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Relations between Winnipeg’s City Hall and the Manitoba provincial government took centre stage at Wednesday’s mayoral debate on 680 CJOB. The candidates clashed over who is best positioned to work with Premier Wab Kinew — and why that relationship matters so much for the city’s future.
Candidates Divided on Provincial Ties
Incumbent mayor Scott Gillingham defended his existing working relationship with NDP Premier Wab Kinew. He also questioned rival candidate Kevin Klein’s ability to do the same. Gillingham pointed to Klein’s past newspaper columns criticizing both the premier and the prime minister as potential obstacles.
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Klein, a former cabinet minister with the Manitoba Progressive Conservatives, pushed back. He argued he has already earned Kinew’s trust. Meanwhile, third candidate Mike Vogiatzakis took a different position entirely. He said Winnipeg needs a mayor with no political ties at all.
Why the City-Province Relationship Is Critical
University of Manitoba political science adjunct professor Christopher Adams says the stakes are high. “You can’t operate the city without a proper relationship with the premier,” Adams told Global News.
Adams explained that major city priorities depend heavily on provincial and federal support. “When the mayor wants to address homelessness, expand transit service, or get a water treatment plant built — those things are heavily dependent on the provincial government and the federal government,” he said.
He also pointed to past breakdowns as a warning. Former mayor Brian Bowman and former premier Brian Pallister had a notoriously difficult relationship. According to Adams, Pallister refused to hold regular meetings with Bowman, which slowed the city’s progress on key projects. However, when Heather Stefanson became premier, she moved quickly to repair the relationship. Adams noted that one of her first acts as premier was to meet with Bowman in a cordial and constructive way.
A Former Mayor Reflects on Partnership
Former Winnipeg mayor Susan Thompson also weighed in on the debate. Thompson led City Hall during Gary Filmon’s time as premier. She described that era as a model for productive collaboration.
“In the end we developed, even today, the best relationship that could be had between the province, the city, and the capital region,” Thompson told Global News. “It was really productive and it was well-intentioned.”
Thompson added that building strong relationships is even more urgent now. She pointed to economic pressures from the United States as a challenge that civic leaders are not discussing enough. “We’re in extraordinary change in our society with our whole economic threat from the United States of America,” she said. “It’s not being talked about enough at the civic level.”
Thompson also stressed the broader opportunity at hand. She called for stronger partnerships between Winnipeg, First Nations communities, the capital region, and the province. “We have a very unique opportunity to build extraordinarily strong relationships,” she said. “And it won’t work if those relationships — and dare I say partnerships — aren’t top of mind today.”
