When Winnipeggers think about their city — from the shape of downtown to house prices and road conditions — they have a dim view of the future and little confidence in the mayor’s ability to fix it.
A Free Press-Probe Research poll finds most Winnipeggers think things are getting worse in the city and don’t believe Mayor Scott Gillingham or city council can make progress on solving the problems.
Respondents were asked if they felt things were getting better, worse or have stayed the same on five major challenges facing the city: house affordability, crime, the downtown, traffic and road conditions.
The survey found 68 per cent of Winnipeggers say it is less affordable to buy or rent a place to live than it was a year ago. Twenty-six per cent say it has stayed the same while only one per cent say it has got better.
When it comes public safety, 66 per cent believe crime is worse in Winnipeg compared to 29 per cent who say it has stayed the same. Three per cent say it has got better.
Six in 10 Winnipeggers think downtown Winnipeg has got worse, compared to 30 per cent who say it hasn’t changed and seven per cent who say it has got better.
Half of Winnipeggers say the condition of streets and roads are worse while 34 per cent say they have stayed the same and 14 per cent said they saw improvement.
Just over half, 53 per cent, believe traffic in the city has got worse while 41 per cent say it has stayed the same. Three per cent felt traffic has got better.
Probe partner Curtis Brown said the poll was designed to learn how Winnipeggers think about the direction of the city and how civic leaders are addressing the challenges.
“The numbers are clear and pretty negative,” said Brown on Friday.
“Winnipeggers don’t think the city is in a good spot right now. The majorities on the big issues say things are deteriorating and getting worse. People are not seeing things going well right now.
“People don’t have a sense of things getting better.”
Fifty-nine per cent of respondents said they were pessimistic the mayor and city council can make progress on solving each of the problems, while 41 per cent said they were optimistic and three per cent said they were very optimistic.
Mayor Scott Gillingham said he agreed with a lot of what respondents said.
“There are areas of these key issues that I’m not satisfied with the progress we’re making,” Gillingham said Friday. “We’re working very hard, but some of these issues are going to take a long time to address.
“Sometimes these take longer to fix than we would want or certainly what I would want.”
Gillingham said the city is spending a record $138 million on road construction this year and, earlier this week, the executive policy committee gave the thumbs up to a $650-million plan to redevelop Portage Place and add more than 200 residential units and some health-care units.
“The need to get the downtown redeveloped, traffic, housing, all of those are issues that every city is facing, so we are certainly not alone when it comes to having these as our core challenges.”
Shauna MacKinnon, an associate professor and chair of the University of Winnipeg’s urban and inner city studies department, and a member of the Right to Housing Coalition, said it doesn’t surprise her most Winnipeggers believe affordability is getting worse.
“It’s something people see either themselves or with their children,” said MacKinnon. “There has been no affordable housing built.
“In fact, we’re losing our supply of affordable housing.”
MacKinnon said she had just heard about tenants forced to vacate their three-storey apartment building because of major renovations. If they wished to return, rent would skyrocket to $1,400 per month from $800.
“That’s a huge jump because of reno-viction,” she said.
“I hope the housing accelerator program creates more affordable housing because, it’s not just building the supply, it is having more housing for low-income people along with tighter rent regulations.”
Last year, the city agreed to fast track 3,166 units of housing in the next three years with $122 million in house accelerator funding.
The city also needs to improve when it comes to road maintenance, the president of the Manitoba Heavy Construction Association says.
“They have budgeted $18 million which is nothing,” said Chris Lorenc. “The street system has deteriorated to the point the fixes are capital improvements instead of maintenance. It’s like your home: if you ignore the shingles on your roof until it rots underneath it will cost more than just maintaining the shingles.
Lorenc said he knows the city has limited areas to raise money — the bulk is through property taxes — so he is pleased the province and city have agreed to discuss changing how the city gets funding.
“Out of every dollar of tax revenue (paid by Canadians), municipalities only raise 10 cents,” said Lorenc.
“At the turn of the (last) century, municipalities owned 15 per cent of infrastructure in the country, while today it is between 55 to 60 per cent. And the city also deals with homelessness, crime and mental health, issues which should be provincial, but municipalities have ended up shouldering more.
“There needs to be acceptance that growing the economy is job number one … the problem is not necessarily complicated, but it requires political leadership and vision.”
Coun. Janice Lukes, chair of the civic public works committee, said she would love to be able to put more money into road maintenance, but it would mean a hike in property taxes.
“We are an older city and we’ve kept our taxes low for a long time to make it affordable,” said Lukes.
“To bring in money, we send a (property tax) bill to people. But, with the provincial and federal governments, every time you get gas, you pay a portion to the provincial and federal governments.
MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS An Air Canada plane heads in for a landing about to fly past a crane which is set up at 215 Sinawik Bay where construction of a new building that will open in 2024 as part of the St. James Kiwanis Village, a seniors housing project, with the Winnipeg skyline in the distance Wednesday morning. 231129 – Wednesday, November 29, 2023.
“The current system of taxes is really unfair to cities.”
The poll also found Gillingham, who will celebrate his second anniversary as mayor on Oct. 26, has the approval of 49 per cent of Winnipeggers while city councillors have the support of 45 per cent of citizens.
“Well, I was elected with 27 per cent support so this is nearly double,” said Gillingham with a chuckle.
“We are committed to do the work to build the city of Winnipeg, to improve services for citizens, and tackle the main issues.
“So, no matter the results of my approval rating, it is not going to change our focus.”
The poll, which sampled 600 Winnipeg adults, was done between Sept. 5 and 17. With 95 per cent certainty, it has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.9 per cent.
kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca
Kevin Rollason
Reporter
Kevin Rollason is a general assignment reporter at the Free Press. He graduated from Western University with a Masters of Journalism in 1985 and worked at the Winnipeg Sun until 1988, when he joined the Free Press. He has served as the Free Press’s city hall and law courts reporter and has won several awards, including a National Newspaper Award. Read more about Kevin.
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