Mayor isn’t paranoid if they are out to get him

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 05/06/2009 (5980 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

While Mayor Sam Katz has spent five years claiming he is "not a politician," he’s proven willing to at least act like one when the right situation arises.

Earlier this week, Katz abandoned his long-standing policy of avoiding open conflict with the province to lambaste the Doer government over Bill 35, a package of conflict-of-interest and campaign-finance reforms for Manitoba municipalities.

The bulk of the proposed legislation is completely innocuous, as it essentially forces every city, town and rural municipality from Emerson to Churchill to adopt rules already in place in Winnipeg.

But the mayor flipped out over the bill’s proposed ban on corporate and union donations, mainly because city council already voted down the same idea after it was proposed by a councillor the mayor can’t stand: St. Boniface’s Dan Vandal.

In the 2004 mayoral race, Katz beat Vandal by more than 43,000 votes. Vandal returned the favour in 2006 by defeating single-term St. Boniface Coun. Franco Magnifico, one of Katz’s closest allies.

After spending the first year of the current council term reacquainting himself with his ward, Vandal started needling the mayor during question period at city council in late 2007 and has since become the proverbial thorn in Katz’s side.

On the surface, the mayor’s opposition to a ban on corporate and union donations during elections makes him look like he fears he stands to lose something. In the 2006 general election, corporations who gave Katz the maximum donation of $1,500 included Nygard International, Labatt Brewing, Western Glove Works, Gauthier Automotive Group and Canad Inns Investment Services.

But that very same year, any corporate executive who wanted to exceed the maximum donation could simply donate personally or ask a relative or friend to do the same. The new legislation won’t change this situation, which means Katz really doesn’t stand to lose much in the way of campaign funds. For example, if Canad Inns can no longer give money, that doesn’t stop every member of the Ledohowksi family from stepping up to the donation plate.

So why is Sam Katz so upset with the Doer government? It all boils down to Katz’s rivalry with Vandal.

The slightly left-of-centre St. Boniface councillor is thinking about running for mayor again in 2010. Even though it’s quite unlikely Vandal will do so, Katz appears convinced there’s a left-wing plot to unseat him in the next general election.

After a loose collection of Winnipeg Liberals, NDP members and unaligned lefties formed an organization called the Winnipeg Citizens Coalition in 2008, Katz repeatedly said the new group came together solely to toss him out of office. Katz has said this often enough to lend legitimacy to the WCC, which has not done much of anything.

The mayor went further this week by suggesting "some ministers" in the Doer government may be "putting all their energies toward me" and noted provincial Finance Minister Greg Selinger is close with Vandal.

Paranoia? Perhaps. But even if the left is gunning for Katz, the mayor ought to be more concerned with a 2010 electoral challenge from the centre-right.

Last week, Canwest vice-president David Asper delivered a chamber of commerce speech that sounded an awful lot like an election platform. The future owner of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers argued for the creation of a two per cent tax to fund infrastructure improvements and more tax incentives to improve the Exchange District. When Free Press business reporter Martin Cash asked Asper directly whether he was seeking office, the federal Tory supporter sidestepped the question by joking he had too many skeletons in his closet.

One speech, of course, is hardly enough to bank on a 2010 mayoral face-off between a football team owner and a baseball team owner. But Katz is vulnerable to a challenge from the right or centre if he indeed runs for mayor a third time.

But if a serious mayoral contender wants to take a run at Katz, they will need to have a team in place by this fall to have any chance at knocking off a two-time incumbent.

 

bartley.kives@freepress.mb.ca