The former assistant of late Elmwood–East Kildonan councillor Jason Schreyer is again running for the seat.
Chris Sweryda officially launched his campaign Saturday. He did so with the backdrop of a grocery program he runs, where food is sold near-cost out of St. Gerard School’s gym.
Rows of cereal, pasta sauce and chips filled tables ahead of the program’s afternoon opening. Sweryda created the pop-up with Schreyer months ahead of the former councillor’s April 2025 death.
GABRIELLE PICHE / FREE PRESS
Chris Sweryda officially launched his campaign for the Elmwood-East Kildonan seat Saturday.
The program sees roughly 500 people each day it’s open (which is every other week on Saturday), Sweryda said.
He’d placed signs bearing his and Schreyer’s names near the checkout area. Schreyer’s family attended the campaign launch.
It’s a second round for Sweryda. He’d first run in fall of 2025, when the city held a byelection to fill Schreyer’s absence.
Schreyer was councillor from 2014 to 2025.
Emma Durand-Wood won the byelection. She’s campaigning to keep her seat in the Winnipeg ward.
Sweryda cited a short campaign window as the reason he lost. Due to grieving and starting the local food program, he submitted his papers to run right before the nomination deadline, he said.
He received 740 votes (14.8 per cent). Durand-Wood garnered 1,567 votes, or 31.4 per cent.
“I think there’s opportunity here that I might be able to still do this,” said Sweryda, 39.
Winnipeg’s civic election is Oct. 28.
Sweryda said he plans to expand the food program he runs if elected, including hiring a staff to oversee and grow operations. Volunteers currently run the program.
Winnipeg Free Press | Newsletter
Sweryda aims to tackle the replacement of the Louise Bridge and “general inefficiency” in government, he said. Schreyer hired him in 2022 following a Free Press series showing Sweryda’s research on traffic intersections and financial mismanagement in the city’s public works department.
Sweryda is finishing a master’s degree in law. He says he needs to revise and submit his thesis, on due diligence defence, and that it won’t conflict with councillor duties.
Abel Gutierrez and Jessica Wiebe are also vying for the municipal seat.
Coun. Durand-Wood called it a “good and healthy thing for democracy” to have multiple candidates running.
gabrielle.piche@winnipegfreepress.com
Gabrielle Piché reports on business for the Free Press. She interned at the Free Press and worked for its sister outlet, Canstar Community News, before entering the business beat in 2021. Read more about Gabrielle.
Every piece of reporting Gabrielle produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.
Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber.
Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.