Klein calls out CUPE flyers, calls on Gillingham to reject endorsement

These flyers were produced by CUPE Local 500, the city of Winnipeg's largest union. They accused mayoral candidate Kevin Klein of aligning with the far right and putting American business interests above Canadians. These are just false accusations and misleading and disappointing. Shortly after Klein registered as a candidate, the union accused him of writing columns in the Winnipeg Sun newspaper, criticizing Premier Wab Kinew for insulting U.S. President Donald Trump and for attending a gathering with American Ambassador Pete Hegseth. Last Friday, the union endorsed Scott Gillingham's re-election campaign. We can debate policy without resorting to personal smears and American flag imagery. But that's unfortunately what Mayor Gillingham started the campaign on, the smear campaign, and it seems now he is using his friends at CUPE to do that attack. In a statement, a spokesperson for Gillingham said the union makes its own decisions. Our campaign had nothing to do with these flyers. We do share QP's concerns about Mr. Klein's newspaper columns criticizing Canadian governments while expressing admiration for President Trump and members of his administration. CUPE 500 President Patrick Troughton told CBC News, Klein's opinions are a matter of public record. Our materials draw attention to publicly available information. We stand by our decision to share that information with Winnipeg voters. Klein called on Gillingham to reject the union's endorsement, calling their flyers an exaggeration of his views. Also on Tuesday, candidate Umar Hayat called for stronger accountability at City Hall following yesterday's release of Inquiry Commissioner Garth Smorang's report on the Winnipeg Police Headquarters construction. Why did City Council approve the settlement in 2023 rather than wait for the inquiry's finding? Lawsuits over the construction ultimately recovered $29 million. The inquiry found the city was overcharged more than $43 million. Cameron McLean, CBC News, Winnipeg.