With fuel prices at their lowest in years, should a municipal gas tax be introduced to help fix Winnipeg's streets?

Pump prices in the city are currently at 77 to 80 cents a litre — a far cry from mere months ago, when prices well over $1 a litre.

Now that it costs less to fill up your vehicle, it could be easier to charge a municipal fuel surcharge with the revenue dedicated to city road infrastructure. But should it be done?

Winnipeg Mayor Brian Bowman said while the city needs revenue wherever it can be found, it's really up to the province — and, specifically, the three people in the running to lead the governing New Democrats — to answer the question of whether there should be a gas tax right now.

"We do need our fair share; we are being short-changed right now. We need those funds," he said Wednesday.

"There's a leadership race. It would be a great opportunity for all the leadership candidates to pledge that Winnipeggers are going to get their fair share."

The CBC's Sean Kavanagh asked the NDP leadership candidates: current Premier Greg Selinger, along with challengers Steve Ashton and Theresa Oswald.

All three hopefuls emailed statements, but none would make specific promises for any new money for Winnipeg.

Ashton said he has worked hard to ensure the City of Winnipeg gets what it needs, adding that he will be providing more details later with regards to urban infrastructure.

Oswald said she knows the city has huge infrastructure needs, and that's why she has pushed to make sure provincial sales tax revenues are dedicated to infrastructure. She added that working co-operatively with Bowman would be a priority.

Selinger said his door is open to Bowman, but he would not hold discussions through the media.

Opposition Leader Brian Pallister has already blasted the NDP leadership candidates for making campaign promises that are too costly.

Statement from Steve Ashton's campaign

As former Minister responsible for the City of Winnipeg, Steve gets how important it is to provide support for maintaining and growing our urban infrastructure. When he was minister, 50/50 cost shared transit funding was reinstated, and he signed the first funding agreement for rapid transit.

Steve has also worked hard at the cabinet table to ensure the City gets necessary support for items such as fire support services.

Steve will be providing more details on urban infrastructure later in the campaign, but I can tell you that he looks forward to a strong public debate about infrastructure in Manitoba. His commitment to a referendum on the PST will ensure all Manitobans are heard regarding important investments in this province.

Statement from Theresa Oswald's campaign

It's critically important to build relationships with municipal leaders and working cooperatively with Mayor Bowman would absolutely be a priority. Theresa has met with him in her former capacity as Jobs and Economy Minister and would welcome the chance to build on that dialogue.

We know the City of Winnipeg has huge infrastructure needs and that's why Theresa pushed to make sure those PST dollars collected go to core infrastructure projects - the projects that really strengthen our city.

Statement from Greg Selinger's campaign

The Premier's door is always open to the Mayor for discussion. If the Mayor wishes to contact the Premier he can. We don't want to have those type of discussions through the media.