KLEIN: Gillingham’s housing spin leaves Winnipeggers in the dark

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If you’ve been keeping up with Mayor Scott Gillingham’s take on Winnipeg’s housing situation, you might believe we’re in the midst of a housing boom, with projects popping up on every corner and permits being approved at record speeds.

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But dig a little deeper, and you’ll find that political spin, not progress, is the real driver behind these claims. It’s time for Mayor Gillingham, Councillors Janice Lukes, Markus Chambers, Evan Duncan, Sherri Rollins, and others on the City Council to stop the charade and tell us the facts — Winnipeggers deserve no less.

Earlier this month, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre called out the Liberal government’s Housing Accelerator Fund, highlighting Winnipeg as a prime example of a failed policy. Poilievre specifically mentioned the Parker Lands, a development project that has been delayed for years despite the mayor’s supposed commitment to fast-tracking housing. Poilievre’s message was clear: “This program isn’t working for Winnipeg.”

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When the Winnipeg Sun reached out to Mayor Gillingham’s office about Pilievre’s criticism, what we got was a familiar but hollow refrain.

The Mayor’s team said, “The Housing Accelerator Fund has enabled Winnipeg to launch a new housing initiative from scratch. In under a year, we’ve undertaken multiple rounds of rapid zoning changes and allocated $35 million in grants to housing projects across the city.”

Yet, specifics were nowhere to be found, and the mayor’s team conveniently ignored the substance of Poilievre’s critique.

If this sounds like a political spin, it’s because it is. Mayor Gillingham and his team want us to believe that real change is happening, but the reality is different. These supposed zoning changes and grants have not addressed the critical delays that plague projects like the Parker Lands development.

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In fact, the developer, Andrew Marquess, told us that although they continue to work with city staff, the project has been impacted by delays again.

“We lost four and a half months of good construction, which will impact the building next year,” said Marquess.

For Winnipeggers who need housing now, those months mean fewer homes, higher prices, and prolonged wait times.

In fact, Mayor Gillingham’s office told us that the Parker Lands project is advancing, noting, “PP&D is working closely with the developer to advance the Fulton Grove development. Earlier this week, the Community Committee approved new street names, and we expect the project will be ready for construction soon.”

But again, reality differs. The project remains tangled up in bureaucracy, and the developer still faces uncertainty about when construction can genuinely begin.

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Facts matter, and the fact is the Parker Land/Fulton Grove sage has been ongoing for 11 years and counting, and as of today, they are still caught in a bureaucracy, so why is Gillingham stating differently when asked by the Winnipeg Sun?

One developer, who preferred to remain anonymous, told us, “City Council can approve all they want, but it hits the slow road to nowhere once in the hands of the bureaucrats.”

And this isn’t just about one project. The mayor’s office continues to tout “8,800 permits approved” as evidence of housing progress. But when pressed, it turns out that number doesn’t mean what we thought. Those 8,800 “permits” include a mix of development applications, building permits, and other bureaucratic approvals that are miles away from putting shovels in the ground.

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It’s no wonder that housing starts in Winnipeg are among the lowest in Canada this year, trailing our own 10-year average and falling behind cities like Edmonton, Calgary, and Halifax, which have seen year-over-year increases in housing starts.

Another issue facing Winnipeggers is zoning changes that are being pushed through not to meet our city’s needs but to meet federal funding conditions that may never even materialize. Gillingham and certain City Council members have been pushing for height limit increases and other zoning adjustments, including allowing 48-foot-high fourplexes within 800 meters of transit stops. The problem? After a year, the public still has no map of the proposed zones impacted by these changes, leaving neighbourhoods like Charleswood, River Heights, and others in the dark.

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Councillor Brian Mayes, who has been vocal in opposing these haphazard changes, told us, “If height limits are proposed to increase by 70% on a given street, the public needs to know.”

Mayes is right. These changes affect the character and livability of our neighbourhoods, and they shouldn’t be made in exchange for federal money or to please Ottawa politicians. Winnipeggers deserve a transparent, thought-out process, not rushed decisions that will forever alter our city’s landscape.

Mayes, a longtime advocate for maintaining the character of Winnipeg’s neighbourhoods, is even drafting a “fourplex discussion paper” to lay out a clearer framework for this development type, rooted in the city’s own infill guidelines. He’s proposed standards like requiring back lanes or corner lots, paved lanes, at least 50-foot-wide properties, and parking at the rear, not in front yards. Yet his attempts to bring reason to the debate have placed him at odds with the mayor’s inner circle, leading to his exclusion from the Executive Policy Committee.

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Mayes doesn’t mince words.

“I don’t think we should be making permanent zoning changes in exchange for money we may never receive,” Mayes said. “I was on the losing end of a 13-3 vote last November to allow fourplexes citywide, ‘where appropriate,’ in exchange for federal money. We’re set to vote in March 2025 on what ‘appropriate’ means, likely amid a federal election campaign.”

Mayes’s concern is straightforward: Winnipeg should not compromise its neighbourhoods’ integrity to chase short-term funding that may never reach our city.

The facts don’t lie: Winnipeg’s housing progress is lagging. Despite the mayor’s claims, we don’t have 8,800 new single or multi-family permits ready this year, and major developments like Parker Lands and Lemay Forest continue to be mired in delays. Meanwhile, Mayor Gillingham’s office keeps churning out statements that gloss over these realities, hoping we won’t notice the gap between promises and outcomes.

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When it comes to housing policy, Winnipeggers don’t need more spin — we need the truth. Mayor Gillingham and city council must stop hiding behind numbers and get serious about addressing the real issues. The time has come for the mayor and his supporters on council to take a hard look at what they’re doing, or failing to do, for Winnipeg’s housing needs.

Our city deserves better than political games and empty promises. Facts matter, and the fact is that we’re falling behind.

— Kevin Klein is a former Tory cabinet minister, a former city councillor and President & CEO of Klein Group Ltd.

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