News

Meet Winnipeg’s 2022 mayoral front-runners

Cast your vote for the city’s next mayor on Oct. 26

Colton McKillop & Matthew Merkel, staff

Glen Murray

Glen Murray, who served as mayor of Winnipeg from 1998 to 2004, is running again because he thinks “the city is facing a number of challenges that need some real leadership and imagination to address.”

Murray highlighted climate change, rapid transit, walkability of the city and replacing the police helicopter with a fleet of drones as key issues his campaign is focusing on.

He argued that drones would be less expensive and could operate longer than the helicopter, which would free up resources for other uses, such as more beat cops.

Murray said that when it comes to environmental issues, “real change happens with the city,” and argued that providing alternatives to cars such as rapid transit and making the city more walkable is crucial to addressing climate change.

“Livability of the planet is best protected at the city level,” he explained. “We can change the way we move, we can change the energy and electricity and heating and cooling that we see.”

“It’s much easier to get large scale environmental change at this community level than it is at a national or even a provincial level.”

Murray said the city needs to make transportation and housing costs cheaper for students by building affordable housing for students near their schools, and hopes that universities can “become more of a complete community, so that the residential components and the transit and transportation systems down there work well for students.”

He said the city should work with the provincial and federal government, alongside universities and colleges, to annually monitor the income and debt levels of students to “ensure that the housing projects in those areas are priced at a reasonable level for students.” Kevin Klein

Kevin Klein, city councillor for Charleswood-Tuxedo-Westwood and former chair of the Winnipeg Police Board, has highlighted crime and homelessness as key issues he would address as mayor.

He said the city does not have enough police cars, and that he would address crime by redirecting police officers from tasks such as watching detainees in emergency rooms back toward responding to 911 calls.

Klein said he understands the “helplessness and fear” that comes with homelessness because of his own experience growing up in poverty and living in government housing. He added that he spent a brief stint living in a Salvation Army shelter.

He said he would declare homelessness a crisis, which he argued would “allow us to pull levers with the federal government” to fund accommodation trailers for the homeless similar to those utilized by cities in British Columbia, Ontario and Eastern Canada.

“That allows them, every homeless person, to have their own room and have a key to that room, but it also gives them an official address,” he explained. “With that official address, they can then apply for the funding that’s available.”

Klein said the city makes it “far too difficult” for young people coming out of school to start a business, especially with high crime rates leading to higher insurance costs.

“We have to think about the future, and our future is within young people, so we need to make life easier for them to get connected in the city, easier for them to open a business in the city.” Shaun Loney

Shaun Loney, a Winnipeg businessman and former director of energy policy for the Manitoba government, said his plan to address homelessness would involve enlisting housing providers to help reduce the workload of emergency services.

Loney also wants to improve the city’s entertainment options by implementing a “nightlife mayor.” He said the new position would be responsible for overseeing Winnipeg’s nightlife, entertainment and arts and cultural sector.

“The arts and cultural sector is really vibrant, creates lots of jobs, brings tourists to Winnipeg and most importantly I think, gives young people a reason to stay here rather than leaving for other cities,” Loney said.

Winnipeg Transit is an area Loney thinks can also become more accessible. He wants to implement a onefare system that would have smaller vehicles connect people to larger or more convenient transport hubs.

Loney said his experience in the social enterprise sector has prepared him to create opportunities for those who frequently have run-ins with the police, which he said when combined with his homelessness strategy should reduce police dispatches.

Loney wants to create jobs in the energy sector by increasing use of solar energy in homes, and adding gas pumps and public electric vehicle charging stations within the city.

Green infrastructure and the implementation of a tree trust, meaning that trees would be valued as infrastructure by the city, are also a key part of Loney’s environmental plan. Scott Gillingham

The Manitoban reached out to Scott Gillingham’s team three times, and was told to expect a call from him for an interview about his campaign promises, but did not receive one.

Gillingham’s website says that he has served as St. James city councillor for eight years, and is also a current co-chair of the Winnipeg Metropolitan Region board. Past roles of his include chair of the Winnipeg Police Board and City of Winnipeg finance committee chair.

Gillingham has new plans for transport in the city. He wants to improve city streets by repairing roads, adding more bike paths and increasing pedestrian safety. Gillingham also wants to add more buses on the city’s busiest routes.

As mayor, Gillingham wants to make crime prevention a priority by reinstating cancelled police task forces. He also aims to create more housing and shelter options for people experiencing homelessness.

“Patio City,” a proposal by Gillingham to grant all restaurants in the city the right to have a patio, is part of a larger plan to promote Winnipeg’s strongest industries.

Also, underused commercial areas would be rezoned to create more multi-family housing near transit services.

