Province, Ottawa need to step up to address city’s funding needs, Winnipeggers say in polls

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This article was published 02/12/2024 (281 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A pair of new public opinion polls show that Winnipeggers believe the city urgently needs more funding to address burgeoning challenges in infrastructure, public safety and homelessness.

The recent surveys, one commissioned by the mayor’s office and another for the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, show that current funding in these areas isn’t meeting the demands of the city’s growing population and that most city residents would like to see more money flowing from the province and the federal government to address Winnipeg’s most pressing needs.

So, too, would Winnipeg Mayor Scott Gillingham.

“It’s very urgent,” Gillingham said.

Gillingham said the city’s depleted rainy-day fund in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and the previous Tory government’s decision to freeze funding to municipalities hasn’t helped address a population growth of 65,000 over the past three years.

“You couple that funding freeze and COVID with a growing city and pressure on city services… we need a new funding model, we need more revenue,” he said. “We need more revenue and we need it now.”

Three-quarters of respondents to a recent Probe Research poll believe spending should be prioritized on repairing infrastructure including roads, bridges and public facilities, while 67 per cent prioritize homelessness support and 56 per cent emphasized public-safety spending, including more for policing.

“The polls were very clear that the public wants to see a safer city and better roads, and I can say those priorities will be reflected in the upcoming budget,” Gillingham said.

The poll showed that increasing revenues should begin with money flowing down from the province, with 43 per cent of respondents preferring that approach.

“That’s not particularly surprising, but it stands out as opposed to wanting new taxes charged on them or some of the other options that might be on the table, such as a property tax increase,” said Curtis Brown, partner with Probe Research.

Just 18 per cent feel increasing revenues should rise from the ashes of axed city services, while only 16 per cent would prefer new taxes and 10 per cent would favour raising property taxes by more than 3.5 per cent.

Winnipeggers were split on whether municipal governments should be handed the power to charge new taxes, although more strongly opposed the idea (20 per cent) than strongly supported it (13 per cent).

Most respondents said they’d both support and could live with a tax on vacant homes, retail liquor sales, commercial parking and municipal land transfers, with an exemption for first-time homebuyers.

Fewer than half, however, would back a flat $1 charge on online home deliveries or a vehicle registration renewal tax, with 64 per cent opposing the latter.

Municipal Relations Minister Glen Simard said the province continues to respond to calls for assistance.

“The more and more we can do that in lockstep is an important message for Winnipeggers,” Simard said, noting the additional $30 million it pitched in last week for upgrades to the city’s $1 billion North End sewage treatment plant.

Simard wouldn’t commit to giving the city the green light to impose taxes on things such as alcohol or vacant buildings.

About 38 per cent of residents believe the city is headed in the right direction, and 40 per cent feel that direction is off track, an Abacus Data poll showed.

Key concerns among residents included the rising cost of living (55 per cent) and health care (40 per cent).

A notable 69 per cent, meanwhile, feel housing affordability has worsened in the past year, with 71 per cent citing increases in homelessness and 68 per cent seeing a spike in drug and opioid addiction.

Abacus vice-president Eddie Sheppard said growth-related concerns were among the biggest findings in the data.

About 35 per cent of Winnipeggers believe the city is growing too quickly, the poll found, and among those, 69 per cent linked that growth to negative impacts on housing affordability and 61 per cent on the cost of living.

“Growth is almost becoming a bad word nowadays because when people see growth, when it comes to infrastructure, it puts a significant strain on municipal infrastructure and resources,” Sheppard said.

“People perceive it as driving up the cost of living, the cost of housing, accessibility. That notion of growth is becoming a challenge for a lot of Canadians.”

Last week, a city report warned that Winnipeg’s $122.4-million share of a major federal housing fund could fall significantly short of a full payout with uncertainty stemming from next year’s federal election.

The poll suggested that 64 per cent of city residents feel municipal funding has not kept pace with population growth, with 64 per cent supporting tweaks to federal and provincial transfers to reflect that growth.

The Abacus poll also showed the impacts municipal services and infrastructure have on quality of life, which 52 per cent of respondents viewed as positive — slightly higher than the national average.

Quality of roads and highways and snow and ice removal services topped the list of things weighing on people’s minds, with crime rates, housing affordability and water and waste services following closely behind.

“People feel challenged in their day-to-day lives, trying to secure safe, affordable housing,” Sheppard said. “The feeling of elevated crime in your city will impact your quality of life.”

scott.billeck@freepress.mb.ca