Strong fighting for a voice

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This article was published 12/08/2019 (2633 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Shandi Strong never imagined she would be a politician. But in her work as an activist in the LGBTQ* community and as a trans woman, she felt like she needed to step up and run for office.

“I lost my job when I came out, which was kind of the catalyst for me going ‘OK, we’re not going to take this,” Strong said. “When (Justin Trudeau) got elected, he presented his cabinet … It represented Canada a lot better than any previous cabinet and to me, it was inspiring.”

Strong then went down to the Manitoba Liberal office to volunteer. While talking with one of the volunteers, she got passionate about a particular issue, which made the party ask her to run for office.

She ran for the Manitoba Liberals in 2016. She went door to door, worrying that the person on the other side would discriminate against her for being trans. Thankfully, she said, everyone was kind and respectful.

Strong said one of her big focuses is dealing with drugs and meth in Wolseley.

“I go out on the Wolseley walks on Wednesday, and we find needles. Maybe there’s no drugs on that needle, but that’s still a needle going into your kid’s arm. Nobody wants that,” Strong said. “To kick an addiction, you need a couple of years. You need constant support, and you need it when you ask for help.”

Strong said the Manitoba Liberals plan to take the revenue from legalized cannabis and use it to help people. She added that there are not enough resources for Winnipeggers who are trying to kick an addiction.

Lisa Naylor (NDP) and David Nickarz  (Green Party) are also running in Wolseley. At press time, no candidate had been declared for the Progressive Conservatives.