Gillingham’s platform lists the 311 service and city hall as things he would like to fine tune and reorganize. He also wants to create a new city agency that will “retrofit buildings and generate green power.”

Additionally, community recreation will see bolstering from tax revenue.

news@themanitoban.com

Over $105,000 of council money withheld by UMSU will be remitted

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“Support provided for member-driven events and initiatives on campus comes from directives determined by members of [the federation’s Manitoba branch], and is meant to enhance resources available to student leaders on campus that engage with federation campaigns.”

ASBC response

ASBC president Chloe Dreilich-Girard responded to Rykiss’s comments in a statement she read on behalf of her student association on Oct. 5.

According to DreilichGirard, Rykiss’s comments painted ASBC as a Canadian Federation of Students partner. She said that the student association has stated to both UMSU and the federation that it is remaining neutral and working to keep arts students as its top priority amid the ongoing dispute.

She said the federation had helped with an orange T-shirt campaign for Canada’s National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. She also claimed that ASBC and the federation had been a part of multiple collaborative events that were planned prior to any communication from UMSU encouraging groups to come to it for funding instead of working with the federation.

“We believe that it should not be solely on us or any other council to reach out and to predict when UMSU wants to partner with us,” she said.

Dreilich-Girard claimed that other groups have had difficulties with the union in the past before the dispute with the federation, which she said brings into question who may be at fault.

“However, this year we have tried to turn a new leaf and rebuild our relationship with UMSU for the benefit of all students.”

Dreilich-Girard said that ASBC has approached UMSU with concerns over lack of support, as well as missing arts student funds which are being withheld by the union.

She said that ASBC was told that an amount of money would be given on top of normal funds, but she claims that she was not told exactly how much that would be.

Dreilich-Girard said that not knowing how much money ASBC is owed prevents the association from reassuring students that a solution would be found. She said that UMSU had discussed missing documents, but had not provided proof that any required documents from previous executive teams were missing, another example of a lack of transparency according to Dreilich-Girard.

To make the process more transparent, Dreilich-Girard said that it would be helpful if UMSU listed past missing documents and communicated the amount of funding being withheld. She said that student association leaders do not always have access to these records.

“Painting the issues between ASBC and UMSU as stemming from this very recent referendum surrounding [the federation] is inappropriate, inaccurate and sweeps all of the previous issues under the rug by failing to address or acknowledge the actual problems at hand,” she said.

U1SC also comes forward

U1SC claims to have also experienced similar issues. In an interview with the Manitoban, U1SC president Keji Preston and vice-president Selena Toledo said that U1SC has not received a budget since last year. They also said that the Canadian Federation of Students reached out to U1SC this year, inviting members to multiple workshops and events this summer.

The U1SC executives said that they approached UMSU president Rykiss to communicate that they were interested in working with the federation, a prospect they claimed was discouraged by Rykiss.

Preston and Toledo emphasized that U1SC is a neutral party in the dispute between UMSU and the Canadian Federation of Students. However, they said that they had to go to the federation for money to put on events after feeling unsupported by UMSU.

“If you go to somebody and they are constantly pushing you to the side or not doing what they’re asking, [or] what they’re promising or anything, and then somebody externally comes and they offer the help and they’re actually doing something for you, then you can’t just ignore that help when you actually need it,” Toledo said. “You can’t just ask for us to stand with you and then not help us, push us aside or belittle us all the time.”

The leaders said that a lack of transparency from UMSU has created a number of problems for U1SC. They said that not knowing where the group’s money will come from has left them unsure of which events they are able put on for students. Preston and Toledo said they feel like they are not supported by UMSU and have to advocate for U1 students on their own.

“It’s supposed to be UMSU and University 1 against the problem,” Preston said. “We’re supposed to be together as a team, but now UMSU is trying to show us that it’s U1 against UMSU.”

The two U1SC leaders said that the students they represent are an especially unique group. Many students enrolled are in their first year of university, and some are international students in a new country for the first time. Preston said that it has been difficult for U1SC to create proper first-year experiences for students when it is not supported by UMSU.

“We had never gotten any relationships or any help from UMSU unless we reached out ourselves, and it was always the same thing over and over again, all talk no action.”

Preston and Toledo said they would like to see UMSU increase transparency, accessibility and do a better job of building a sense of community at the U of M.

UMSU president shares his side

Rykiss disagreed with the Canadian Federation of Students’ claim that they do not operationally fund student groups, as he views paying for events and campaigns to be funding.

He acknowledged his previous comments about the federation driving a wedge between UMSU and student groups, but claimed that when he was on ASBC last year, neither UMSU nor the student association made many attempts to speak with each other.

