Brian Bowman touts 'positive vision over division' after re-election as Winnipeg mayor
Incumbent gets more than half the vote while Jenny Motkaluk, his closest challenger, gets 36%
Brian Bowman's re-election as Winnipeg's mayor ends a campaign that sparked around the debate over reopening Portage and Main to pedestrians but ultimately returned many familiar faces to city hall.
Bowman defeated seven challengers, including his closest competitor, business consultant Jenny Motkaluk. Bowman won with 53 per cent of the vote, while Motkaluk received 36 per cent.
"Winnipeg has chosen a positive vision over division and a return to a status quo of the past," Bowman said in his victory speech at the Metropolitan Entertainment Centre.
The campaign has been difficult for many, he said, congratulating everyone who ran, including the newly elected city councillors.
"Now's the time to come together. Now's the time we work together to continue to build this city for the future," he said.
Top priorities for Bowman's new mandate will be to continue fixing roads, with a $976-million, six-year road repair plan. He also said there is more work to be done to improve public safety, including dealing with the city's meth problem, while continuing to raise Winnipeg's profile as a tourist destination and human rights leader.
Motkaluk's voice was hoarse as she thanked her supporters, including more than 1,000 people who donated to her campaign, telling them in her emotional concession speech that she had been "changed forever."
She also said she had spoken to Bowman and congratulated him on his victory.
"I hope he does his very best for all of us going forward, and you know what? We will be happy to provide him any information that we can to help him better serve those who supported me and those who wanted change at city hall," she said.
Turnout in this election was lower than in 2014, with 216,003 ballots cast for a participation rate of 42.3 per cent. In 2014, 235,455 people cast ballots.
Bowman campaign started late
Motkaluk's campaign got going early in April and kept up a busy pace throughout the race, with policy announcements across a wide range of issues, often in opposition to projects championed by Bowman, such as expanding rapid transit and reopening Portage and Main to pedestrians.
Bowman waited until mid-September to officially launch his re-election bid and wrapped up his official campaign on Oct. 19. He limited the number and scope of his campaign promises, which included pledges to continue raising property taxes by 2.33 per cent a year, spend an additional $4 million on a Waverley West recreation centre and siphon money away from a transit-garage repair job to build more heated bus shelters.
The other six people vying for the job made up a crowded fringe. Winnipeg police officer Tim Diack, former bus driver and perennial political candidate Don Woodstock, filmmaker Ed Ackerman, self-described entrepreneur Umar Hayat, Hindu priest Venkat Machiraju and former Morden mayor Doug Wilson all polled with single-digit support.
While Bowman and Motkaluk both ran fairly straightforward campaigns with few major gaffes, this election was punctuated by some surprising incidents involving some of the other candidates.
Ackerman announced during a debate that he was homeless, and Machiraju was arrested for allegedly violating a protection order against him.
New faces on council
Several incumbent city councillors who formed the unofficial opposition to Bowman on council endorsed Motkaluk, including Janice Lukes, Jeff Browaty, Ross Eadie and Jason Schreyer, all of whom were re-elected.
Bowman said it will be up to councillors to decide whether they will work collaboratively with him.
"We saw a number of councillors during this campaign be very open and transparent about their willingness to work with me. I hope they take their direction from Winnipeggers tonight and respect the democratic outcome of the mayoral race," he said.
It remains to be seen whether Bowman will be able to cobble together the nine loyal votes he needs on executive policy committee to retain control of city council.
In total, 10 incumbents won re-election, including John Orlikow in River Heights-Fort Garry, Devi Sharma in Old Kildonan, Cindy Gilroy in Daniel McIntyre, Matt Allard in St. Boniface, Scott Gillingham in St. James, Brian Mayes in St. Vital and Janice Lukes in Waverley West.
Five new faces will sit on city council this year: Vivian Santos in Point Douglas, Shawn Nason in Transcona, Kevin Klein in Charleswood-Tuxedo, Sherri Rollins in Fort Rouge-East Fort Garry and Markus Chambers in St. Norbert-Seine River.
Portage and Main
Winnipeggers also voted in a non-binding plebiscite on whether to reopen Portage and Main to pedestrians. The "No" side prevailed, with almost two-thirds of voters choosing to keep the intersection closed.
Bowman had pledged to remove the barricades at the intersection during his 2014 election campaign, but agreed to abide by the plebiscite results in the face of mounting opposition from challengers and other councillors.
The mayor said he was disappointed by the result, but reiterated his pledge to abide by the outcome of the plebiscite.
"I don't think you ever make a mistake by listening to Winnipeggers, and so that's what we did," he said in a scrum with reporters after his victory speech. "Of course, supporting the plebiscite was something that council decided, as did I. I'm not going to apologize for listening to Winnipeggers and they spoke today pretty clear."
While he promised to respect the outcome of the plebiscite, there is still a lot of work that needs to be done at the intersection, he said.
"The City of Winnipeg has put off making some serious renovations to Portage and Main for 40 years and sadly, we're going to collectively have to pay a price for that as taxpayers," he said.
"I think what we do need to put our minds to is how can we continue to build a vibrant downtown, how can we continue to do more at that intersection, short of pedestrians crossing."
With files from Bartley Kives and Laura Glowacki
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