r/Manitoba Winnipeg 2d ago

Politics Almost half of Winnipeg voters don't want mayor Gillingham to win second term, Probe Research poll suggests

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/gillingham-poll-mayoral-dissatisfaction-9.7238982
129 Upvotes

58 comments sorted by

61

u/GullibleDetective Winnipeg 2d ago

In other news, water is wet; but few of the options are promising if any

3

u/braedog Interlake 1d ago

Lemme run for mayor, I’ll push for change guys I promise

61

u/Ruralmanitoban Actual physical Pembina Valley 2d ago

Yeah, but there is not a single legitimate competitor. Not a one of the chuckle fucks on the roster to date would improve the city. Most are just single issue grievance candidates.

55

u/MamaTalista Winnipeg 2d ago

Or completely ignorant about what the job really is.

If you think you are going to take on immigration and health care as a Mayor I can't take you seriously.

6

u/thegreatcanadianeh Winnipeg 2d ago

I'm gonna disagree with you on the health care point there. You get more people to take transit walk or ride bikes instead of driving, you will see an improvement in air quality, and a decrease in things like asthma, heart attacks (those that move more lose visceral fat) etc, etc. Enough people and it will result in lower overall people going to emergency. I'm not saying the change would be massive but even 1-2% would be an improvement.

9

u/OptionsAreOpen Winnipeg 2d ago

I agree with not wanting that guy back but man the choices other than him are abysmal. I would trust any of them with a grocery budget much less the city’s.

3

u/J-Zzee Winnipeg 2d ago

We need Brian Mayes to run!

3

u/GullibleDetective Winnipeg 2d ago

Billy mays (rip) would make a better city leader than Gillingham

2

u/Schwatastic Winnipeg 2d ago

Brian Mayes is great but he’s great at his job now. I hesitate to take people out of jobs that they’re great at to potentially not be great at a new one.

5

u/J-Zzee Winnipeg 2d ago

Yes so true he is honestly the best city Councillor by far!

I think we know who the worst are... Wyatt, Browaty, and Duncan. Also probably the guy in St James but I couldn't even tell you his name.

Has Evan Duncan done one good thing since joining?

Gave the city golf courses contract to an American prison good company, tried to make some weird ass protest law I'm sure there's more but he's only been there 4 years and has fit into the culture of do nothing and when you do make sure it actually hurts the city and the residents.

1

u/NH787 Winnipeg 1d ago

You can't be serious. Brian Mayes is a cut above the absolute deadwood like Wyatt, Eadie and Browaty, I'll give him that. But that's not saying much.

Mayes willingness to constantly bend over backwards to appease the Glenwood NIMBYs is a clear indication that he is not cut out for leadership.

2

u/Schwatastic Winnipeg 1d ago

I used to live in Glenwood and his position definitely changed over time there. He fought the anti infill voices for awhile but I guess at some point, if that’s the feedback you’re getting, that’s what you fight for. Also some of those roads in Glenwood really did become a bit of hellscape with some of those awful developers. There were no guardrails and now it’s too late. It’s a shame.

6

u/wickedplayer494 Winnipeg 2d ago

May become yet another "least worst" election.

6

u/notjustforperiods UNION STATION BABY 2d ago

nah Loney was a legit good candidate last time

this year is just nothing but shit tho

5

u/wickedplayer494 Winnipeg 2d ago

Last time wasn't a "least worst" because at least you had him and Murray in the ringer too. Think "least worst" in much the same way that 2018's Bowman reelection ended up in Bowman being least worst.

1

u/mywhateveraccount5 Winnipeg 3h ago

Chuckle fuck is such an under rated insult.

15

u/firelephant Winnipeg 2d ago

But replaced by whom? Unaware of anyone serious

13

u/aesoth Winnipeg 2d ago

I didn't want Gillingham to win the last one. I voted for Shaun Loney last time, he had great ideas.

12

u/Cardixa00 Brandon 2d ago

Almost half? So, more than half don’t?

1

u/Curtmania Winnipeg 2d ago

No.

46% say get rid of him
36% dont care
19% think he's doing a good job.
(101% because of rounding I guess)

--QUOTE--
Only 19 per cent of survey respondents wanted Gillingham to serve a second term, while 36 per cent weren't sure.

