Wards to watch in Wednesday's civic election
Voters able to remake council in several tight races, wards with zero incumbents
Winnipeg's city council is going to look a whole lot different after the civic election, regardless of who wins on Wednesday.
No matter what happens on Wednesday, five members of council will not be returning.
Four councillors are not seeking re-election — Russ Wyatt, Mike Pagtakhan, Marty Morantz and Jenny Gerbasi — and two candidates are running in the same ward, Scott Gillingham and Shawn Dobson.
The two incumbents were left to run in the same ward, St. James, after St. Charles was removed from the electoral map.
Incumbents try to hold on
John Orlikow will have to fight off Garth Steek in River Heights-Fort Garry if he wants a second term. Steek was the city councillor for the area from 1995 to 2003 and is trying to reclaim the seat.
Across the city in Old Kildonan, Devi Sharma, who has represented the ward since 2010, won her last election by only 212 votes. Kaur Sidhu, a pharmacist who faced professional discipline in 2012, is close on her heels.
In Daniel McIntyre, Josh Brandon, a Wolseley resident and policy analyst with the Social Planning Council of Winnipeg, is looking to unseat Brian Bowman ally, Cindy Gilroy.
Among other Bowman allies, Brian Mayes in St. Vital and Matt Allard in St. Boniface are hoping to be re-elected in their respective wards. In 2014, both candidates won with ample margins.
Jenny Motkaluk supporters Ross Eadie (Mynarski) Jeff Browaty (North Kildonan) and Jason Schreyer (Elmwood-East Kildonan) are also vying to hold onto their seats.
Janice Lukes, who has also endorsed Motkaluk, was elected by acclamation in Waverley West.
Transcona
In Transcona, eight candidates leapt at the chance to run for city hall after 16-year councillor Russ Wyatt bowed out following his arrest for sexual assault and a stint at a drug and alcohol recovery centre.
Vying to replace Wyatt are Steven Lipischak, who is an executive with Vickar Automotive Group, and Shawn Nason, who managed the constituency office for Conservative MP Lawrence Toet. Other candidates include clothing entrepreneur Wally Welechenko and Raymond Ulasy, who was found guilty of transferring weapons without authorization and served a one-year conditional sentence for the crime.
Registered nurse Basil Evan, paramedic Shane Geschiere and retired police officer Alex Allard are also running in Transcona. Sandeep Sharma, who is also running in the ward, did not respond to a CBC request for information.
Charleswood–Tuxedo
Four candidates decided to run in Charleswood-Tuxedo after Marty Morantz exited his city council career to run for the federal Conservatives.
The candidates include the former publisher of the Winnipeg Sun, Kevin Klein, civil servant Kevin Nichols, community nurse Ken St. George and Grant Nordman, who previously represented St. Charles at city hall.
Fort Rouge-East Fort Garry
Nearly as crowded as Transcona, Fort Rouge-East Fort Garry has seven candidates in the running. The outgoing councillor, Jenny Gerbasi, held the seat for 20 years.
The race includes a diverse cast of candidates including a former staffer with the Manitoba Liberals, Peter Koroma, anti-poverty advocate Harry Wolbert, yoga educator Bryanna Spina and IT manager Michael Thompson.
Others in the running are Stephanie Meilleur, who is the executive director of Osborne BIZ and was endorsed by both the police and firefighter unions, city planner Jeff Palmer, who was endorsed by New Democrat MLA and relative, James Allum as well as Lloyd Axworthy and Sherri Rollins, a school trustee and chair of the Winnipeg School Division who was endorsed by Gerbasi.
Point Douglas
Outgoing Point Douglas councillor, Mike Pagtakhan's executive assistant, Vivian Santos is hoping to continue the work of her former boss and mentor — while pushing for her own programs in the ward.
Kate Sjoberg, a consultant with Louis Riel School Division, has a long history of community organizing in Winnipeg and has experience working with both the Spence Neighbourhood Association and the North Point Douglas Women's Centre. Dean Koshelanyk, a current school trustee, is trying for a third run at Winnipeg city council and running on a platform to help businesses thrive in the area.
Sjoberg has the support of the Winnipeg Labour Council. Santos was endorsed by Pagtakhan.
St. Norbert-Seine River
The newly created ward of St. Norbert-Seine River has a stacked list of candidates and community leaders in the running.
Candidates include Nancy Cooke, a small business owner and Progressive Conservative employee, Markus Chambers, a long-time public servant and volunteer and Glenn Churchill, a transportation engineer.
Also in the running are Nikolas Joyal, one of the civic elections youngest candidates and University of Manitoba student and Chris Davis, a courier who is advocating for rapid transit growth.
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