He’s only 25, but longtime Elmwood resident wants to be city councillor

The second candidate to register for the Elmwood-East Kildonan byelection hopes to advocate for more bike lanes, improved access to food and some slower speed limits, if elected.

Zekaria Selahadin said adding more active transportation options and slowing down most residential street speed limits to 30 km/h from 50 km/h in the ward would be among his top political priorities.

“I’ve lived in Elmwood for quite a long time and I’ve seen a lot of things that need to be improved, including more bike lanes… There’s also a lot of areas that don’t have food security,” said Selahadin.

He’d also like the speed limit on parts of Henderson Highway be reduced to 50 km/h from 60 km/h.

The 25-year-old child-care assistant said he holds a bachelor’s degree in international development studies from the University of Winnipeg. He’s also worked as a green team member for the Norwood Grove BIZ and an environmental auditor, he said.

Selahadin acknowledged he’s relatively young, but believes his experience in Elmwood, where he’s lived for more than a decade, has prepared him for the job.

“I would be younger than a lot of the councillors in the current council. However, with all of the experience that I’ve had being in the community… I can step up to that plate and be a voice for Elmwood,” he said.

Community advocate Emma Durand-Wood has also registered to run in the byelection.

The Winnipeg Labour Council has endorsed another potential candidate, Carmen Prefontaine. The City of Winnipeg employee and Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 500 first-vice-president had not yet registered to run by Wednesday afternoon.

The Elmwood-East Kildonan council set became vacant after the death of Coun. Jason Schreyer in April.

Candidates can register to run for the council seat until Sept. 19, while the byelection will be held on Oct. 25.

joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.ca

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Joyanne Pursaga
Reporter

Joyanne is city hall reporter for the Winnipeg Free Press. A reporter since 2004, she began covering politics exclusively in 2012, writing on city hall and the Manitoba Legislature for the Winnipeg Sun before joining the Free Press in early 2020. Read more about Joyanne.

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