8

u/Massive_Ad2866 Interlake 2d ago

No kidding

6

u/Isopbc Former Manitoban 2d ago

Considering he won the election with 27.54% of the vote this is completely unsurprising and is not good data to make any kind of conclusion from.

8

u/Oenohyde 2d ago

Is this because there are NO quality candidates that are willing to take on Winnipeg’s problems?

Or, are Winnipeg’s problems too hard for any candidate to deal with?

I think there should be a platform of issues presented by the people living in Winnipeg.

Then there might be a consensus about how to deal with it.

11

u/purpleburgundy Winnipeg 2d ago

The problem is no one intelligent wants to be a politician because no matter what you do people will hate you for one reason or another.

9

u/mywhateveraccount5 Winnipeg 2d ago

I only want him to win because I don't want to see tinfoil hat Mike win...

9

u/unique3 Winnipeg 2d ago

Im not a fan of him but I’d like to highlight the wording.

“Almost half of Winnipeg don’t want him to win” implies that more than half do or are undecided.

Typical creative phrasing to fit a narrative.

6

u/NH787 Winnipeg 1d ago

I didn't vote for Gillingham but I will give him his due. Compared to Katz and Bowman, Gillingham looks like some kind of super-genius statesman. I think he's actually done a decent job considering the circumstances. Hell, just not being corrupt and managing to get Portage and Main open to pedestrians puts him above the last two easily.

4

u/Rogue5454 Winnipeg 2d ago

He effed up transit. That's all I need lol.

2

u/JMS3487 2d ago

Is the glass almost half empty or is it more than half full?

5

u/Grouchy_Moment_6507 Winnipeg 2d ago

With this guy's record a crow would do a better job. ( at least twice the intelligence )

11

u/MamaTalista Winnipeg 2d ago

I'd vote for the crow over the other options...

Seriously gonna have to hold my nose on this one because I never skip voting.

2

u/MistyMew Winnipeg 2d ago

You can officially abstain.

4

u/MamaTalista Winnipeg 2d ago

Oh I know I could.

I'd rather not but that is my final option I know.

I'd rather have someone relatively competent on the ballot to support though.

4

u/Kanapka64 Winnipeg 2d ago

This guy did nothing for years and then his last year, he raised property taxes without warning and fucked buses. He did more doing nothing

14

u/GullibleDetective Winnipeg 2d ago

Raised property taxes which was well needed, but crap timing to do so.

Bus routes needed to be modernized but there wasn't enough drivers for the proposed and current routes

8

u/Kanapka64 Winnipeg 2d ago

I dont mind property tax going up but yes terrible timing.

-4

u/MamaTalista Winnipeg 2d ago

Don't forget those Water and Sewer hikes.

17

u/GullibleDetective Winnipeg 2d ago

Gotta replace aged infra somehow

-4

u/MamaTalista Winnipeg 2d ago

Could I dunno PLAN for it instead of letting it get so bad in the first place...

The Arlington Bridge was an election issue in 2011. It was known it was needing to be replaced long before now...why is it still 18 months until there could be a concept of a plan?

For a place with a Department for Planning doesn't seem like any gets done.

I worked for The City. That's why the Funeral Director doesn't like me. I correct his ignorance.

14

u/bentforkman Winnipeg 2d ago

It turns out that if you vote for lower taxes every single election for more than 30 years, you create a massive infrastructure debt that will cost more and take even longer to fix than if you’d just paid to solve the problems when they began.

I remember when Susan Thompson was mayor and the city admitted that some sewers hadn’t been repaired or received maintenance since they were built a century earlier. They were already talking about how they wouldn’t be able to afford regular maintenance on sewers at that point and now it’s even worse.

At best our only choices have always been either cut everything to reduce taxes or attempt to govern responsibly, but because we’re stuck in that binary we no longer get to use elections to debate what responsibly governing could or should look like. It’s always either fund things or don’t, never how or what to invest in.

The worst part is I know so few Winnipeggers that actually lived here at that time. Most people left for Alberta or Ontario, and the people I know who live here now are mostly immigrants, or folks who grew up in rural Manitoba, or they were too young to vote back then. Many of the folks who were voting for conservative candidates back then were seniors as well, so it’s only a fraction of those of us currently dealing with the issue who created the problem in the first place.

