A survey suggests Winnipeg citizens are split on whether to hope for change after the civic election.
A CTV Winnipeg/Winnipeg Free Press poll conducted by Probe Research shows 53 per cent of respondents are hopeful the way city hall does business will change after a new mayor is in office. Of those, 18 per cent strongly disagreed it will be business as usual and 35 per cent felt moderate disagreement.
People who were more likely to feel optimistic about change after the election were residents of the core area (60 per cent), young adults aged 18-34 (62 per cent), and post-secondary graduates (60 per cent).
Winnipeg residents most likely to feel that nothing will be different, post-election, lived in the northeast (51 per cent), were over age 55 (46 per cent), and those with a high school diploma or less (53 per cent).
The study also showed that Winnipeggers are not inclined to consider whether a candidate is an incumbent when casting their ballot.
“There seems to be a lack of association with some of the things at city hall and blaming incumbent councillors for what's happened,” said Curtis Brown from Probe Research.
Winnipeg has faced issues of transparency at city hall in the past four years and subjects were asked if they were more or less willing to vote for someone who served during that time, or whether it makes no difference. Of those polled, 50 per cent said it makes no difference.
Incumbents are running in 11 of the city’s 15 wards. Mayor Sam Katz is not seeking re-election.
Polling firm Probe Research Inc. surveyed 602 people their feelings for the future after the election. The results are considered accurate 95 per cent of the time, within plus or minus four percentage points.
