Kevin Klein says Winnipeg has not gotten better in the past four years under the leadership of Scott Gillingham, and says he is the candidate who is best equipped to build a stronger city. “We know there’s more crime, we know transit is not better,” he said during an interview with CTV News Winnipeg’s senior news anchor Maralee Caruso. “We’re paying more for water. We’re paying more for waste collection. Nothing has improved in these four years. “I’m asking you to give me the opportunity to be your mayor, so that we can make change happen, change that makes sense, so that we can build a stronger city together.” The former Winnipeg city councillor and Manitoba MLA is seeking another shot as Winnipeg’s mayor in the 2026 municipal election. Klein, the publisher of the Winnipeg Sun newspaper, finished in third place in the 2022 election. Prior to that, he was the councillor for Charleswood-Tuxedo-Westwood for four years, and was MLA for Kirkfield Park after winning a 2022 byelection. Klein also served as the province’s minister of environment and climate change for much of 2023, until he lost his re-election bid that fall. During the campaign trail, Klein has proposed to create a public safety task force led by former Winnipeg Police chief Devon Clunis to help reduce crime in the city. “We have so many small groups working on different areas of crime, that I think it’s important to bring one group together, a centralized group and say, ‘Let’s put our efforts together. Where do we get the most impact?’” he said. Klein has also proposed a 24/7 managed-community pilot project that would act as a bridge for people experiencing homelessness to access housing, and wants to have it set up during his first year as mayor. “We have to take some kind of action, because if we’re doing what’s happening today, which is nothing, we’re just throwing money at this organization and at that organization, and hoping that it works,” he said. Klein, however, has been dogged by controversy at several points during the campaign. When he entered the mayor’s race, Gillingham brought up Klein’s time working with disgraced fashion mogul Peter Nygard. Klein said he worked for Nygard for four months total and left because he didn’t think he was a good person. “If I knew what he was like and know now what I know about him, I would have left earlier,” he said. Another controversy took place when mayoral candidate Mike Vogiatzakis alleged people connected to Klein’s campaign tried to get him to drop out of the race by offering him a position at City Hall. Klein denied the claim and said a representative from Vogiatzakis’ campaign made a similar offer to members of his campaign, an allegation Vogiatzakis disputed. Klein once again denied the allegations. “I never offered anybody anything, and no one’s ever said I did,” he said. Klein is one of 12 mayoral candidates CTV News will profile in sit-down interviews ahead of the Oct. 28 election. The full interview can be viewed online. -With files from CTV News’ Maralee Caruso
