The election is over, the results are in. And while many people may be feeling that not much has changed, that’s not entirely true.
The two most watched contests were the mayoral race and the question on opening up Portage and Main to walking traffic. Voters decided Brian Bowman would have a second term as mayor, and the intersection should remain closed to pedestrian crossings.
WATCH: The Portage and Main question
But what about all the other candidates? Which city councillors retained their wards, and which ones did not? Retiring councillors and re-defined boundaries amounted to changes for many of the city’s 15 electoral areas.
For complete details on election results, go to the city website. Here is a quick account of the changes coming to city council.
Replacing retired candidates
Russ Wyatt (Transcona), Mike Pagtakhan (Point Douglas) and Jenny Gerbasi (Fort Rouge – Fort Garry) did not seek re-election, which means these wards were automatically going to be seeing new faces.
Shawn Nason – Transcona
There were eight candidates on the ballot in Transcona. As voting results rolled in, the leaderboard changed a number of times, but in the end Shawn Nason emerged victorious with 5,247 votes, representing 36.97 per cent of the ballots cast.
Nason was emotional after learning that he had won. He is a new face on council, but not to the community. A lifelong resident of the area, Nason and his wife have two kids. He is known for his work as constituency manager for Conservative MP Lawrence Toet until 2015, and as an active volunteer with Transcona Historical Museum and the Oxford Heights Community Club with soccer, hockey and basketball.
Vivian Santos – Point Douglas
WATCH: ‘I’d like to see more women on council’: Winnipeg candidate ratio is 4:1
Sherri Rollins – Fort Rouge – Fort Garry
New boundaries
The re-drawing of ward boundaries resulted in some new areas with new names, and mostly-new faces.
The South Winnipeg-St. Norbert Ward split into two regions: Waverley West and St. Norbert-Seine River. Janice Lukes, who had been the elected councillor for the ward, was acclaimed in Waverley West.
Markus Chambers – St. Norbert-Seine River
Five candidates competed for the title in St. Norbert-Seine River, with Markus Chambers collecting 5,391, or 34.49 per cent of the votes.
Chambers and his wife live in River Park South and have two sons who attended area schools. A U of M grad, he worked with youth and family services and has volunteered as a soccer and hockey coach, with the United Way and the Canadian Museum of Human Rights. His website banner reads “Engaged – Experienced – Leadership”.
With the elimination of the St. Charles ward, councillor Shaun Dobson was left to contend with the incumbent councillor of St. James ward Scott Gillingham and one other candidate. Gillingham held onto the job.
Neighbourhoods formerly included in the St. Charles Ward, specifically the Oaks, Assiniboia Downs, Glendale, Kirkfield and Westwood, became part of the Charleswood-Tuxedo Ward. Voters there selected a new representative as the former councillor Marty Morantz opted out of municipal government in favour of federal politics.
Kevin Klein – Charleswood-Tuxedo
Kevin Klein received 7,403 votes to take the top spot among four candidates. He earned 41.87 per cent of the ballots.
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