Waverley West booming, but recreation a bust Council candidates say city services haven’t kept up with fastest-growing ward By: Joyanne Pursaga Posted: 6:19 PM CDT Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2026

A new city councillor will be elected this fall to lead Winnipeg’s fastest-growing ward that remains short on city services despite it being the most populated.

Five candidates have registered to run in the race to lead Waverley West, where incumbent Janice Lukes is not seeking re-election.

While the south Winnipeg ward has had no trouble attracting residents, the candidates say key services are still needed to support them.

“We have one of the biggest wards, approximately 72,000 people. Out of that … more than 40 per cent are youth 30 years of age and under. We have a very high youth population, so the recreation opportunities are very important,” said candidate Nafiya Naso.

Naso, who owns a cleaning business and is a former consultant to Lukes, said she would seek community input on how best to use a $128-million South Winnipeg Recreation Campus that is being built in the area.

“(We need to) bring the community voice to the table to ensure that amenities in the community centre are, in fact, what the community needs. We have one of the biggest, largest communities and also (a very) diverse community, so having the community voice at the table is very important,” she said.

“We have a very high youth population, so the recreation opportunities are very important.”

The lack of recreation opportunities has been a sticking point with residents, as has the years-long delay for a permanent fire paramedic station, which should finally be completed in 2027.

Naso said safety is also a top concern for the rapidly growing community. She plans to advocate for “strong provincial leadership” on programs to address mental health and addictions and seek ways to bring residents, police and community groups together to focus on crime prevention.

Jasmine Brar, another contender, said recreation facilities in the ward have failed to keep pace with growing demand.

If elected, Brar promises to lobby for money to ensure an aquatic centre is built at the recreation campus, which is part of its unfunded seconded phase.

“Right now, it is part of the plan but nobody knows what’s happening, nobody knows the size of the pool,” she said.

Brar, who is a school trustee in the Pembina Trails division, said she would push to expand access to ice surfaces for skating and hockey.

“Our newest neighbourhoods were built without outdoor rinks (or) indoor ice,” she said.

To improve safety in the ward, she’d also call for more patrols, both by Winnipeg Police Service and community volunteers.

Candidate Antar Banik, an engineering technologist for Winnipeg water and waste, noted Waverley West sits close to the bustling Route 90.

If elected, he would seek projects that widen and/or add lanes at key points to reduce commuting delays.

“The bottleneck issue is that lanes are so narrow because (the roads were) not planned for that (amount of) population growth … Residents are complaining that during (morning rush hour) they need an extra 20 minutes just to get in or get out of the neighbourhood,” said Banik.

While the city has been hesitant to pursue more overnight construction due to noise concerns in the past, Banik said using that strategy on major routes could help reduce congestion from construction.

He also promises to seek regular feedback from each of the ward’s neighbourhoods, if elected, then take their concerns to city council for consideration.

“If I get elected, every neighbourhood will have a subcommittee and each month I will sit down with one of the (people) … Then we will prioritize what needs to be done first,” said Banik.

Uche Nwankwo said he’s been door-knocking every evening in Waverley West, where he’s also heard frequent complaints about traffic bottlenecks.

“As the city is bringing in more housing, more population into the area, we also need to expand the roads.”

He’d call for more “connectivity” to the rest of the city on main roads leading out of the ward and public transit expansion to help make travel easier, if elected.

“As the city is bringing in more housing, more population into the area, we also need to expand the roads,” said Nwankwo.

Nwankwo, who had taught economics at the University of Winnipeg, is working on a doctoral degree in biosystems engineering at the University of Manitoba, where he leads a research project on wild rice production in First Nations communities.

Public safety is a key priority for Yuanchao Li, who is also registered to run in Waverley West. If elected, he would seek quarterly meetings with the police service and the public to address safety concerns, such as theft.

He would also call on the city to review its spending to find savings, which he said could then fund a property tax discount for seniors and lessen the need to raise overall taxes.

“(I would) try to charge the least amount possible,” said Li.

Li, a landlord who rents out several homes in north Winnipeg, also acts as director of Long Han Law Firm, which provides legal information on immigration.

Election Day is Oct. 28.

joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.ca

X: @joyanne_pursaga