What to know in Fort Rouge-East Fort Garry ward before Winnipeg's election
Caitlyn Gowriluk | CBC News | Posted: September 22, 2022 8:23 PM | Last Updated: September 29, 2022
Incumbent will go up against one of the same challengers she faced in 2018 election
About Fort Rouge-East Fort Garry
The councillor of a central Winnipeg ward, campaigning for a second term, will face one of the same challengers she went up against in her first bid for office.
Fort Rouge-East Fort Garry Coun. Sherri Rollins is competing with project co-ordinator Michael Thompson to represent the ward, which runs along the west bank of the Red River and contains some of Winnipeg's most historic sites, including The Forks and the Manitoba Legislative Building.
The area also includes neighbourhoods like West Broadway, Armstrong's Point, Wildwood and Crescent Park.
People in Winnipeg will head to the polls on Oct. 26 to vote for a new mayor, school trustees and councillors in 13 of the city's 15 wards. Councillors in the other two wards have already been acclaimed — meaning they automatically hold on to their seats — after no one ran against them.
In the 2018 election, about two in every five people eligible to vote in Fort Rouge-East Fort Garry — or just under 40 per cent — cast a ballot for their ward's council seat, data from the city clerk's office shows.
Here's what you need to know before election day in Fort Rouge-East Fort Garry.
Who's running?
Sherri Rollins was elected in 2018, winning a wide-open race to replace former councillor Jenny Gerbasi. Since taking office, Rollins has been a member of several council committees — including the executive policy committee, which functions like the mayor's cabinet.
She was also appointed to the mayor's Indigenous advisory council the year she was elected, shortly after her claims of being "a proud Huron-Wendat woman" came under scrutiny.
Michael Thompson is a project co-ordinator and organizes the annual Ironman Outdoor Curling Bonspiel event. He was fifth in the ward in the 2018 election.
What are they promising?
Rollins says she would work to build safer communities and focus on social and economic development. She says she also wants to create a more inclusive city through education, daycare and poverty reduction.
Thompson says he'd work to increase Winnipeg's housing stock, address homelessness, improve public transit and expand active transportation infrastructure. He wants to stay engaged with residents and create a ward dashboard to keep people updated on things like project timelines and crime statistics.
More CBC Manitoba ward profiles
- Charleswood-Tuxedo-Westwood
- Daniel McIntyre
- Elmwood-East Kildonan
- Mynarski
- North Kildonan
- Old Kildonan
- Point Douglas
- River Heights-Fort Garry
- St. Boniface
- St. James
- St. Norbert-Seine River
- St. Vital
- Transcona
- Waverley West