2 candidates, few big issues in race

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 12/10/2010 (5832 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It’s Winnipeg’s most populous ward, with one of its least-crowded races.

Only two candidates are vying for the council seat in St. Vital, the sprawling south Winnipeg ward of 50,000 residents. Maybe that’s because there’s one big name on the ballot: 10-year city councillor Gord Steeves is seeking his third full term after taking office in a 2000 by-election.

Challenging him is Harry Wolbert, 49, an active provincial Liberal party member and longtime social activist.

Unseating St. Vital good ol’ boy Steeves is a tall order. In 2006, the popular councillor won re-election with 75 per cent of the vote against two other candidates. Now, in steady-as-she-goes St. Vital, no single issue appears to loom large enough to knock the jocular councillor off-balance.

“I don’t know if there’s necessarily one burning issue (in the ward),” Steeves says. “There’s local issues.”

Some of these local issues: smatters of car break-ins, gravel back lanes in older parts of St. Vital that have slogged through recent rainy years, and a rapidly aging St. Vital Library. (Steeves is hoping to give that one a boost, should he be re-elected.) Construction on active transportation is putting more pressure on the suburbs’ jammed commutes and causing some temporary headaches, Steeves says, but added that “people are generally pretty happy it’s happening.” With few critical ward-specific issues, Wolbert is taking Steeves to task on the big picture. The St. Vital resident, who works with developmentally disabled adults, hopes his advocacy cred will give voters a left-wing alternative to Steeves, a close council ally of mayor Sam Katz who supported initiatives including the controversial Veolia contract and the police helicopter.

“It’s not easy to unseat an incumbent, but it can be done,” says Wolbert, who wants to see more money funelled to community centres to curb youth crime. “I think it’s time for a change… if there’s money for helicopters and football stadiums, there should be money for things like roads, community centres, infrastructure renewal.”

melissa.martin@freepress.mb.ca