‘City’s best days are ahead’: Scott Gillingham re-elected mayor of Winnipeg

Scott Gillingham has won a second term as mayor of Winnipeg.

Gillingham was re-elected after defeating Kevin Klein, Noah Redden and nine other candidates in Wednesday’s municipal vote.

The returning mayor arrived on stage at Winnipeg’s Birchwood Inn Hotel to chants of “four more years.”

“Tonight, you have given me the honour of serving as your mayor once again, and I have to tell you, it means even more to me this second time,” Gillingham said in his victory speech.

“Thank you, Winnipeg. I will never take your trust for granted. Most of all, I want to thank Winnipeggers for sharing my belief in the future of this city, for believing in what we’re building together, for sharing the hope and the optimism about what Winnipeg is becoming and can become, because I still believe that our city’s best days are ahead of us.”

Gillingham did enough during the campaign period to convince Winnipeggers he deserved another four years in office – either by his track record or future commitments.

“We’ve accomplished a lot over the last four years, but there’s still so much more that we need to do, and tonight I’m thinking even more about the work that is ahead, even more than the work that we’ve already accomplished together,” he said.

Gillingham ran on promises to improve public safety in Winnipeg by hiring more police officers to keep up with population growth; continue with the planned Community Crisis Response Service dedicated to non-emergency calls, including mental health and addictions; and work with Ottawa on changes to bail legislation for repeat offenders.

Regarding safety on transit, Gillingham pledged to continue with the installation of full protective shield for drivers; and increase the number of community safety officers focused on fare enforcement.

On homelessness and housing, Gillingham vowed to improve downtown Winnipeg by providing more support for homeless people; and continue working with the provincial government on a program that’s already moved more than 250 people from encampments into homes.

“I know that people are worried about crime in their neighbourhoods, people struggling with homelessness and addiction, mental health, and they are worried that those challenges, what they mean for the future of our city,” Gillingham said, specifically addressing Winnipeggers who did not vote for him. “I hear those concerns because I share those concerns. Those are real problems, and I don’t pretend, I never have pretended to have all the answers to those problems.

“But I’m committed. I’m committed to working with communities and with the senior levels of government and Indigenous governments to find the solutions because we can find the solutions together.”

In his costed platform, released just days before the vote, the mayor outlined he would hold property increases at 3.5 per cent in 2027. Over the following three years, Gillingham said any rate hike would stay “close” to the inflation rate.

Last year Gillingham raised property taxes to 5.95 per cent, well above the 3.5 per cent he promised during the previous election campaign. Gillingham said that was done in part so the city could meet the demands of more people.

That broken promise, and others that remain unfulfilled, were the target of attacks from opponents – most notably Klein – during this year’s campaign.

In his concession speech, Klein said he was saddened to see that “the campaign got dirty very fast.”

“I thought it was probably the most dirty campaign I’ve seen in a Canadian election, and it’s unfortunate that that’s what it has to come to, but it is what it is,” Klein said.

The transit overhaul under Gillingham, which he acknowledged could have gone smoother, was heavily criticized. The mayor was also accused of flip-flopping on Portage and Main, which he voted to reopen to pedestrian traffic after explicitly campaigning against it.

But those were hiccups in an otherwise solid campaign for the 58-year-old, who won re-election nearly four years to the day after defying opinion polls to beat Glen Murray in a tight contest for the city’s top job.

“We all want the same thing in Winnipeg for our children: we want a place where our kids can grow up, where they can feel safe, where families can build a good life, and where we are proud to call home,” Gillingham said in his victory speech.

“I’ve always believed that this is a special place, this city that we call home, this city that we love. It’s because of the people who live here, the people who care about their neighbourhoods, the people who work hard every day and who look out for one another, who believe tomorrow can be better than today, and when I look at what’s happening in Winnipeg right now, I see so many reasons to be optimistic.

“We have come a long way together, but there is so much more work to do, and I am grateful. I am humbled. I am thankful, Winnipeg, for the opportunity to keep doing that work with you.”

It continues a political career for Gillingham that began when he was first elected to Winnipeg’s city council in St. James in 2014 – his first of two terms.

He served on former mayor Brian Bowman’s executive policy committee from 2016 to 2022 and chaired the finance committee and the police board.

Prior to becoming a city councillor, Gillingham was a Pentecostal pastor for more than two decades.