1. Municipalities across the country are increasingly being delegated the Crown's Duty to Consult Indigenous communities. What steps would you take as Mayor to not just accommodate the Duty to Consult in Winnipeg's administration of lands and resources but do better?

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Chris Clacio: The steps I vowed to make as I ran for the Office of the Mayor to not just accommodate the Crown's Duty to Consult in Winnipeg's administration of city resources and lands for urban indigenous people but to do better and improve upon in a post-covid world is the formal creation of a Provincial Constitution. Similar to the Province of British Columbia which is the only province in Canada that has its own established Provincial Constitution or a State Constitution like some states in the United States. The creation of a provincial constitution would redefine the city of Winnipeg relationship within the Winnipeg Metro Region aka the future Capital Planning Region with the collaboration with First Nations and Metis leadership from the Southern Chief Organization, Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak, Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs, and Manitoba Metis Federation. I believe the next mayor needs to think about the future not 4, 10, or 25 years into the future but for the next 10,000 years. Regional Agencies and Governments will replace the need for Federal and Provincial Governments.

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Scott Gillingham: I had the privilege of working with the Winnipeg Metro Region as city council’s representative. Through this important work, I became involved in the Collaborative Leadership Initiative (CLI) in conjunction with the Centre for Indigenous Environmental Resources with works with elected leaders from 11 Indigenous governments and 16 municipalities to sign a historic intergovernmental agreement that has encouraged numerous joint initiatives across the Manitoba landscape. CLI Manitoba advanced the development of a reconciliation framework while building a co-governance table where government-to-government decisions are made. Having elected decision-makers at the table was a critical factor in its success. This meant consultation with Indigenous leaders on land and resources before decisions were made. I believe that should be a template for what we can achieve at city hall when I am mayor. 

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Shaun Loney: Please see our Reconciliation Action Plan.

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Glen Murray: This past July, I announced my five campaign priorities. One of those five commitments was “a bold new partnership in shared governance with Indigenous Peoples”. I will do much more than just “adequate consultation”. My vision is, by 2040, to see an urban Indigenous renaissance that is fueling a new energy in Winnipeg. I want to build on the foundation of the original land treaties and First Nations expressions of sovereignty over 20 years ago, and achieve new agreements between First Nations, urban Indigenous people, and the city government. I want Winnipeg to be driving a new partnership with First Nations, urban Indigenous peoples, and municipal governments. And I will ensure these efforts are properly funded.

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2. There are many proven policy options that show great promise for fixing many of Winnipeg's biggest problems and which would result in net savings for taxpayers, such as Housing First, safe injection sites, and comprehensive Rapid Transit. The problem is that the results are long-term and aren't attractive to politicians on the municipal election cycle. As Mayor, would you pursue long-term objectives that are not likely to bear fruit until after your tenure? If so, which are your biggest priorities?

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CC: I believe my response to your first question answers this second question. Back in 2014 I made a vow that I would run for public office for 2014, 2018, 2022, 2026, and 2030. I ran as a school trustee in 2014 for the 7 oaks school division ward 2, I was able to register my mayoral campaign back in 2018, and in 2022 I have finally made it onto the ballot for the 2022 mayoral election. Win or lose this election I will once again plan to run for the office of the mayor in 2026 to hold both citizens and the next mayor accountable for what they have committed to do. And when the 2030 municipal election happens I plan to support all citizens who want to run for public office as a supporter and helper of their campaigns. I call myself a civic practitioner and a policy entrepreneur and so my biggest priorities in this 2022 election is engaging all citizens about what Civics is and why it's an important asset for any citizen who is interested in running for public office when they plan to run.

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SG: As mayor, I am advocating for many of these ideas, and I think many of them will bear fruit immediately and in the future.  As mayor, I am proposing a rapid housing program similar to Toronto, Vancouver and Surrey.  I would secure preapproval for six modular housing site on city land that would provide 270 units of safe housing for homeless people struggling with mental health and addiction challenges.

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I had already helped to secure federal funding for 136 units and those are being built now.  I also want to accelerate a pipeline of housing sites – to access $1.5 billion in rapid housing funds from the federal government and then look for follow up funding as well.

