Cerilli policy causes controversy

Mayoral candidate receives endorsements from labour and citizens’ groups

She was the last mayoral candidate to enter the race but Marianne Cerilli is making sure she is not left biting the dust of her three rivals when it comes to policy announcements.

As many political pundits expected, Cerilli’s ideas have been both loved and loathed – and there has been no shortage of response either from other candidates or lobby groups.

Cerilli began October with a visit to Kelvin Community Centre in Elmwood where she stated her commitment to keeping open community centres, especially those located in neighbourhoods with low-income families.

She also caused controversy when she announced her “living wage” bylaw on Oct. 3, which would make sure the employees of companies providing services to the City of Winnipeg are paid a minimum of $10 per hour.

“This measure would ease the burden of poverty that harms so many workers and their families,” said Cerilli, who made the policy announcement during a tour of Winnipeg Harvest, the city’s largest food bank.

Cerilli entered the OlyWest fray on Oct. 4 when she said the Province of Manitoba should widen the scope of the OlyWest hearing at the Clean Environment Commission to look at the impact of hog production in Manitoba.

She criticized incumbent Mayor Sam Katz’s public-private partnership (also known as P3) announcement for Winnipeg police stations, saying the experience of P3s across the country are ones of cost overruns and less public accountability.

“P3s represent a false economy,” said Cerilli. “Private construction is more expensive as they face higher interest rates and must deliver a profit to shareholders.”

Before the end of September, Cerilli received endorsements from the Winnipeg Labour Council, which counts on 28 affiliated unions with members numbering 45,000, and groups opposed to the OlyWest hog slaughterhouse proposed for the St. Boniface Industrial Park.

She also opened her campaign headquarters at 100A Sherbrook St. and made her first policy announcement. Called the “Smart Money Plan,” Cerilli said that when it comes to the City’s crumbling infrastructure, tax breaks are not the answer; the answer is smart use of the public funds.

The municipal election is Oct. 25.