Episode 22 opens with a little Bomber talk; then a rundown of the pending/requested replies to Marty’s questions (via TheJ.ca) for Mayoral candidates Shaun Loney and Rana Bokhari about antisemitism, and for Winnipeg MP Marty Morantz about whether he thinks a tax increase by the next Mayor would improve middle class prosperity or do the opposite.
8:10 – We look at the latest Leger election poll, and take it at face value in a review of the standings. Glen Murray dropped 12 points and his 25 point lead is down to 9 since CBC reported that his firing from the Pembina Institute led him back to Winnipeg and public life.
To set up discussing the Leger poll findings, Marty reviews the startling mass turfing of incumbents in Vancouver and throughout major BC cities, the Ken Sim ABC sweep across the ballot, and the common denominator to Winnipeg – Crime! BC is fed up with criminals and crime is the top voter issue in Winnipeg.
Leger polling showed issues the MSM harps on – climate change, bike lanes, reconciliation – are solid bottom dwellers. We look at voter intentions, and where the priorities of the Klein, Loney, Gillingham and Murray camps landed.
Loney voters only show 2% have lower taxes as a concern. Is the influence of limited polling on Winnipeg election coverage and choices made by major organizations holding mayoral forums and town halls a problem?
If CBC and the Chamber of Commerce didn’t choose a month early (barely two weeks after ‘voters start paying attention’) – wouldn’t Robbie Ouellette be out and Jenny Motkaluk be in? We discuss how name recognition can skew early polls. And how early ‘runaway lead’ polls can suppress voter turnout.
36.20 – Part 2 – This week in TheJ.ca
38:50 – Spirited Kenny noted the margin of error disclaimer on the Leger poll and reads it out loud so we can all be as confused as him.
42:00 – CBC looked at why industrial zones outside of the city are booming and how years of warnings to get Winnipeg land ready went nowhere. And speaking of Centerport, CBC recognized what Tom Brodbeck didn’t – Motkaluk was playing up the revenue and jobs from CenterportSouth development the whole campaign. Then, why Gillingham’s disclosure that Morantz and Manitoba PC Infrastructure Minister Doyle Piwniuk are donors creates tricky situations with CPC’s Poilievre and Premier Stefanson.
50:12 – What Dan Lett says about higher city taxes, Glen Murray’s PST tax grab idea (we think it’s suspiciously late) and ol’ Danno almost mentions the Pembina Institute.
1:02:15 – Glen Murray’s ’18 more years of experience’ included something we missed in Glen Murray Has To Come Clean About Caledon.
We knew Murray, as an Ontario cabinet minister, was the second guy to try to corner Mayor Marolyn Morrison to lean on her for a housing developer. What we didn’t know was Murray had regular meetings with the first guy who tried it, and they had at least one meeting together with a rep of the development company…
Morrison told the Globe and Mail she didn’t know why “any politician would get involved with Spiros Papathanasakis or have any affiliation with him.”
1:03:25 – That brings us back to Glen Murray’s Green Party donors list. It’s been 2 more months. Is his proximity to ‘colourful characters’ who are adjacent to influence peddling campaigns the reason why it’s still a secret?