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Last week we took a look at some of the promises made by Wab Kinew in his bid to become Manitoba Premier. This week, we examine a few of Scott Gillingham’s pledges in his run to become Mayor of the City of Winnipeg.
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Gillingham was up front about his plan to raise property taxes. The promise was that our property taxes would increase by 3.5% per year. That’s a far cry from the number he is now proposing, which is 5.9%.
He has made good on his promise to appoint a senior advisor on Homelessness. Tessa Blaikie Whitecloud has moved over from Siloam Mission to take on the role. We’re still waiting for the modular homes that were promised during the campaign.
One of the Mayor’s promises, with the goal being to end homelessness, was to build 270 modular homes on six different sites throughout the city. Funding was to come from the federal Rapid Housing Initiative. This one has fallen flat. Homelessness remains a blight on Winnipeg and every other city on the planet. Unfortunately, this is just one more promise our homeless have seen unkept.
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A kept promise was the opening of a new safe space in the north end. Ombishkaawak Migizawak or Rising Eagles, is up and running at Jarvis and McGregor.
Among the loftier and more long-term goals, Gillingham intends to see Kenaston Boulevard widened from Taylor to Ness and to see the Chief Peguis Trail extended. Both of those projects will cost an estimated $500 million but tenders aren’t expected until 2026 so the cost estimates are likely to change by the time work begins.
The plan to create a Green Utility to retrofit City buildings has seen no movement.
When it comes to the re-opening of Portage and Main to pedestrian traffic, the will of the majority of Winnipeggers in the 2018 election has been ignored. The idea was rejected by voters but Gillingham and current Council are pressing ahead with the re-opening.
The goal of making 100 of the City’s buses electric has been abandoned. Gillingham and Council now agree that scrapping the purchase of expensive electric buses in favour of diesel models makes more economic sense. This one can be debated but it was a promise that probably should never have been made in the first place.
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