What would you do to make transit more functional, reliable and safe? What plans do you have to reduce car dependency?

Winnipeg’s new transit system has left too many riders dealing with longer trips, missed connections and service that does not meet the needs of their neighbourhoods.

During my first 30 days as mayor, I would request a full operational review and work with council and Winnipeg Transit to restore effective routes and frequencies wherever possible.

My transit plan includes:

• Reviewing routes using actual ridership data and public feedback
• Restoring reliable evening and late-night service
• Improving real-time bus tracking and communication with drivers
• Installing full protective enclosures for drivers
• Increasing the visible presence of trained safety personnel on buses and at major stops
• Introducing a free physical Transit Safety Pass for Winnipeg residents, allowing passengers to access secured heated shelters and quickly request assistance
• Building heated, shatter-resistant shelters through private sponsorships, reducing the cost to taxpayers
• Creating a dedicated emergency text service for transit passengers.

I support active transportation where it is practical and properly planned. Bike routes should be safe and connected, but they should not be imposed in ways that unnecessarily remove parking, harm businesses or create traffic bottlenecks.

People will become less dependent on cars when transit is safe, dependable and convenient. The answer is to provide residents with better choices, not to make driving deliberately more difficult.

What should the city do to ease the housing and homelessness crisis?

We need more housing at different price points, including supportive housing, affordable rentals, starter homes and opportunities for responsible infill development.

The City must speed up construction by fixing its permit system. My Winnipeg Permit Guarantee would establish clear service standards, including a five-business-day target for standard residential applications and a ten-business-day target for straightforward commercial applications.

I would also introduce:

• A one-day approval stream for simple, pre-approved projects
• A dedicated Small-Business and Housing Permit Hub
• Online tracking so applicants know the status of their applications
• Written timelines for complex developments
• A rule preventing new requirements from being added midway through an application without a valid safety or legal reason.

Homelessness cannot be addressed by moving people from one encampment to another. The City must work with the provincial and federal governments, Indigenous leadership and community organizations to connect people with shelter, supportive housing, mental-health care, addiction treatment and employment services.

I do not support allowing permanent encampments, open drug use or trafficking in public spaces. Compassion must include treatment and housing, but it must also include safety and reasonable standards of conduct in our neighbourhoods.

How should the city deal with public disorder? Are people receiving value from the police budget?

Residents and frontline police officers are both frustrated with a system in which the same individuals are repeatedly arrested and released.

As mayor, I would meet with the Winnipeg Police Board, the police chief and the premier during my first week in office. We need a coordinated strategy focused on violent offenders, illegal firearms, chronic repeat offenders and organized retail theft.

Police officers should be concentrating on serious crime, investigations and visible neighbourhood policing. They should not be expected to act as the only response to every mental-health crisis, addiction issue or social-service call.

I would demand measurable results from the police budget, including transparent reporting on response times, investigative backlogs, neighbourhood patrols and outcomes. Taxpayers deserve to know where their money is going and whether it is making their communities safer.

My Cadet Apprenticeship Program would also create a three-year path for qualified young people interested in policing, firefighting and paramedicine. Apprentices could perform appropriate non-emergency duties under professional supervision while gaining training and experience.

Could the City do more concerning poverty and addictions?

Yes. The City cannot solve poverty and addiction alone, but it cannot use jurisdiction as an excuse to do nothing.

I would create a coordinated crisis-response system connected to 911. Residents would continue calling one familiar emergency number, and the operator could directly transfer an appropriate mental-health call to a specialized emergency mental-health team.

The City should also:

• Work with other governments to expand treatment and supportive housing
• Improve access to recreation and youth programs
• Connect residents with identification, employment and social services
• Support Indigenous-led and community-based solutions
• Enforce laws against violence, trafficking and public disorder.

I do not support supervised consumption sites. I favour putting resources into treatment, recovery, mental-health services and supportive housing. People struggling with addiction deserve a genuine opportunity to recover, while families and businesses deserve safe public spaces.

How could the City make life less expensive for residents?

Winnipeg does not simply have a revenue problem. It has a spending and priority problem.

Before asking residents to pay more, City Hall must review how existing money is being spent. I would order a department-by-department review of expenditures, contracts, consulting costs, administrative duplication and projects that do not provide sufficient public value.

My affordability priorities include:

• Holding the line on unnecessary tax and fee increases
• Reviewing rapidly rising water and wastewater bills
• Providing two hours of free municipal parking, including around hospitals and in the downtown area
• Making transit more dependable so residents have a practical alternative to owning another vehicle
• Accelerating permits to reduce housing and construction costs
• Rebuilding roads properly instead of repeatedly paying to patch the same failures
• Reviewing property assessments to create greater fairness and predictability, particularly for seniors and long-term homeowners.

My proposed property-tax model would base the taxable value of an owner-occupied home on its purchase price and keep that value stable while the owner continues living there. The assessment would reset when the property is sold. Properly permitted renovations would not automatically punish homeowners with an immediate tax increase.

Residents are paying more while receiving less. My priority would be to restore accountability, direct spending toward essential services and ensure every tax dollar is treated with respect.

Thank you again for the opportunity to respond. I appreciate the work being done by RRC Polytech journalism students and Winnipeg Better to help residents make an informed decision.

Sincerely,

Michael Vogiatzakis