Women make strides in capital region elections

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This article was published 24/10/2018 (2157 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Capital region governance has turned decidedly female, with women elected mayor or reeve in nine municipalities surrounding Winnipeg.

Women were elected Wednesday night to top posts in East St. Paul, West St. Paul, St. Clements, St. Andrews, Springfield, Teulon, Rosser, and Woodlands. (In voting in Victoria Beach — held in late summer to include cottagers — residents elected Penny McMorris in a landslide over incumbent Brian Hodgson, with 81 per cent of the vote.)

The biggest upset of the night was in the Rural Municipality of West St. Paul, where Cheryl Christian knocked off two-term mayor Bruce Henley, with 58 per cent of the vote. Three of five council seats in West St. Paul, located adjacent to the north side of Winnipeg, are now held by women.

“It’s all women! We’re taking over!” Christian quipped in a telephone interview Thursday. “It’s historic. We’ve never had more than one women on council in West St. Paul.”

Christian grabbed headlines last winter, when she spearheaded legislation to protect councillors from bullying and harassment. The bill is still making its way through the Manitoba legislature.

Another upset Wednesday was Joy Sul’s win in St. Andrews over incumbent mayor George Pike: 2,401 votes to 1,094.

Sul only became involved in politics due to a dispute with the RM over its charge to her home for sewer hookup. She became the first woman on St. Andrews council in 20 years when she was elected councillor in 2014.

Sul said she knows all about “the old boys’ club” on council.

“I witnessed and experienced it first-hand. I thought I was alone, and then I met Cheryl (Christian) and then other women, and that’s when we started talking,” she said.

However, the lead male in the anti-harassment movement, Morris mayor Gavin van der Linde, went down to defeat Wednesday to Scott Crick, who took 62 per cent of the vote.

Other female winners in elections near Winnipeg included incumbents East St. Paul Mayor Shelly Hart, who won by acclamation, and St. Clements Mayor Debbie Fiebelkorn. On the north boundary, Frances Smee and Lori Schellekens were elected reeves of RMs Rosser and Woodlands, respectively.

In Springfield, one-term councillor Tiffany Fell easily beat incumbent reeve Bob Bodnaruk, capturing 45 per cent of the vote to 19 per cent for Bodnaruk.

In Teulon, Debbie Kozyra narrowly knocked off incumbent mayor Bert Campbell, with 51.5 per cent of the vote.

Thompson voted in its first female mayor: Colleen Smook.

“I didn’t run as a woman or with that thought in mind. It really didn’t hit me until I walked into the council chamber last night and someone called me Thompson’s first female mayor,” said Smook.

Joe Masi, executive director of the Association of Manitoba Municipalities, said 21 municipalities are now led by women — a record number. (It had been 15 heading into the 2018 election.)

However, that’s out of 137 councils. The wave that swept over the eastern and northern boundaries of Winnipeg didn’t extend to the west side of the province.

Women make up 20 per cent of all elected municipal officials, including Winnipeg, for a total of 174 out of 879 — up three per cent from 2015.

“It’s nice to see women’s representation on council has increased, but we have more work to do,” Masi said.

Elected officials on the west side of the province remained predominantly male. However, there was one major upset in the RM of Russell-Binscarth: Cheryl Kingdon-Chartier beat the incumbent, former cabinet minister in the Filmon government Len Derkach, for the mayor’s job, capturing 75 per cent of the vote.

In other election news, two candidates (Chiew Chong and Andre Proulx) tied for one of the council seats in Thompson. The city is discussing with the province to determine how to proceed.

On the Yellowhead Highway, Neepawa voted for change, with newcomer Blake McCutcheon handily defeating incumbent mayor Adrian De Groot, with 77 per cent of the vote.

Mayor Irvine Ferris was re-elected in Portage la Prairie, as was RM of Portage la Prairie Reeve Kam Blight.

In Tache, Justin Denis Bohemier narrowly defeated incumbent mayor Robert Rivard, with 52 per cent of the vote.

Also in the capital region, Rick Van Wyk is the new reeve of St. François Xavier, after knocking off incumbent Dwayne Clark, with 66 per cent of the vote.

In Selkirk, Mayor Larry Johannson easily kept the title, with 80 per cent of the vote.

In Steinbach, Earl Funk is now mayor. (Chris Goertzen did not seek re-election after 12 years as mayor.)

bill.redekop@freepress.mb.ca