Mayoral candidates begin to emerge

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This article was published 26/02/2018 (2886 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Winnipeg civic election hasn’t formally begun, but a local musician who was a one-term mayor of a rural Manitoba community is vowing to enter the race armed with some unusual campaign promises.

Doug Wilson said he’ll formally announce his candidacy May 4, and unveil his campaign team and platform at that time.

“Once I’m in, people will feel engaged and they’ll feel a part of it,” said Wilson, 56.

While the campaign for mayor cannot legally begin until May 1, Wilson appears to be the first individual to say they will enter the race — even ahead of the man holding the job now: Brian Bowman.

Bowman has repeatedly refused to say if he plans to run for a second term.

Candidates for mayor can only register their intent to run on May 1, after which they can legally raise campaign funds and hold campaign events. Formal nominations can only occur between Sept. 12 and Sept. 18.

Wilson was the underdog candidate in Morden when he won the mayor’s race in 2006, but he was subsequently defeated in the 2010 election.

He later ended up as a salesman at a local auto dealership, but has been working full-time as a musician since August 2015, playing saxophone with several local bands at Winnipeg venues.

Wilson let slip some campaign promises in an interview Monday with the Free Press, including the still-to-be-detailed notion of using locally developed technology to construct a dome over a large portion of Winnipeg to keep city streets and sidewalks snow and ice-free during the winter.

Wilson said he’s also a supporter of public transit and favours the development of light rail for heavily-used transit routes. He is also opposed to Bowman’s plan to reopen the Portage Avenue and Main Street intersection to pedestrians, but was unclear if he would stop those efforts should he win the mayor’s job.

Another individual rumoured to be entering the mayoral race is local consultant Ajay Chopra.

Chopra was one of the lobbyists hired by the local taxi industry in its unsuccessful fight against the introduction of ride-hailing services to Winnipeg.

Bowman had accused Chopra of threatening him during a social event in October, during the height of the taxi dispute. Chopra denied it, and Bowman said he never contacted police over the incident, which reportedly took place at a local Diwali celebration, but he raised the alleged incident during a presentation by the taxi industry at a meeting of the city’s executive policy committee.

Chopra said he’s been approached by several people to run for mayor in the Oct. 24 election, but he hasn’t yet made up his mind. However, Chopra said he does plan to be “active in municipal politics” in some way during the civic election.

“I believe there is a void in leadership at city hall,” Chopra said. “We can do better.”

aldo.santin@freepress.mb.ca