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SL: I am not a career politician. I am running for Mayor precisely to have a long term impact. I would argue that the population is interested in acting long term, we just haven't had candidates willing to show some courage to act in everyone's long term interest. I have proposed supportive housing and helping those who are currently experiencing homelessness in Winnipeg. I am in favor of supervised consumption sites. Homelessness is very complex. It will no doubt take some time to ensure those experiencing homelessness are supported and housed appropriately, but the alternative is business as usual… which is not acceptable. Please see our homeless plan.

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GM: My five campaign priorities are anchored to one long-term objective: what kind of Winnipeg do we all want in 2040? 

 

I’ve committed to full electrification of Winnipeg Transit by 2030. I’ve committed to make Winnipeg Canada’s leading green, innovation economy. I’ve committed to invest the upfront funding required to break the cycle of addictions and poverty that will both save lives and reduce costs in the long run. I’ve committed to putting Winnipeg back on a financially sustainable track, where government investments build the tax base, not the tax burden. 

 

And I’ve also committed to short-term objectives:

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“I will introduce a quick-start program for our first 100 days in office, and lay out the first of four, five-year planning targets. We will be more than 50% of the way to our 20-year goals within 10 years.”

Leadership means doing the right thing in the long run, even if it’s hard at first. We need to get Winnipeg back on track, and I’ll get the job done.

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3. As the Mayor of this City, what specific steps will you take to advance Reconciliation beyond what any of the current administrations have done to date?

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CC: Steps - Beyond Truth and Reconciliation towards Justice and Healing

1. Complete restructuring of civic governance and public administration based on reallocating and applying city resources to increase access to local economic development moving away from talking about reconciliation in terms of politics and pivot towards discussing reconciliation in terms of good economics that balances western ways of knowing/being with indigenous ways of being/knowing.

• Move a motion to direct the Office of Civic Engagement to research and develop an administration review report to better allocate and address inefficiencies within city services, departments, and regional coordination before renewing the multi-year 2024-2027 budget process.

  • Creation of a CAO/Board of (Directors) Commissioners hybrid model for senior administration in the City of Winnipeg.

    • Chief Financial Officer, Head of Corporate Finance

    • City Assessor

    • Director, Legal Services and City Solicitor

    • Director, Assets & Project Management

    • Manager, Corporate Initiatives and Administration into (Corporate Social Responsibility)

    • Manager, Strategic Planning

  • Creation of a special operating agency of Transit Oriented Development Agency (Department of Transit-oriented Planning, Property, & Development) similar to Translink from Metro Vancouver

    • Director, Planning, Property & Development

    • Director, Transit

    • Director, Public Works

    • Director, Water and Waste into (Ecosystems Services)

  • Department of Local Economic Development

    • Director, Community Services into (Citizen and Advocacy Services)

    • Director, Customer Service & Communications

    • Director, Human Resource Services

    • Director, Innovation & Technology

    • Manager, Indigenous Relations

    • Manager, Economic Development and Policy

    • Creation of a manager of housing and wrap around services

  • Department of Crisis Management (Emergency Preparedness)

    • Law enforcement

    • Fire and Paramedics

• Move a motion at Executive Policy Committee to direct the Office of the CAO to restructure the 6 Standing Policy Committees into 4 committees before renewing the multi-year 2024-2027 budget process.

  • Standing Policy Committee on Civic Innovation Finance (Formerly Finance and Innovation/Economics)

    • Mayor's Office, Chief Administrative Officer, Board of (Directors) Commissioners

  • Standing Policy Committee on Water and Ecosystems Services (Formerly Water, Waste and Riverbanks)

    • Transit-Oriented Development Agency (Department of Transit-Oriented Planning, Property & Development)

  • Standing Policy Committee on Local Economic Development (Formerly Protection, Community Services and Parks)

    • Department of Local Economic Development

  • Standing Policy Committee on Asset Planning and Project Management (Formerly Infrastructure Renewal and Public Works, Property/Heritage Development)

    • Department of Crisis Management (Emergency Preparedness)

 

2. Creation of Formal Elders Council of Knowledge Keepers and Policy their role...

• Similar to the Governance Committee of Council.

