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![\"JOHN](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/4582652_web1_260922_John_Baert_4.JPG\")
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JOHN WOODS \/ FREE PRESS<\/p>\n
Louis Riel School Division trustee candidate John Baert, canvasses in Island Lakes, Tuesday.<\/p>\n
More than one million steps later \u2014 Baert\u2019s Garmin watch has been tracking his canvassing efforts on evenings and weekends since mid-July \u2014 he is about 60 per cent of the way to his goal.<\/p>\n
The expansive ward boundaries make it all but impossible for candidates, especially if they have full-time jobs, to strike up a conversation with every eligible voter at their doorstep, the public affairs specialist said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think people deserve that,\u201d Baert said, adding he plans to lobby for a universal one-ward, one-trustee system if he\u2019s elected when Winnipeggers go to the polls on Oct. 28.<\/p>\n
The division, where his son attends Grade 12, is made up of nine seats across four wards in southeast Winnipeg.<\/p>\n
There are two seats in all of the quadrants except for Ward 3, where three elected officials represent River Park South, Dakota Crossing and developments south of the Perimeter Highway.<\/p>\n
Manitoba\u2019s largest school division, the Winnipeg School Division, is an outlier with nine wards covering nine distinct areas in inner-city and central neighbourhoods.<\/p>\n
The boundaries are drawn based on even distribution of population, student population and \u201clogical grouping of schools.\u201d<\/p>\n
Just Elections, a coalition of community organizations, formed after the last municipal election to call for a series of regulatory changes to school board races.<\/p>\n
Retired principal Suni Matthews was among the organizers who made presentations to trustees to seek support for election financing rules and oversight for drawing boundaries.<\/p>\n
(School board members typically request public input when they redraw wards, but they have the final say.)<\/p>\n
Matthews said she\u2019s been disappointed about how little political will there is to shrink wards so it\u2019s less daunting for people to put their name forward and canvas.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would like to see it mandated \u2014 one-ward, one-trustee \u2014 by the province,\u201d said the member of the Newcomer Education Coalition.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt will create a level playing field, a more equitable playing field for underrepresented groups.\u201d<\/p>\n
Just Elections has applauded the NDP government for requiring school board nominees to start disclosing their fundraising activities and outlawing out-of-province contributions.<\/p>\n
This fall, for the first time, trustee candidates will have to submit reports similar to their municipal counterparts.<\/p>\n
Shifting to a nine-ward model has been \u201cfloated\u201d at the Louis Riel board table in the past, but there haven\u2019t been any formal discussions about it, chairperson Sandy Nemeth said.<\/p>\n
Nemeth noted the current setup allows for inter-ward collaboration and back-up coverage.<\/p>\n
\u201cI take some comfort in the fact that in a two-trustee or three-trustee ward, if one of those trustees, for whatever reason, can\u2019t fufill their duties, there is still representation,\u201d said the four-term trustee who is running for re-election in Ward 3.<\/p>\n
Notably, residents in Wolseley and West Broadway are currently without representation because there is only one elected official in Ward 4 of the Winnipeg School Division.<\/p>\n
Rebecca Chambers resigned from the role in April to accept a full-time role at the division.<\/p>\n
Nemeth said the \u201cwill of the board\u201d will determine if change is necessary in Louis Riel ahead of the 2030 elections.<\/p>\n
The board of trustees recently voted to rejig Ward 2 and increase its map in response to population growth in Ward 3.<\/p>\n
Baert, who works in the labour movement, said voters have lots of opinions about public education and they\u2019ve been eager to share them with him.<\/p>\n
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\u201cI\u2019ve heard it so much on the doorstep, \u2018I\u2019ve never had a trustee here,\u2019\u201d he said, noting one resident indicated they\u2019d never been contacted by a trustee nominee in 40 years.<\/p>\n
The candidate said it\u2019s also been eye opening to learn how unique school transportation issues are in different areas.<\/p>\n
In Southdale, there\u2019s a lot of concern about congestion versus Sage Creek families who\u2019ve expressed interest in more transportation services, he said.<\/p>\n
Registration for school trustee candidates closed Tuesday evening. Fifteen people are vying for nine seats in Louis Riel.<\/p>\n
maggie.macintosh@freepress.mb.ca<\/p>\n
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Maggie Macintosh Maggie Macintosh reports on education for the Free Press. Originally from Hamilton, Ont., she first reported for the Free Press in 2017. Read more about Maggie<\/a>.<\/p>\n Funding for the Free Press education reporter comes from the Government of Canada through the Local Journalism Initiative<\/a>.<\/p>\n Every piece of reporting Maggie 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
Education reporter
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