Wiebe running for re-election

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This article was published 29/08/2019 (2616 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Concordia MLA Matt Wiebe is running for re-election in the upcoming provincial election.

First elected in 2010 under the New Democratic Party banner, Wiebe was born and raised in northeast Winnipeg. He still lives in Valley Gardens with his wife, their two children and two golden retrievers. Despite nearly a decade in the legislature, his passion for politics hasn’t waned.

“I’ve always been fighting for health care in our community, right from the beginning,” Wiebe, 40, told The Herald. “It’s only become more important to me now that I have two kids.”

The changes to the health care system, and Concordia Hospital in particular, are at the top of Wiebe’s priority list.

“Concordia ER is my number one issue,” Wiebe. “We should focus on getting more nurses in the system, more beds, and ensuring there’s a community connection to health care here in northeast Winnipeg.”

Wiebe attributes his dedication to Concordia Hospital to a life-threatening injury he sustained when he was three years old.

“Health care was there for me when I was there in the emergency room,” he said. “When my son was three years old I looked down at him and thought, if something like that happened, I hope that something like that would be there for me.”

Along with health care, Wiebe said he is hearing a lot about the cost of living and infrastructure on the doorstep.

“Things are tougher for people, and it doesn’t seem like anyone’s listening,” he said. “When you knock on doors, people are concerned about the pothole in front of their house. We used to be able to say that the province paid our share with what goes to the City, and that we felt infrastructure is important. We’re concerned about the infrastructure deficit and how that affects everybody.”

After nearly 10 years serving the residents of Concordia, Wiebe is particularly proud of the work he has done as education critic for the official opposition the past three years.

“I’ve travelled across the province to communities and I’ve listened to teachers and administrators, parents, EAs, really just tried to hear what they’ve had to say,” Wiebe said.

“Teachers are doing more with less, class sizes are getting bigger. If we want to improve the system, you can’t get there by starting with cuts and starting from a position of playing defence.”

If re-elected, Wiebe said he is committed to working towards reopening Concordia Hospital’s emergency room, and to stand up for teachers.

“We should be making things better, not worse,” he said.

Sheldon Birnie
Managing editor

Sheldon Birnie is the managing editor of the Free Press Community Review. Email him at sheldon.birnie@freepress.mb.ca or call him at 204-697-7112

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