  • Create a partnership with Circle of Life Thunderbird House for city funding.

  • Convert the governance committee into a committee of the whole.

  • Funded through the mayor's office.

    • Offer mentorship to the mayor's office and the governance committee.

 

3. Creation of a Matriarch Committee of Council their role...

• Updating the City-Wide Winnipeg Safe Cities Initiative Strategy.

• Updating the Winnipeg Indigenous Accord to include a creation of a new fund that new and old partners must contribute a certain level of funds as part of being a signatory.

• Implementation of the TRC Calls to Action and the Reclaiming Power and Place the final report of MMIWG in a local context.

• Expanding (rebrand) and funding "The Poverty Reduction Strategy" towards "Abolishing Poverty Strategy."

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SG: Reconciliation is a daily affirmation in the workplace. As mayor, I would work with our administration to ensure that there is adequate diversity, equity and equality training in place and I would also work with Elders and experts to determine goals that should be set while I am mayor. I will also work to ensure Naawi - Oodena gets built on the lands of the former Kapyong Barracks.

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SL: Please see our Reconciliation Action Plan.

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GM: I've committed to “a bold new partnership in shared governance with Indigenous Peoples”. 

 

The first step will be to sit down with Indigenous leaders to craft a shared a shared vision and develop a plan. 

 

I have also committed to restoring Thunderbird House. Twenty-two years after it opened ,it now sits fenced, padlocked, and derelict. It is shocking and unacceptable, and a symbol of systemic racism.

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4. As the Mayor of this City, what specific steps will you take to help promote density, affordability, and accessibility for all?

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CC: Steps

1. Appointment of all 4 Key Executive Policy Committee Members be female-passing elected officials, 

2. Appointment of a Female-passing elected official to be the chair of the Police Board and to ask all newly and current elected officials to select the mayor to be the second council member on the police board,

3. The Creation of a Matriarch Committee of Council and Role...

   • Updating the City-Wide Winnipeg Safe Cities Initiative Strategy.

   • Updating the Winnipeg Indigenous Accord to include a creation of a new fund that new and old partners must contribute a certain level of funds as part of being a signatory.

   • Implementation of the TRC Calls to Action and the Reclaiming Power and Place the final report of MMIWG in a local context.

   • Expanding (rebrand) and funding "The Poverty Reduction Strategy" towards "Abolishing Poverty Strategy."

4. Hiring the city of Winnipegs' very first female police chief through the Police Board. 

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SG: There’s much that city hall can do to address the issue of density and one of the areas that this can be addressed is the area along Pembina Highway and Portage avenue. The recent debate over infill housing focused on residential areas, but for me those corridors are “low-hanging fruit” because they are commercial corridors that have an ample supply of surface lots and underbuilt commercial sites that could also support more housing.

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Pembina is well served by transit and active transportation routes, while Portage is a major transit corridor. New mixed-use zoning rules for these corridors would allow for taller housing construction, as long as these sites maintained a commercial street front. If successful, the strategy would be applied on other major corridors over time. As mayor, I would also allow residential construction over medium and large retail malls, as-of-right, conditional on setbacks to minimize impacts on nearby residents. These sites already have services, ample parking and transit connectivity, and residential projects are already taking off as a trend in other North American cities. There should also be a new tender for affordable housing construction over Portage Place. A recent effort to build more than 500 new homes over Portage Place faltered amid confusion over affordable housing incentives offered by each government. As Mayor, I would work with other governments, the Forks (as the landowner for the site) and Indigenous partners to tender a common aid package to any qualified bidder.

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I will have city staff immediately begin to investigate what can be done to increase office-to-residential conversions in the downtown.

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SL: Making infill development easier, and the establishment of a Community housing Land Trust.

