10 compelling questions for Winnipeg and Manitoba politics in 2026
CBC
Scott Gillingham is entering an election year. Wab Kinew has another full year to prove he can govern effectively before he faces voters as well.
Winnipeg's mayor and Manitoba's premier have some challenges to surmount before they can punch their respective tickets for another four years.
Here are 10 questions facing the city and province as we 2026 draws near.
1. Is a Churchill port expansion actually happening?
Long-suffering residents of northern Manitoba’s most famous town have heard promises before about major new investments proposed for the coast of Hudson Bay. It’s tough to be optimistic when you live alongside the rocks where economic dreams have been dashed for decades.
If nothing more concrete than hopes and wishes emerge for Churchill in 2026, all the nice words uttered in 2026 won’t matter.
2. Can this NDP government actually reduce emergency wait times?
On Dec. 19, Premier Wab Kinew promised ER wait times will come down in 2026. In order for that to happen, hospitals must have enough staff to treat more patients in regular medicine-unit beds.
For years, doctors and nurses have insisted the main reason Manitobans are waiting hours to see an emergency room doctor is too many patients who need to be admitted to hospital are spending days lying in emergency-room beds, waiting for that admission.
Until this medicine-bed staffing issue is addressed, the ER wait-times problem won’t be solved. There is no cheap fix here. Whatever course of action the NDP government pursues will go a long way in determining whether it can indeed “fix health care” as Kinew promised during the 2023 election.
3. Can the Kinew government also reduce (some) grocery prices?
Kinew also said in December that action is coming next year on grocery staples. Unlike hospitals, market forces generally exist outside this government’s control. Any effective move by this provincial government would constitute a win here.
4. Will homelessness subside in Winnipeg?
The premier is promising to double the number of people who get moved out of encampments into safe housing this coming year, from 130 to 260. The total homeless population of Winnipeg is in the thousands.
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