RESULTS of Beautiful, Safe and Connected: 20 Question Candidate Survey on Human Transportation

On October 16, Winnipeg Trails staff and board prepared and sent a questionnaire to every candidate in the 2018 municipal election.

Jump to the answers and scores.
View the press release. 

It asked a series of quick agree/disagree questions on important policy statements, project ideas and ethics. Its purpose was:

• to share important aspects of our vision with new future leaders
• to help you evaluate the viewpoints of the people you elect
• to see how closely they align with those of our organization
• set a starting point for discussion/education

You can view the full survey here. Try it yourself! 

Big thanks to every each candidate who took the time to respond. We received 23 completed surveys.

About the scoring: All candidates were shown the simple and straightforward scoring system upfront. Survey responses were scored based on whether the candidate “agreed” with each of our ideas, positions or ethical statements.

Each “Agree” statement was worth 5 points.
Each “Disagree” response was worth 1 point.

Candidates were allowed to avoid directly answering the question by choosing “other” should they wish. They were then prompted to offer details. However they were informed that doing so was worth only worth 1 pt too. If they went further in their answer or stated clearly that they were in full agreement, we gave them the benefit of the doubt and marked them as being in agreement. We did not, however, jury the results or offer partial points for any answer.

This means that the score may tell most of, but not the whole story. To learn why a candidate may have chosen to reply differently to a given question, please see the entire questionnaire.

The list below shows all of the candidates who took the the time to respond. Their point total is noted in parentheses. The list is order first by area, then by score, then alphabetically by first name. Those not listed did not reply to the original email nor to the follow-up email and grace period; they therefore received a score of 0 and their names are not listed.

Candidate (Score)

Charleswood-Tuxedo
Ken St.George (92)
Grant Nordman (44)

Daniel McIntyre
Josh Brandon (100)
Cindy Gilroy (96)

Elmwood – East Kildonan
no replies

Fort Rouge – East Fort Garry

Jeff Palmer (100)
Sherri Rollins (100)
Michael Thompson (92)
Bryanna Spina (72)

Mynarski
Ross Eadie*
Michael Wiens (40)

North Kildonan
Andrew Podolecki (84)

Old Kildonan

Brad Gross (24)

Point Douglas
Kate Sjoberg (72)
Dean Koshelanyk (36)

River Heights – Fort Garry
Gary Lenko (72)

St.Boniface
Matt Allard (76)

St.James
Kurt Morton (84)

St. Norbert – Seine River
Nikolas Joyal (92)
Markus Chambers  (92)
Chris Davis (60)

St.Vital
no replies

Waverley West
Janice Lukes (64)

Candidates for Mayor
Tim Diack (100)
Doug Wilson (100)
Ed Ackerman (24)

Below you will find graphs summarizing how all of the candidates answered each question:

The last question was an open ended “Bonus Question”. Candidates all received 5 points for providing any answer.

Here is what they said:

• sidewalks are safer to walk and bike
• This is not in Winnipeg, but my dad and I have have had the pleasure of biking the Minneapolis trail system. It has excellent signage, markings, separated lanes, maps, repair stations and it covers the entire city. https://twitter.com/nikjoyal/status/1044291000225734656
• Some of the trails in BirdsHill park are among the favourite in and around Winnipeg. However my favourite trail is still the trail I used to ride from our farm to my friends farm 2 miles away.
• Scotia Street, I live in the area and it is a pleasant area to use for recreational activities.
• In Winnipeg it is the bike path in Assiniboine Park
• My campaign office has a room for those taking their bikes to campaign.
• My favorite trail is from St. Mary’s bridge down towards Churchill Drive. Through the different seasons I walk our dog Gina along this trail. I grew up in the country so walking in nature I find connection and peace. It’s great to be in the city but still feel separate from the city. The path needs to be completed to Churchill Drive and I would see that through.
• I was walking close to the seine river a few years ago off trail (hope this still counts) near a heavy industrial area, and a buck with fresh antlers walked out from around a concrete corner. Pretty special. Anyway, if that doesn’t count, I use the waterfront drive trail all the time cycling, and its always a treat.
• Sorry when I am out cycling or walking, Music is on and phone is away. I dont take many photos. My favorite trails are ones no one uses.
• Sentier Cloutier Trail
• I live in the west end and when I ride my bike to City Hall for work I feel safe and confident in the new Bannatyne/McDermott bike lane
• Harte Trail
• My favourite spot when cycling in Winnipeg runs along the Red River just east of the BRT line towards South Point at The Forks. It is well-treed and secluded and for a moment you forget that you are in the middle of a city. I’ve never stopped to take a photo on it though – usually in a rush to get to work! I hope that we can fill in the gaps along that trail, and extend it south to connect to Crescent Drive Park. The only photo I have is from a summer holiday in Riding Mountain National Park last year, where my family cycled along Clear Lake to the Wishing Well. I look forward to building a network of trails and bike lanes in our city where our kids feel comfortable and safe when using them.
• https://www.instagram.com/p/Bmq6KzKHJoP/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet Happily I have no favourite trail or bikelane – we use so many. I bike with my children to school, to local parks and splash-pads, the library and all over just for fun, cycling is a wonderful way to spend an afternoon and see your neighbourhood. I would work diligently to improve and increase Winnipeg’s active transportation network!
• The Northeast pioneer greenway is still my favourite, but see the more protected bike ways in Downtown have been making me excited for what is possible.
• Promenade Taché! No photo as yet not completed construction.
• Grew up with the monkey trails. They looked after themselves.
• The Silver Ave. trail is one of my favourites. Being able to bike or run totally off street is a great experience.
• Utilizing my own ward land dedication fees, I pushed through initial construction of the Yellow Ribbon Greenway Trail. This trail, which was later completed by the City, now stretches from Sturgeon Creek to Polo Park.
• Yesterday, I led a bike jam of supporters through the West End. It was great seeing people on bicycles enjoying a beautiful fall day. https://www.instagram.com/p/BpNGR5VHHxM/?utm_source=ig_share_sheet&igshid=1cpi1nxktat9z
• My first time realizing trails and bikes was Sturgeon Creek “monkey trails” before bulldozers converted the natural space to park space. Assiniboine Park is classic memory, but Sturgeon Creek was a moment in time.
• Henteleff Park
• I used to enjoy biking along the Seine in St. Boniface when I lived in the area and walking through the Parker Lands until is was wrongfully destroyed by the developer without any authorization from the city.

*A note about Councillor Eadie: Mr.Eadie took the time to fill out the questionnaire but his answers cannot be provided and here is why. Mr.Eadie wrote to us to let us know that, due to an accessibility glitch with the Google Form, he was unable to find the audible verification option to complete the survey. Sighted people are offered images and asked to identify what is in them in order to “prove they are not a robot.” We offered to accept his submission as  a Word document or any other format, but he was understandably pressed for time and reticent to take the time to fill it out again. We are sharing this for two reasons: one is to ensure that Mr.Eadie received kudos for taking the time to respond. The other is to make sure that story is told an admit our failings. Accessibility is extremely important to us. Google is typically one of the most accessible platforms and offers the option of an audible form verification.  Providing the questionnaire in a usable format for those with visual impairments is something we checked on; but it turns out it did not work in this case.

** These are complex graphs for which we did not have time nor the ability to provide detailed descriptions for visual impaired readers. If using an audible reader, please view individual candidate links.