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GM: I will listen to and consider all ideas that help ensure everyone has the key to a safe home, and can move around the city comfortably on transit. The “sweeping governance review” that I proposed in July included: 

• “Review the role of neighbourhood housing plans, community development agencies, resident and neighbourhood associations, community centre boards and the state of neighbourhood recreation, housing and safety plans. Review successful neighbourhood initiatives, especially neighbourhoods designated under trilateral government housing initiatives, and recommend strategies to strengthen and resource neighbourhood-level renewal and development initiatives, planning and governance.”

 

5. As the Mayor of the City, what specific steps will you take to address Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women and Girls and Two Spirited Folkx (MMIWG2S) as well as Murdered and Missing Indigenous Men and Boys (MMIMB)?

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CC: Steps

1. Appointment of all 4 Key Executive Policy Committee Members be female-passing elected officials, 

2. Appointment of a Female-passing elected official to be the chair of the Police Board and to ask all newly and current elected officials to select the mayor to be the second council member on the police board,

3. The Creation of a Matriarch Committee of Council and Role...

   • Updating the City-Wide Winnipeg Safe Cities Initiative Strategy.

   • Updating the Winnipeg Indigenous Accord to include a creation of a new fund that new and old partners must contribute a certain level of funds as part of being a signatory.

   • Implementation of the TRC Calls to Action and the Reclaiming Power and Place the final report of MMIWG in a local context.

   • Expanding (rebrand) and funding "The Poverty Reduction Strategy" towards "Abolishing Poverty Strategy."

4. Hiring the city of Winnipegs' very first female police chief through the Police Board. 

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SG: This has been a horrible stain on Canadian history that cannot be allowed to continue, and the Tina Fontaine murder was a turning point in Winnipeg’s history. Our policy decisions are informed by the recommendations of Reclaiming Power and Place Calls for Justice and as mayor, I will work to ensure that we maintain the important recommendations from both the inquiry and those calls for justice. We must work with Indigenous elders and community leaders so that marginalized women, girls and boys are kept safe. 

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SL: Shaun is proposing support of educational campaigns such as the moosehide campaign and encourages services such as IKWE Safe Ride.

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GM: I am committed to transformative change to end systemic racism and violence against Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA+ people. I look forward to working with City officials, and Indigenous leaders to develop Winnipeg’s Action Plan, and advance reconciliation.

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6. As the Mayor of the City, what specific steps will you take to promote development in our downtown core?

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CC: Steps

1. Move a motion at Executive Policy Committee to direct the Office of the CAO, the Office of Civic Engagement, the land use and zoning division of the city planning department to merge or abolish the downtown zoning by-law, removing parking standards, abolishing single family zoning to be replaced by mixed use zoning, including inclusionary zoning like density bonusing and creation of a infill big scale and high rise residential developments guidelines.

2. Build Partnerships with the non-profit housing sector to convert all surface parking lots in the downtown to mixed use housing developments to put into practice a housing first strategy for the downtown.

3. Repurposing unused downtown office spaces to be renovated for adaptive reuse to be redesigned to rent geared to income households.

4. Expand the spirit and the ideas of Innovation Alley into the downtown centre to be the entrepreneurial hub of the world for research, innovation, civic governance, and the arts.

5. Establishing more active living spaces in downtown with a nightlife strategy and making downtown a complete neighbourhood with a grocery store.

6. Promote and invest in the technological gig and shared knowledge economies of the future through building and developing a downtown that is welcoming and invites all citizens to play, live, or work no matter the race, country, religion, or gender. Downtown is the starting place.

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SG: I will build on the work I’ve done as council finance chair to fund and implement the Downtown Recovery Plan established by the Downtown Winnipeg Biz. COVID has been tough on businesses and in particular the downtown, but the Downtown Winnipeg Biz is best situated to handle and respond to the vagaries of the economic downturn. Its really the champion for the downtown and as mayor I will continue to support the professionals who work for the organization and their goals. My plans include, redevelopment of surface parking lots, office-to-residential conversions, tax increment financing incentives for development of affordable housing, enhanced streetscaping and more frequent/reliable Transit service.  

