Work records in mayoral candidate debate spotlight

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This article was published 04/10/2022 (715 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A Winnipeg mayoral debate Wednesday featured a few heated exchanges between leading candidates, who were also put on the hot seat about their work records.

While candidates Kevin Klein, Scott Gillingham, Glen Murray and Shaun Loney engaged in a mostly polite discussion about how best to grow the city’s economy, they also traded a few verbal barbs.

One exchange began when Murray — who served as Winnipeg’s mayor from 1998 to 2004 — stressed he did have to face a challenging financial outlook while in office.

“We went through the tech (bubble) burst at the end of my first year as mayor and a lot of our growth in the economy sunk,” he said.

“Is that why you quit?” interrupted Klein.

Murray said he left two years into his second term as Winnipeg’s mayor to pursue more federal gas tax dollars for cities, and challenged Klein to defend his own record as a sitting city councillor.

“You famously say you tried to get 100 motions passed and you only got three passed… When I was on council that was called failing,” said Murray.

Klein responded, saying he was able to get more than three motions approved in the last four years.

The four candidates, who led a recent poll in voter support among 11 mayoral contenders for the Oct. 26 election, were also asked questions specific to their campaigns.

Murray was asked about recent allegations his leadership suffered from erratic and chaotic behaviour while he worked at the Pembina Institute energy think tank in Alberta in 2017-18, and how his leadership style would affect him as mayor.

He answered his previous track record as a Winnipeg mayor should reassure voters he works well with council, noting several people he worked with at city hall support his current campaign.

“I’m tough. I don’t bring my problems to work, but it doesn’t mean that every job I’ve had in my life is a good fit… I came in to create significant change (at Pembina) an organization that clearly didn’t want it.”

Murray has also been accused of incidents of sexual harassment during his time at Pembina, which he denies.

Klein was asked about two periods when he worked for Peter Nygard, which include about four months in 2012 and two weeks in 2014, as well as an image in which he is shown playing poker with the now-disgraced fashion mogul.

Nygard has been charged in Canada and the United States with sex assaults against several women. The charges have not been proven in court.

When asked why he worked for Nygard twice, Klein said it’s unfair to imply the alleged actions of a company leader reflect on his or her employees.

“People have tried to throw this mud at me for years. I’m used to being bullied… I left within four months because he’s a terrible person… but I didn’t see anything illegal,” he said.

Shaun Loney, a social enterprise leader, was asked how he could realistically impose what he admits to be an entirely different way of thinking at city hall.

Loney’s campaign has centred heavily around changing the way the city does business, including the creation of 1,000 social enterprise jobs. That pledge would include ensuring projects and programs are targeted to hire people facing employment barriers, such as criminal records.

Loney said the changes aren’t as complicated as some believe and would produce better results. “There’s so many things that are innovative, that work amazingly well. But if we’re doubling down on the way we’ve been doing things, we’re going to be where we are (and not change).”

Meanwhile, Gillingham was challenged to described how he would end perceived delays within the property, planning and development department, which occurred while he served as council’s finance committee chairman.

Gillingham promised to reorganize some city departments to ensure better results.

“We need to make sure that those accountability mechanisms are in place so that we can make sure we’re holding staff to account,” he said.

Candidates were also asked to explain how they would grow the economy and revamp infrastructure.

While most responses noted a need for strategic infrastructure investments, Loney said the city must focus on fixing its current roads and other infrastructure first.

“Three words: fix it first. We just simply cannot afford to continue to build new infrastructure,” he said.

By contrast, Gillingham said transportation and trade routes are critical to economic growth, noting the proposed Kenaston Boulevard widening as a key priority.

Murray said Winnipeg has failed to ensure it plans infrastructure investments properly for years, such as by allowing large retail sectors to build up along key truck routes.

“It’s not just about endlessly widening streets… It’s (also about) protecting streets (for their intended purpose),” he said.

Klein said his own pledge to create a $2-million infrastructure plan is essential to ensuring the city ranks projects properly.

“Infrastructure is key at our city. We have bridges that are close to failing. We have issues that we need to address according to priority,” he said.

Winnipeggers will elect their next mayor and council Oct. 26.

joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @joyanne_pursaga