Winnipeg votes 2018: North Kildonan ward profile

• About the ward
• News stories from North Kildonan
• Meet the candidates
• See what the candidates say on key issues
• More ward profiles from CBC Manitoba​​

The northwest Winnipeg ward of North Kildonan is among those that will be a bit bigger in the 2018 election.

After ward boundary changes for this year's election, the ward gained the Riverbend and Rivergrove neighbourhoods west of the Red River, which extend from the Chief Peguis Trail to the Perimeter Highway.

Other neighbourhood include River East, Rossmere, Springfield North, Kildonan Drive, and Valhalla.

The new boundaries boost North Kildonan's population from 36,604 to 44,664, based on 2016 census data.

Other facts about the neighbourhood:

• Residents in the area made a total of 8,453 calls to 311 between January 2016 and Sept. 28, 2018. The largest number of complaints involved missed garbage pickup (2,382 complaints). Neighbourhood livability was also a concern, with 981 calls made to 311 in the 2016 to Sept. 28, 2018 period.
• According to data from the city's CrimeStat website, North Kildonan residents reported 214 crimes during the year to date (as of Sept. 28) — one of the lowest number of reports among the city's wards. That number represents a seven per cent increase from the same period in 2017 (200 reports).
• Reports of residential break-ins dropped by 62 in the year to date compared to the January-September period in 2017 (16 reports so far in 2018 compared to 42 in 2017). Car thefts, however, increased by 65 per cent (56 reported to date in 2018 compared to 34 between January-September 2017).

North Kildonan in the news

Meet the candidates

Two candidates are running for the North Kildonan council seat in Winnipeg's 2018 civic election.

Jeff Browaty is seeking a fourth consecutive term as the ward's councillor. Browaty pushed for the plebiscite on re-opening Portage and Main to pedestrian traffic, which Winnipeggers will vote on in the Oct. 24 election.

Andrew Podolecki is a long-time resident of the North Kildonan ward and studies political science and history at the University of Winnipeg. His major concerns in the area are infrastructure and accessible transit service.​

What the candidates say on key issues

Questions in this section were among those voters in the ward said they wanted asked of candidates. Responses have been edited and condensed.

If you are elected as councillor, what are you going to do about the poor road conditions in North Kildonan?

Jeff Browaty: We've been tackling roads as best we can. We're trying to focus first on our regional streets. Streets like McLeod [Avenue] has been fully redone in the last number of years, Raleigh [Street] and Gateway [Road] are in pretty good shape overall. And then moving onto the next year's streets, Springfield Road is certainly on the radar in the next couple of years, and then in some cases the residential streets are really really bad.

Andrew Podolecki: Every year the City of Winnipeg has said they will raise property tax by two per cent which they say brings in approximately $11 million per year. Currently not every year they've been doing that, every year they have not been putting that $11 million towards road construction. If I was councillor, I would ensure that $11 million of additional money from that two per cent property tax increase would go to roads.

Residents say they have seen an increase of crime in the ward. If you are elected, what will you do to prevent crime in North Kildonan? 

Jeff Browaty: A lot of these crimes are petty crimes and a lot of them are unfortunately drug-fuelled. Meth has become a huge issue in our city and these petty crimes are often caused by those addictions. So finding a way to deal with people with addictions. I like the idea of the Main Street Project as opposed to hospitals to provide that first level of treatment for people with addictions so they can come off their addictions."

Andrew Podolecki: My focus is going with the system of prevention, and also have resources and put money to also have treatment centres for drugs, because a lot of these petty crimes are coming from the recent emerging public health crisis with the methamphetamine and all that. We need a strategy to put it to city hall so people can seek treatment so they can get off drugs and be able to clean up their lives, because just throwing people in jail does not solve the issue.

What is going to happen with the old Marketplace grocery store in McIvor Mall? [The co-op grocery store on Henderson Highway closed earlier this year.]

Jeff Browaty: I'd love to know too. It would be great to have another grocery store of some sort in there, whether it is a No Frills or a Giant Tiger. There is certainly an interest in it.

Andrew Podolecki: I have not heard much on … the retailer or the immediate plans the private sector has.

Where do you stand on the Portage and Main referendum?

Jeff Browaty: I am strongly opposed to the opening of Portage and Main. When it looked like Mayor [Brian] Bowman was going to try ramming the opening through, it was in fact my work that got the question on the ballot in the first place. So no, I am very much opposed to the opening of Portage and Main.

Andrew Podolecki: My personal opinion is I personally would like to see it open. However, if my constituents are telling me overwhelmingly to support one way or the other I would then listen to the will of my constituents, because that would be my job as an elected representative.

More CBC Manitoba election ward profiles:

• Charleswood-Tuxedo
• Daniel McIntyre
• Elmwood-East Kildonan
• Fort Rouge-East Fort Garry
• Mynarski
• Old Kildonan
• Point Douglas
• River Heights-Fort Garry
• St. Boniface
• St. James
• St. Norbert-Seine River
• St. Vital
• Transcona
• Waverley West​

Journalism students from Red River College's creative communications program have prepared profiles of each city of Winnipeg ward ahead of the 2018 civic election for CBC Manitoba. Read all of our election 2018 coverage here.