Majority of Winnipeggers concerned about climate change, mixed on its importance to city business

A shot of downtown Winnipeg’s skyline from Israel Asper Way. (Joseph Bernacki/CTV News Winnipeg)

A majority of Winnipeggers are concerned about climate change, but not all view it as a main priority for Winnipeg to deal with.

The city commissioned Probe Research to conduct a poll to gauge Winnipeggers’ opinion on climate change action in Winnipeg.

Probe found 77 per cent of respondents are concerned about climate change, including 45 per cent who are very concerned. But when asked about the priority level in Winnipeg, answers were far more skewed.

The poll found 38 per cent view it as a high priority, 34 per cent view it as a low priority and 28 per cent are in between.

Women, university graduates, lower-income earners, inner-city residents and those in the LGBTQ2S+ community were more likely to view it as a high priority.

Those polled were also asked if the city was doing enough to deal with pollution. Probe found 70 per cent of people felt the city should be doing more to stop pollution, while another 69 per cent felt the impact on the climate should be part of every decision that council makes.

However, almost half of people said they were unsure if the city has a positive impact on climate change.

“Only one in five have any degree of familiarity with what exactly the city is doing to prepare for and respond to climate change,” Probe said in its findings. “Because of this lack of awareness, more than two-thirds of Winnipeggers are neither satisfied nor dissatisfied with what the city is doing to address this issue.”

Probe polled 600 adult Winnipeggers between March 4 and 16. The poll has a margin of error of ±4.0 per cent.

The Climate Action and Resilience Committee will go over the results on April 24.