A criminal defence lawyer, a land-based educator and an industrial gas company executive are all vying to replace Brian Mayes as the city councillor for St. Vital.
Mayes is leaving city hall after serving 15 years as the councillor for the southeastern Winnipeg ward.
He’s also trying to engineer something of a job swap with Chris Sigurdson, a childhood friend who spent the past 16 years as a trustee with the Louis Riel School Division.
Mayes is now running for that school trustee job and has endorsed Sigurdson in his bid for the St. Vital council seat.
“We’ve both been in our positions for 15, 16 years, so I think it’s a good time to switch over,” Sigurdson said last week in an interview outside his home.
While his election is not a fait accompli, the outgoing councillor’s endorsement as well as any voter intel Mayes provides adds to the advantage Sigurdson has after waging four school-trustee campaigns of his own.
The Winnipeg Labour Council and the United Firefighters of Winnipeg have also endorsed Sigurdson, who has been a member of both the provincial NDP and federal Liberal Party over the years.
He also worked as a United Food and Commercial Workers union representative for security guards and served as an assistant for the late St. Boniface Liberal MP Ron Duhamel before he began working as a lawyer relatively late in his career, in his late 30s.
Chris Sigurdson is a criminal defence lawyer who served 16 years as a school trustee before seeking office as a councillor. (Prabhjot Singh Lotey/CBC)
Sigurdson said working as a lawyer and serving as a school trustee has prepared him for city hall.
“Being a lawyer, being a trustee and being at city council, you’re always having people come to you with problems and you try your best to solve those problems,” he said.
Sigurdson cites infill development that doesn’t fit with the character of St. Vital and residential traffic woes stemming from construction as the major issues in St. Vital.
Infill development is also a concern for Doug Reimer, a newcomer to politics who said he’s spent the past eight to 12 years thinking about running for city council before he placed his name on the St. Vital ballot.
Making infill less contentious, reducing crime, improving transit, building a satellite police station in St. Vital and protecting the ward’s tree canopy are priorities for Reimer, who says he is winding down his role as the vice-president and general manager of a company that manufactures and sells industrial and medical gas.
Reimer said he’s been asked not to name the company, which produces gases for anaesthesia, welding and other uses. His description of the company matches that of a 90-year-old Winnipeg business that’s the largest of its kind in Canada, with annual sales in the tens of millions.
Reimer says his working as part of a team business translates to serving people as a councillor.
“Truly where success has come has been in building relationships with people and solving problems,” he said outside of his home in St. Vital. “I think that just correlates directly into into this.”
Doug Reimer spent decades working for a company that manufactures and sells medical and industrial gas before seeking elected office. (Prabhjot Singh Lotey/CBC)
Reimer said he has no affiliation to any political party. He said he is often asked at the door about party affiliation and chose to place “independent” on his campaign signs as a result.
He also said he feels it is an “uphill battle” against Sigurdson, given the outgoing school’s trustee’s campaign experience.
“I’m excited to be in the race,” Reimer said. “I honestly hope I get the opportunity to serve the people.”
The other candidate hoping to succeed Brian Mayes in St. Vital also has a business background, albeit in a very different form of business.
Season Kirkwood is a former Winnipeg Transit driver who started working as a land-based educator and knowledge keeper, working with kids as well as residential school and ’60s Scoop survivors.
Her business, which includes education about hunting, foraging and Red River Métis history, took off during the pandemic, when more people wanted to be outside, she said.
Kirkwood, who has served on her local Métis council, said she is ready to sacrifice time outdoors for the interior of council committee meetings.
“There has to be a balance where people on the committees are knowledgeable about our land base, our history and our culture,” said Kirkwood, speaking at the duck pond in St. Vital Park.
“I think we have to have more well-rounded folks in council that are going to bring that perspective back, so we could create policies that protect our climate, connect our communities and make communication better between our council members and our constituents.”
Kirkwood, whose father also drove buses for Winnipeg Transit, said the bis route overhaul undertaken by the city has made it too difficult for seniors and other people with mobility barriers to take transit.
She’s promising to bring the No. 55 transit loop back to St. Vital, fix sidewalks, expand the tree canopy, create more bike paths and reduce bike theft by figuring out how to “prevent scrap metal businesses from profiting off your bikes.”
Kirkwood said she’s very well aware she is very much unlike Mayes and Sigurdson in her approach and background.
“We need someone like me who works from the grassroots up,” she said.
Advance voting in all Winnipeg wards is open. Election day is Oct. 28.
Season Kirkwood is a land-based educator who is willing to trade in time outdoors for the city council committee meetings. (Prabhjot Singh Lotey/CBC)