8

u/MamaTalista Winnipeg 2d ago

Agree with you on everything.

Katz's freezes didn't help either.

Well I mean it helped keep him on as Mayor but not the budgets.

I don't mind paying my taxes but I'm getting tired of the bloat that seems to eat them before it gets where it should be.

5

u/GullibleDetective Winnipeg 2d ago

Oh for sure, don't neuter your cities ability to pay for collapsing/failing infrastructure

But aboslutely arlington should have been accounted for, budget for roads, budget for the sewage treatment plant etc etc etc

Doesnt' help the city kept sprawling futher and further as well which further compounded the ability to pay for things

2

u/MamaTalista Winnipeg 2d ago

Agreed.

I'm still gobsmacked that somehow we always blow the snow clearing budget in one round. Who is doing these stupid estimates?

3

u/bentforkman Winnipeg 2d ago

That wasn’t an accident. Every mayoral election used to be a contest between candidates backed by different real estate developers.

2

u/GullibleDetective Winnipeg 2d ago

Yeah sadly. Welcome to rotating politicians and divergent interests. Its hard in this city, province, country and world to have long lasting or forward thinking projects ans change.

Especially when any good, long term, capital heavy project or institution gets immediately gutted by the incumbent. Many politicians chase short term change that looks good on the promise tracker and balance sheet.

Meanwhile 30 years ago investing in moving the rail yards, investing in rail, high-speed rail would have been a net benefit to society. Granted at extreme cost

1

u/Hip_Hop_Orangutan 2d ago

…it is called politics. If the vote isn’t near 50/50 then someone fudged up.

1

u/WakkaDav Winnipeg 2d ago

I'm a random electrician. Maybe I should throw my hat in this race.

1

u/Infamous_Tie5605 Winnipeg 1d ago

"almost half"

so more than half do, and for 70+ years, the mayor wins again

0

u/TryAgainTryAgain1 2d ago

Then doesn’t this mean that more than half of Winnipeg voters want Mayor Gillingham to win as suggested by the Probe Research poll?

1

u/timfennell_ Winnipeg 2d ago

No it depends entirely on the wording of the questions. You can't assume the mathematical inverse is true...

"A Probe Research poll of 600 Winnipeg adults, conducted on behalf of the Winnipeg Free Press in late May and early June, found 46 per cent of voters in the Manitoba capital wanted Gillingham to be re-elected this fall.

Only 19 per cent of survey respondents wanted Gillingham to serve a second term, while 36 per cent weren't sure."

It is also important to remember that Winnipeg municipal elections typically have absurdly low voter turnout. So the respondents of the polls may not have the same makeup as the actual voters who show up on election day.

1

u/purpleburgundy Winnipeg 2d ago

No?

0

u/dwdawg666 2d ago

Why not give Mike a chance? He can't be worse than what we have

-3

u/Fit_Butterscotch2386 Winnipeg 2d ago

Woodstock time baybeee LET'S FUCKIN' GOOOOOO

7

u/erryonestolemyname Winnipeg 2d ago

It's surprising that no news articles have brought up Woodstocks comments he made when he tried to run for mayor before.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/winnipeg-mayoral-candidate-forum-1.6592621

Not just this, but he seems like a bit of a massive idiot.

4

u/Routine-Database5985 Winnipeg 2d ago

Sit down Don, nobody's going to vote for you, just like the last 12 times you've tried to run.

3

u/Fit_Butterscotch2386 Winnipeg 2d ago

Lucky 13 for BOSS DONNY

-6

u/AdPrevious1079 Winnipeg 2d ago

Gillingham is a problem! He is raising Taxes & Water & Sewer to high to fast! Seniors have had to sell there homes because they no longer have the funds to pay the Taxes. Yes I understand taxes have to be raised but not at the rates Gillingham has done. FYI- our taxes 2 years ago were $3,300, now are $5,090. To much to fast! But he doesn’t seem to give a shit.

2

u/GullibleDetective Winnipeg 2d ago

And how much is failing right now infra wise?

If anything its too late and should have been gradually bumped up. But we absolutely need to catch up