Education minister remembered as ‘mayor of Transcona’ Former principal suffered complications from chemotherapy Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
By: Maggie Macintosh Posted: 2:13 PM CST Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025 Last Modified: 12:50 PM CST Thursday, Jan. 16, 2025 Updates

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“The mayor of Transcona” dedicated his life — the last 15 months as Manitoba’s education minister — to bettering the lives of public school students.

During his final weeks, some of which were spent in palliative care, Nello Altomare tuned into the legislature’s question period livestream.

The retired principal died Tuesday, 14 weeks after he went on medical leave. He was 61.

Despite being in blood-cancer remission, the MLA for Transcona had been living with complications from chemotherapy.

Altomare was diagnosed with Stage 2 Hodgkin’s lymphoma shortly after he was first elected to represent the constituency — his lifelong home — in 2019.

Treatment took a toll on his heart and lung capacity, and his condition began to decline significantly over the summer. He gave in to his doctor’s orders to rest and agreed to go on medical leave to have surgery, which he’d been putting off, in October.

He initially planned to return to work before the end of the year. After Altomare returned home from the hospital in late November, Premier Wab Kinew addressed him through the legislature’s livestream. “We love you. We love you so much, my good friend,” Kinew said in question period.

He noted that Altomare’s boisterous voice had been greatly missed in the house and recalled their first time campaigning together at the Transcona Hi Neighbour Festival.

The duo was walking in the 2019 parade and attendees were yelling at Kinew to get out of the way so they could see Altomare, he recalled, followed by a chuckle, noting the birth of the MLA’s nickname — “The mayor of Transcona.”

Altomare, a son of Italian immigrants who leaves behind two adult children, spent the bulk of his career working in what is now the River East Transcona School Division.

“How many of us get a chance to make such a mark in the area that is our life’s work?”–Premier Wab Kinew

“How many of us get a chance to make such a mark in the area that is our life’s work? I don’t know, but you had a chance to do it,” Kinew said in the house at the end of the fall session.

The premier then pledged to introduce “Nello’s Law” later this session to make it impossible for any future governments to undo the NDP’s “universally-accessible” school nutrition program. Altomare was a vocal proponent for school breakfast, lunch and snack programs both as a critic and cabinet member. He repeatedly made clear his perspective that poverty reduction was key to improve academic outcomes.

Manitoba’s new teacher registry indicates he was first certified in 1986 and remained in good standing throughout an impressive career that culminated with the Jan. 6 launch of the searchable online database, which is accompanied by a new disciplinary process slated to increase transparency around educator misconduct.

Chris Wiebe described his former science teacher at John W. Gunn Middle School — a man he would come to consider a mentor and, long after graduation, a friend — as “very dynamic” and someone who had a knack for connecting with youth.

“He is one of the reasons that I became a scientist and educator,” said Wiebe, who called the death “unbearable.”

“I used to say that Nello (who was around five-six in height) was the tallest guy I knew because of the way he stood up for what he believed in,” he said.

Since being named a minister just over a year ago, after the 2023 election, Altomare made Indigenous education a priority. During the NDP’s swearing-in ceremony at The Leaf, he quoted the late Murray Sinclair, who said: “Education got us into this mess and education will get us out of it,” when he oversaw the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada.

More recently, Altomare announced a ban on cellphones in elementary schools and stricter rules to silence devices during Grade 9-12 lessons to limit distractions in the classroom.

The late United Church minister Bill Blaikie — a longtime NDP MP — married Altomare and his wife, Barb, at Transcona Memorial United Church in 1997. The couple celebrated their 25th anniversary three summers ago. Altomare told the Manitoba Teachers’ Society that Blaikie, who died in 2022, was the person who encouraged him to enter the political sphere.

“It was not something I really considered before,” he said in an interview with the MB Teacher, his former union’s magazine, for its winter 2024 edition.

“Then I had that fateful conversation with Bill Blaikie in the basement of our United Church and here we are today.”

Altomare was a celebrity in Transcona, especially at his go-to breakfast spot — L’Arche Tova Café, located several doors down from his constituency office on Regent Avenue West.

“He came in and he knew everybody. The community loved him,” said Carla Wright, one of the servers who became familiar with the regular and his order: a chai tea with honey and a raisin bran muffin.

The Transcona Museum was among the community organizations that issued public condolences on Wednesday.

In a statement, Manitoba’s premier said “family was everything” to his late colleague. “Our caucus send our love, prayer and thanks to his wife Barb, kids, sisters and family for sharing Nello with us and with Manitoba,” Kinew said.

Flags outside the Manitoba Legislative Building have been lowered to half-mast in honour of Altomare’s legacy.

maggie.macintosh@freepress.mb.ca