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SL: The future of downtown Winnipeg is very important. To make downtown a place where people actually want to be, first and foremost we need to address public safety, and that starts with homelessness, specifically unsheltered people occupying bus shelters. We have a plan that empowers expert nonprofits to ramp up their capacity and good work. Public safety also increases with the number of people in the area. We will establish a position dubbed the “nightlife mayor” to champion all things fun after 5pm and make sure that happens safely. Think about the vibe during “nuit blanche”, it's like a different city, we could use more of that. Lastly, I would encourage more people to make downtown their home. The more people that live here the safer and more attractive it becomes.

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GM: I've released several components on my approach to downtown development:

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Commitments from my statement on Portage and Main: 

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“There are creative options available for all key parts of downtown that require comprehensive planning, proper community engagement, and a vision for the next chapter in our revitalization.

We need to build a beautiful and exciting city that includes a vibrant downtown, and we need to complete an intensive downtown planning process to make this happen. The current plan has been in place for 20 years, and it’s time for a renewal. I am going to be guided and make sure that City Council is guided by the results of this planning as determined by what Winnipeggers view as the priorities for downtown. It will be my job to make sure that everyone has an unfettered view and understanding of the evidence, the options, and the choices that Winnipeggers can make so that they are fully aware and engaged to best form their opinions.

Our downtown plan has to deal with, among other things, rebuilding the downtown tax base and reversing years of underdevelopment in the central business district in and around Portage and Main. The solution has to achieve three goals:

1. A healthy environment for street level business and stimulating infill development on excessive amount of underdeveloped properties, including surface parking lots,

2. Reducing traffic congestion and making the area better connected and more walkable, and

3. A comprehensive review that will be part of our new downtown planning process.”

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Additional commitments from my news release announcing a sweeping review of Winnipeg’s governance:

Undertake a review of CentreVenture with a focus on restoring its past authority, budgets and capacity to deliver redevelopment and residential infill projects in the city centre using the successful precinct approach to downtown renewal, as laid out by Ken Greenberg in the Original Centre Plan Strategy. Also, recommend a renewed mandate for the development agency consistent with the Complete Communities direction strategy in Our Winnipeg. Retool and enhance CentreVenture’s ability relative to best and leading practices in other jurisdictions.

Further review the feasibility of merging the Winnipeg Parking Authority with CentreVenture under the framework of a mobility agency inclusive of parking within a downtown mobility mandate and utilizing CentreVenture’s restored financing authority to further leverage downtown residential infill and mobility, transit, cycling, car share, parking and walkability strategies. Given the Parking Authority operates primarily in the downtown, assess the feasibility of moving its residential permit and non-downtown services to the Public Works Department.

 

Transit commitments in previous news release. 

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7. As the Mayor of the City, how do you plan on supporting Indigenous communities with rebuilding economies that have been lost all these years?

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CC: Through the Department of Local Economic Development and the Office of Civic Engagement the city of Winnipeg will formulate the Creation of the intercultural cities strategy in collaboration for the arts, recreational (Winnipeg Community Sport Policy) and leisure programs

• More investments in arenas, civic centres, libraries, museums, pools, cemeteries, parks, the archives and the creation of a municipal ID card to access all city services by updating the access without fear policy.

• Creation of a National Basketball Association team for Winnipeg, MB.

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SG: I am fully committed to more seeing more Indigenous-led economic development in the city. I will work with Indigenous leaders pursuing Treaty Land Entitlement opportunities to realize economic development that will transform our city. The benefits will be felt by both Indigenous and nonIndigenous Winnipeggers alike. The recently adopted municipal development service agreement, approved for Naawi Oodena while I was on council, establishes a servicing framework that can be used as a template for future Indigenous-led economic developments. As Mayor, the development of Naawi Oodena will be a priority.

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SL: Shaun has listened to many Indigenous people about how colonization has impacted them. He has been endorsed by Mae Louise Cambell. Reconciliation is an ongoing process that Shaun is committed to.

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GM: I am committed to transformative change to end systemic racism and violence against Indigenous women and girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA+ people. I look forward to working with City officials, and Indigenous leaders to advance Winnipeg’s reconciliation path.