Voters Deserve To Know More Than Who’s Dissing Who
Oh Winnipeg – there are days when I truly do despair.
Bad enough that a week of local new was dominated by two whiny, right wing mayoral
candidates - Kevin Klein and Mike Vogiatzakis - accusing each other of being mean, two-
faced and disingenuous.
When you add in the media’s feeding frenzy on the dueling politicos, versus what they
didn’t to cover, you might begin to understand why the cloud of gloom began to descend
on me like a bad migraine.
In fact, while the “Bickersons” were being documented in the press, there were not one, but two, significant pre-election press conferences called which most of the media did not attend.
The first was held on October 5th to publicize the answers to a climate action survey sent
out to every council and mayoral candidate running in the civic election. Questions that
were crafted by ordinary Winnipeggers led by organizations like the Climate Reality Project
and MB Eco-Network
The second event on October 6th included a rally convened outside the legislature, where a few hundred Winnipeggers gathered to demand the restoration of the 50/50 transit deal the province once had with the city. A deal which once saw the province topping up the city’s public transit capital budget by up to 50%.
A chunk of change that would be hugely helpful to our flagging transit system.
So how many news outlets showed up to cover those two events? Well, in the case of the
climate survey response announcement, the answer to would be one - a single reporter
from French language broadcaster, Radio Canada, was on the scene. Meanwhile, the 50/50
rally was covered by two local news agencies, the CBC and City News.
This, when a quick google search popped up two entire pages of news and opinion pieces
on the Vogiatzakis V Klein kerfuffle.
But if I had to pick one of these journalistic oversites, I’d have to say that the failure to
report on the climate survey was the most disturbing from a public “need-to know” POV.
So here’s what most of us didn’t hear about:The climate survey covered both climate resiliency and emission reductions, touching on everything from active transportation, trees and greenspaces to composting, energy use and public transit.
Candidates were asked 10 questions in total, 9 of which began with a Yes/No short answer,
with space left for candidates to elaborate on the subject.
The good news is that an overwhelming majority of council candidates in open races and
those challenging incumbents did respond to the survey. And some of their answers
outlining how the city could reduce emissions and increase resiliency are very much worth
reading.
In fact, in many instances, the answers were not just thoughtful but well informed and
practical. So, for example, when asked about a maximum temperature bylaw to protect
renters from climate-driven extreme heat, almost every one of those respondents was in
favour. Better still, a number of them also cautioned that whatever action was taken should not result in rent hikes, especially in low cost rental spaces.
But here’s the kicker. Only two incumbent councillors, Emma Durand Wood and Cindy
Gilroy, participated in the survey. The rest, including Ross Eadie, Jeff Browaty, Devi Sharma,
Vivian Santos, Matt Allard, Shawn Dobson and Russ Wyatt were all survey “no-shows.”
Indeed the only other incumbent in the race who did respond to the survey was Mayor
Scott Gillingham. So, is it possible that his answers reflect those of the councillors who
failed to respond? I have no idea, but what I do know is this - his responses or perhaps I
should say, “non-responses,” are pretty revealing.
First off, he abstained from giving a direct yes or no answer to 4 of the questions. Secondly,
even when he did say yes, his elaborations were often characterized by a litany of
prevarications, justifications and attempts to lay blame for inaction at the feet of the public
service.
That said, at least he, along with most other mayoral candidates responded to the
questions, unlike Kevin Klein who was a late entry to the race.
But don’t take my word for it. Go to People’s Climate Agenda website and have a look at
what your candidates have to say about climate change. Because given that some 75% of
us are very concerned about its impact, we need a mayor and councillors who are ready to
roll up their sleeves and put climate action on the city’s main agenda.
To learn more about the People’s Climate Mandate survey hit the link and scroll down to
find your candidates’ survey responses: https://www.climatereality.ca/peoples-climate-
mandate.
To read more on the 50/50 campaign head over to: https://climate-action-team-
UPDATE: This week, the CBC announced that only three mayoral candidates who scored more than 10% public support in a poll done a month ago, would be included in their televised debate. Progressive candidate, Noah Redden, who came in fourth has been excluded from the debate. If you disagree with that decision, please let the CBC know @ talkback@cbc.ca or give them a call at 204-788-3641.
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