Mayoral hopefuls trade accusations

Two mayoral hopefuls traded accusations about meddling in each other’s campaigns as the incumbent rallied supporters for his re-election bid on the eve of advanced polls opening across Winnipeg.

A social media post made by Mike Vogiatzakis, one of 12 nominees in the Oct. 28 race for the top job at city hall, caught the attention of rivals Sunday.

The funeral director took to Facebook midday to criticize Kevin Klein — a competitor he said he thought of “as a friend” until the former Tory cabinet minister made a U-turn after pledging to back the Vogiatzakis campaign.

“Good speaker? Yes. Good looking guy? Sure. Someone I trust now? Absolutely not,” he wrote in a lengthy post.

Vogiatzakis is alleging multiple members of Klein’s circle offered him “a position at city hall” on Sept. 2 in exchange for stepping down.

Todd Dube, his campaign director, echoed those comments on a phone call.

Three different people — including Tim Diack, who helped out with Klein’s 2022 mayoral race — called either Vogiatzakis or one of their colleagues the night before Klein officially entered the race, Dube said.

Klein was not made available for an interview, but the former Progressive Conservative MLA and environment minister’s latest campaign team issued a statement dismissing his opponent’s “smear campaign.”

Klein acknowledged in a statement that he had, in fact, changed his mind to run for mayor at the eleventh-hour in response to outcry among his supporters.

But he rejected his competitor’s suggestion that an authorized team member of his tried to make a backroom agreement.

Klein said his team told Dube it would be continuing on the campaign trail at the Sept. 14 transit debate after which the campaign manager “made an offer” — an attempt to prevent vote-splitting — that they refused.

“It was a reciprocal gesture, back, basically,” Dube said.

A spokesperson for Klein indicated that Diack is not an official member of the team. Diack did not immediately respond to a request for comment Sunday.

(Dube declined to share the names of two other affiliates he alleged reached out.)

Winnipeg Mayor Scott Gillingham learned about the finger-pointing after an afternoon rally packed with about 100 supporters and blue and orange decorations.

Gillingham convened volunteers at the Caboto Centre to urge them to take advantage of advanced voting, which begins on Monday.

“Bring someone with you — as long as they’re voting for me,” he added, followed by a chuckle that was echoed by supporters in the room.

Former Winnipeg Police Chief Devon Clunis, Virgin Radio Winnipeg personality Chrissy Troy and Filipino-Canadian entrepreneur Jackie Wild were among the high-profile guests in attendance.

Gillingham called the allegations levelled against Klein “serious.”

“In my estimation, they could violate rules around elections,” he said.

More than half of the eligible voters surveyed in a late-summer opinion poll indicated they were undecided about their choice for mayor.

Abacus Data surveyed 600 random adults from Winnipeg about their voting intentions between Aug. 28 and Sept. 14.

Thirteen per cent of respondents indicated they had no plans to vote.

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Among the minority of decided voters, 55 per cent threw their support behind the incumbent. Klein earned 23 per cent of that share. Vogiatzakis was in third place with 11 per cent of the net support among decided voters.

Crestview resident Jennette McCalla said she plans to cast an advanced ballot to avoid a lengthy wait on Oct. 28.

McCalla said she stopped by the Caboto Centre Sunday because “there’s no question” her former pastor, who she called “very trustworthy,” is her choice for mayor.

Klein’s office said he spent the weekend in meetings with residents, reaching out to supporters and “reminding people that advance polls open (Monday).”

maggie.macintosh@freepress.mb.ca

Maggie Macintosh
Education reporter

Maggie Macintosh reports on education for the Free Press. Originally from Hamilton, Ont., she first reported for the Free Press in 2017. Read more about Maggie.

Funding for the Free Press education reporter comes from the Government of Canada through the Local Journalism Initiative.

Every piece of reporting Maggie produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.