Mayoral race ‘wild ride’ in Winnipeg
WINNIPEG • Jenny Motkaluk finished in second place in Winnipeg’s recent mayoral race, with 35.7 per cent of the vote. Incumbent Brian Bowman won with 53.3 per cent support, but Motkaluk took away some good lessons in disrupting a campaign.
The self-described rightleaning candidate, who had never held public office before, didn’t set out for the city’s top political job.
“My plan was to be someone else’s campaign manager. We were going to find someone who already had name recognition, and I was going to run their campaign,” she said. “But people know it’s tough to take down an incumbent and nobody wanted to.”
When a credible challenger failed to materialize, Motkaluk’s sister convinced her to go for it instead.
Motkaluk, a business development consultant, made her first attempt to enter politics as a candidate for Winnipeg city council. That failed bid was a learning experience, after which she served as a campaign manager for other political candidates.
Motkaluk deems her mayoral election night result a “credible loss” and wouldn’t change any decision she or her team made along the campaign trail.
She says her goal to reform Winnipeg’s property tax system was her signature pledge. She promised to cap annual property tax hikes to 1.16 per cent for all those who own their homes, replacing the traditional system of applying average tax hikes that allow some Winnipeggers to face higher or lower tax increases than others. Motkaluk said her plan would use rebates to adjust per-home levies and prevent assessed value changes for a property from kicking in until a home is sold.
While some questioned if the city’s charter would even allow the change, Motkaluk stressed she sought legal advice that confirmed it did.
When asked about the experience of running for mayor, Motkaluk described it as a “minute-by-minute” rollercoaster of emotions.
“It’s the hardest thing that you’ll ever do in your life, especially in municipal politics where you are not represented by a party,” she said. “You really are personally exposed. The vulnerability is immense and nothing can prepare you for it. Nothing.”
In the end, Motkaluk said, her mayoral run was worth the effort.
“It’s a crazy, crazy, wild ride and it’s exhausting. But you’re richer for it. At the end of the day, it really did feel like I was being carried on the shoulders of a thousand Winnipeggers,” she said.