Rykiss said he may have misspoken in the earlier interview, stating that the union’s goal is to support student associations. He invites all student clubs to contact UMSU if they have any concerns about funding or support.

He said he believes that ASBC has sent the union a financial proposal that UMSU is currently evaluating, but could not say for certain. Rykiss said that on Oct. 6 he made attempts to contact ASBC, inviting them to sit down and meet with UMSU.

As of Oct. 12, he said that he thought the UMSU finance team had communicated to ASBC that missing funds were being looked into, and added that he would instruct them to do so if they had not.

Rykiss said funds will be distributed on a “clean slate basis,” meaning that all owed funds will be attached to new funds as well. He claimed that “there’s definitely the gears moving to make sure that they get their money back.”

However, he said that the union must first meet with clubs and associations to go over the process, including what forms need to be submitted and when.

Rykiss said he cannot speak for past UMSU and student association leaders, but that information from the past sometimes gets missed along the way. He claimed that he did not know about ASBC’s issues with funding until the council reached out to UMSU, and said he did not know if UMSU vice-president finance and operations Brook Rivard was aware of it last year.

However, Rykiss claimed that as soon as UMSU heard about the issue they immediately began looking into it. He said that any fees owed to U1SC would also be remitted.

He also said he could not speak for past fees as he was not involved in the process, and can’t speak to this year’s fees as he is not a part of the finance team.

When asked if he told U1SC not to work with the Canadian Federation of Students, Rykiss said he has told student associations it is their choice to work with whomever they want, but that the union does not work with the federation, and “we encourage people not to, because of the nature of the organization.”

However, Rykiss stressed that UMSU has no say in who student associations work with, or what their members vote for in the upcoming referendum.

“If someone disagrees with us, they are welcome to disagree with us,” he said. “It’s not a dictatorship, it’s a democracy.” Rykiss said that transparency was one of the promises he ran on during his campaign, and he believes that he has lived up to it so far.

He said that any student is allowed to come to board meetings or attend UMSU executive office hours and speak about their concerns.

He added that executive office hours are public, and that he has given out his personal contact information to students. He also listed the UMSU Instagram as a way to connect.

“If people aren’t telling me that transparency still needs to be worked on, I am going to assume that people are happy,” Rykiss said.

Breaking down the numbers

In an email to the Manitoban, UMSU vice-president finance and operations Brook Rivard broke down the financials and provided a timeline for ASBC and U1SC funding.

UMSU is currently withholding $110,601.40 from ASBC, and $5,070.04 from U1SC. According to the email, the money is being withheld due to issues with reporting requirements.

Rivard said that in the absence of a completed register, “funds are held as a matter of policy.” He said this is also necessary for auditing and insurance purposes.

He said that UMSU is requesting financial documents from U1SC “to support the claim that [the amount stated as outstanding] is smaller than it should be, as it is possible in the changeover of our accountants something was missed.”

Preston said that following her and Toledo’s interview with the Manitoban, UMSU also told them that the amount they were owed was $5,070.04. Preston disagrees with this number.

Rivard said that initial current year funds are $65,831.46 for ASBC and $30,510.09 for U1SC. The owed amounts will be added to these totals and will be disbursed beginning in October. 50 per cent of the amount will be dispersed to each faculty association initially, followed by 25 per cent in mid-February and the final 25 per cent in April.

According to Rivard, as part of the general process for receiving funds, UMSU receives lump sum funding from the U of M registrar’s office for faculty associations, which comes from student fees. He said the union has not yet received the money, but is expecting to receive it this week.

He said that UMSU needs to adhere to this policy as a form of review and oversight. He acknowledged that the pandemic, constant turn over, extended time frames and a lack of updates has made it difficult to find older reports. For this reason, he said UMSU will be “making a one-time policy exception and paying out all outstanding balances.”

“This will allow us to start a clean slate with a revised process,” Rivard said. He added that the older outstanding balances will be rolled over to the current year, and will be disbursed based on the same 50/25/25 format.

Rivard added that to further address the noted problems, the union is revising and reviewing these processes, and will be meeting with the treasurers to hear any concerns they may have.

Dreilich-Girard stated in an email to the Manitoban reacting to Rivard’s comments that she was happy to hear that funds would be distributed to student clubs, and that all funds should be disbursed. She said that UMSU should implement more rigorous training for those in financial positions, so that similar issues do not arise in the future.

She believes issues with reporting in the past should have been mentioned to councils at the time so that they could have been provided instructions on how to fix them earlier. She pointed out that councils change every year, and argued that it makes no sense to punish current students by withholding funds from before their time.

Dreilich-Girard emphasized that UMSU’s priority should be to get funds into the hands of those who should have them. news@themanitoban.com