Mayoral Candidate

About the Candidate

Incumbent since 2014.

'Super dog-friendly' Brian Bowman says he will support investments in new and existing dog parks in the annual budget process. He says that off-leash dogs sharing space with cyclists, runners, and sports teams isn’t ideal. He prefers that dog parks are 'single-use' but says shared space may be necessary. See his comments below.

Platform: Platform: Bowman’s priorities are building a safe, inclusive city, building a stronger government; and growing the city and its economy. He has been the champion of opening Portage and Main to pedestrian traffic.

Bowman plans to increase boots-on-the-ground policing without increasing taxes by removing overtime when calculating retiring police officers' pensionable earnings.

Bowman pledges to limit annual property tax increases to 2.33 per cent for the next four years and would use the additional revenue to rebuild roads and for the second stage of rapid transit. He also promises not to increase water and sewer dividends or raise frontage levies during his next term. He has said publicly that he would consider converting some kiddie wading pools to permanent dog pools. .

Prior to his election as mayor, Bowman was a partner at Pitblado Law; practicing privacy, access to information, and social media law. He graduated from the University of Toronto’s law school and holds a degree in history and political studies from the University of Manitoba. While practising law, he served as chair of the Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce and the Winnipeg Art Gallery.

A Red Tory, once considered as a possible leader of the Manitoba PCs, Bowman never held elected office prior to his election as mayor. He served as president of the PC’s Manitoba youth wing and worked on Joe Clark's campaign in the 1998 federal leadership race.

The benefits of off leash dog parks are well known. In addition to giving our canine companions room to run, play and socialize, dog owners reap the benefits of an active, healthy lifestyle too. That’s why I support expanding access to dog parks in Winnipeg. In my first term I opened Bonnycastle dog park - Winnipeg’s first downtown dog park.

The matter of single-use off-leash areas is one I support, but I will allow for the situation where shared space may at times be necessary. Dogs in off-leash areas sharing space with cyclists, runners, sports teams, isn’t ideal, and wouldn’t be my preference if there are other reasonable options available. I wouldn’t want to completely overrule options to share larger spaces that are broken up by geography and roadways as currently occurs at Garbage Hill.>