{"id":504877871,"date":"2019-01-25T14:45:00","date_gmt":"2019-01-25T20:45:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.winnipegfreepress.com\/our-communities\/metro\/2019\/01\/25\/asagwara-hopes-to-fill-minto-seat"},"modified":"2019-01-25T14:47:23","modified_gmt":"2019-01-25T20:47:23","slug":"asagwara-hopes-to-fill-minto-seat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.winnipegfreepress.com\/our-communities\/metro\/2019\/01\/25\/asagwara-hopes-to-fill-minto-seat","title":{"rendered":"Asagwara hopes to fill Minto seat"},"content":{"rendered":"

It was standing room only at a West End restaurant last week during Uzoma Asagwara’s announcement to seek the provincial NDP nomination in Minto — should there be a by-election in the coming months. <\/div>\n
The announcement came on the heels of longtime Minto MLA Andrew Swan’s decision to throw his hat in the ring for the federal NDP candidacy in Winnipeg Centre. If Swan is successful, a byelection for his seat at the legislature will be triggered.<\/div>\n
“I love the West End,” Asagwara told a crowd of friends, family and supporters at Akin’s African Restaurant and Bar at 570 Sargent Ave. on Jan. 23.<\/div>\n
“I bought my first-ever home in that community because I wanted to be a positive contributor to a community that I believed in and it’s why I still live there.”<\/div>\n
Asagwara is a former member of the University of Winnipeg Wesmen women’s basketball team, a founder of Queer People of Colour (QPOC) Winnipeg and an advocate for human rights. <\/div>\n
She works as a psychiatric nurse specializing in adult and youth mental health and addictions — a background that also inspired her run for provincial politics.<\/div>\n
“The meth crisis and the crisis of addictions is real. It’s something that I experience and I hear from people everyday,” she said. “Making this decision comes from a place of service for me. <\/div>\n
“Manitoba families and children in this province and in my community deserve to have a voice in the Manitoba legislature who will fight for them and who will advocate for them.”<\/div>\n
During the press conference, Asagwara’s high school basketball coach Denis Marinelli shared accolades about his former pupil.<\/div>\n
“Uzoma is truly a total package, she’s the best athlete I’ve ever coached, she’s a tremendous role model, she’s hard working, she’s driven,” Marinelli said. “She is a leader in the truest sense of the word.” <\/div>\n
If there is a byelection and Asagwara wins the nomination and the seat, she will be the first black MLA elected to the Manitoba legislature — a first recognized in her campaign hashtag, #LetsMakeHistoryMB.<\/div>\n
“There has never been a black person in the legislature,” she said. “I feel like it’s especially important to acknowledge that there are many people who came before me who made it possible for me to even be here to have this opportunity.”<\/div>\n
A date has not been set for the federal NDP nomination vote.<\/div>\n<\/p>\n

It was standing room only at a West End restaurant this week during Uzoma Asagwara’s announcement to seek the provincial NDP nomination in Minto — should there be a by-election in the coming months. <\/p>\n

The announcement came on the heels of longtime Minto MLA Andrew Swan’s decision to throw his hat in the ring for the federal NDP candidacy in Winnipeg Centre. If Swan is successful, a byelection for his seat at the legislature will be triggered.<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Former\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
Former University of Winnipeg Wesmen basketball player Uzoma Asagwara announced last week that she would be seeking the NDP nomination in Minto, should there be a by-election in the coming months.<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n

“I love the West End,” Asagwara told a crowd of friends, family and supporters at Akin’s African Restaurant and Bar at 570 Sargent Ave. on Jan. 23.<\/p>\n

“I bought my first-ever home in that community because I wanted to be a positive contributor to a community that I believed in and it’s why I still live there.”<\/p>\n

Asagwara is a former member of the University of Winnipeg Wesmen women’s basketball team, a founder of Queer People of Colour (QPOC) Winnipeg and an advocate for human rights. <\/p>\n

She works as a psychiatric nurse specializing in adult and youth mental health and addictions — a background that also inspired her run for provincial politics.<\/p>\n

“The meth crisis and the crisis of addictions is real. It’s something that I experience and I hear from people everyday,” she said. “Making this decision comes from a place of service for me. <\/p>\n

“Manitoba families and children in this province and in my community deserve to have a voice in the Manitoba legislature who will fight for them and who will advocate for them.”<\/p>\n

During the press conference, Asagwara’s high school basketball coach Denis Marinelli shared accolades about his former pupil.<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Uzoma\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
Uzoma Asagwara hugs her mom following her announcement to seek the NDP nomination in Minto if current MLA Andrew Swan is selected to run federally for the NDP.<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n

“Uzoma is truly a total package, she’s the best athlete I’ve ever coached, she’s a tremendous role model, she’s hard working, she’s driven,” Marinelli said. “She is a leader in the truest sense of the word.” <\/p>\n

If there is a byelection and Asagwara wins the nomination and the seat, she will be the first black MLA elected to the Manitoba legislature — a first recognized in her campaign hashtag, #LetsMakeHistoryMB.<\/p>\n

“There has never been a black person in the legislature,” she said. “I feel like it’s especially important to acknowledge that there are many people who came before me who made it possible for me to even be here to have this opportunity.”<\/p>\n

A date has not been set for the federal NDP nomination vote.<\/p>

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