What to know in Transcona ward before Winnipeg's election
Caitlyn Gowriluk | CBC News | Posted: September 28, 2022 4:28 PM | Last Updated: September 29, 2022
Incumbent will face entrepreneur, retired marketing director — and the councillor he replaced
About Transcona
Four candidates will go head to head to represent Winnipeg's easternmost ward this election — and two of them have already sat on council.
Transcona Coun. Shawn Nason will face off against Russ Wyatt, whom he replaced in the last election after the longtime area councillor did not seek another term.
Retired marketing director Steve Lipischak and entrepreneur Wally Welechenko are also running for the area's council seat.
The ward, which stretches out to the city's east Perimeter Highway, includes the neighbourhoods of Radisson, Peguis, Regent and Dugald.
People in Winnipeg will head to the polls on Oct. 26 to vote for councillors in 13 of the city's 15 wards, as well as mayor and school trustees. Councillors in two wards have already been acclaimed — meaning they automatically hold on to their seats — after no one ran against them.
In the 2018 election, less than half of the people eligible to vote in Transcona — just over 42 per cent — cast a ballot for their ward's council seat, data from the city clerk's office says.
Here's what you need to know before election day in Transcona.
Who's running?
Steve Lipischak is the recently retired director of marketing for Vickar Automotive Group. He ran in the ward in 2018 and placed fourth.
Shawn Nason is the ward's current councillor. He was first elected in a crowded race in 2018 after longtime councillor Russ Wyatt did not seek re-election.
Nason was named to the protection and community services committee and the water and waste committee during his time on council.
Wally Welechenko is an entrepreneur who works in building and renovation and owns a restaurant in Steep Rock. He was a longtime member of the Rusalka Ukrainian Dance Ensemble.
Welechenko placed second in his 2018 bid to represent the ward. He also ran for mayor and finished a distant fifth in 1998.
Russ Wyatt is trying to get his old job back. He was the ward's councillor for 16 years before he went on leave for several months in early 2018 to undergo addictions treatment.
A few months later, Wyatt was charged with sexual assaulting a woman who police say he knew. That charge was stayed in 2019.
What are they promising?
Lipischak says he'd focus on addressing crime, homelessness, street repairs and issues affecting seniors.
Nason says he'd focus on improving roads — including pushing to connect Chief Peguis Trail to Plessis Road — moving forward on a planned recreation complex in Transcona and addressing crime by pushing for more police presence in the area.
Welechenko says he'd work to be available to residents, reduce crime and improve transit service and traffic flow in Transcona. He'd also push for infrastructure projects, including expanding the Transcona Trail, and advocate for a new seniors home in the area.
Wyatt says he'd open a full-time ward office, establish monthly newsletters, push to create a permanent indoor farmers' market and advocate for the creation of a community-based art club in Transcona.
He would also push to start work on a planned recreation complex in Transcona and a regional road that would connect Chief Peguis Trail to Bishop Grandin Boulevard.
More CBC Manitoba ward profiles
- Charleswood-Tuxedo-Westwood
- Daniel McIntyre
- Elmwood-East Kildonan
- Fort Rouge-East Fort Garry
- Mynarski
- North Kildonan
- Old Kildonan
- Point Douglas
- River Heights-Fort Garry
- St. Boniface
- St. James
- St. Norbert-Seine River
- St. Vital
- Waverley West