingham’s tax record, including a 5.95% increase in 2025, and highlighted delays on the East of the Red RecPlex project, saying he would move to start construction before the end of a four-year term. Klein also announced a shift in recreation-program pricing, replacing flat-rate senior discounts with income-based rates and adding discounts for low-income youth, with a detailed implementation plan to be ready within three months of election day.
Other candidates remained active on the trail. Mike Vogiatzakis and Noah Redden, tied for third in the latest poll, held meetings with volunteers and constituents. Vogiatzakis thanked his volunteers, while Redden noted increased interest after his poll showing and held a meet-and-greet at Old Market Square. Don Woodstock released a costed platform that proposes no property-tax increase by cutting external engineering contracts, recycling road materials and freezing water and sewer rates. Umar Hayat pledged to restore St. Boniface Cathedral through heritage grants and community partnerships. Election day is set for Wednesday.