{"id":902337,"date":"2026-09-20T01:46:13","date_gmt":"2026-09-20T01:46:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/902337\/"},"modified":"2026-09-20T01:46:13","modified_gmt":"2026-09-20T01:46:13","slug":"elmwood-east-kildonan-candidate-promises-to-tackle-inefficiency-in-government-winnipeg-free-press","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/902337\/","title":{"rendered":"Elmwood\u2013East Kildonan candidate promises to tackle \u2018inefficiency\u2019 in government \u2013 Winnipeg Free Press"},"content":{"rendered":"

The former assistant of late Elmwood\u2013East Kildonan councillor Jason Schreyer is again running for the seat.<\/p>\n

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\u2019s gym.<\/p>\n

Rows of cereal, pasta sauce and chips filled tables ahead of the program\u2019s afternoon opening. Sweryda created the pop-up with Schreyer months ahead of the former councillor\u2019s April 2025 death.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"GABRIELLE
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

GABRIELLE PICHE \/ FREE PRESS<\/p>\n

Chris Sweryda officially launched his campaign for the Elmwood-East Kildonan seat Saturday.<\/p>\n

The program sees roughly 500 people each day it\u2019s open (which is every other week on Saturday), Sweryda said.<\/p>\n

He\u2019d placed signs bearing his and Schreyer\u2019s names near the checkout area. Schreyer\u2019s family attended the campaign launch.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a second round for Sweryda. He\u2019d first run in fall of 2025, when the city held a byelection to fill Schreyer\u2019s absence.<\/p>\n

Schreyer was councillor from 2014 to 2025.<\/p>\n

Emma Durand-Wood won the byelection. She\u2019s campaigning to keep her seat in the Winnipeg ward.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

He received 740 votes (14.8 per cent). Durand-Wood garnered 1,567 votes, or 31.4 per cent.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think there\u2019s opportunity here that I might be able to still do this,\u201d said Sweryda, 39.<\/p>\n

Winnipeg\u2019s civic election is Oct. 28.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\n\t\tWinnipeg Free Press | Newsletter\n\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\"Sign<\/p>\n

Sweryda aims to tackle the replacement of the Louise Bridge and \u201cgeneral inefficiency\u201d in government, he said. Schreyer hired him in 2022 following a Free Press series showing Sweryda\u2019s research on traffic intersections and financial mismanagement<\/a> in the city\u2019s public works department.<\/p>\n

Sweryda is finishing a master\u2019s degree in law. He says he needs to revise and submit his thesis, on due diligence defence, and that it won\u2019t conflict with councillor duties.<\/p>\n

Abel Gutierrez and Jessica Wiebe are also vying for the municipal seat.<\/p>\n

Coun. Durand-Wood called it a \u201cgood and healthy thing for democracy\u201d to have multiple candidates running.<\/p>\n

gabrielle.piche@winnipegfreepress.com<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\"Gabrielle<\/p>\n

Gabrielle Pich\u00e9
Reporter
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Gabrielle Pich\u00e9 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<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Every piece of reporting Gabrielle produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print \u2014 part of the Free Press\u2018s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press\u2019s history and mandate<\/a>, and learn how our newsroom operates<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The former assistant of late Elmwood\u2013East Kildonan councillor Jason Schreyer is again running for the seat. Chris Sweryda…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":902338,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194296],"tags":[49,48,22073],"class_list":["post-902337","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-winnipeg","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-winnipeg"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/902337","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=902337"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/902337\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/902338"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=902337"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=902337"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=902337"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}