Rollins eyes federal politics months after being re-elected to council

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This article was published 09/01/2023 (715 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Winnipeg city councillor Sherri Rollins says she has decided to seek the nomination for Winnipeg South Centre after being nudged by a number of Liberals.

“I have been asked to let my name stand,” said Rollins, a longtime federal Liberal party member who has represented Fort Rouge-East Fort Garry since 2018 and is a member of Mayor Scott Gillingham’s executive policy committee.

“All things being equal, and I am green-lighted, I intend to let my name stand.”

The seat was held by Jim Carr from 2015 until he died of cancer in December at age 71. His son Ben Carr, 36, said last week he was giving serious consideration to running for the nomination. He has not yet made a decision.

No date for the nomination meeting has been announced.

When notice is given that a seat is vacant, a byelection must be called within 180 days, with an election period of at least 36 days and no more than 50 days, as per federal law. The only exception is when a vacancy occurs in the nine months before a fixed-date general election. In that case, no byelection is called and the seat remains vacant until the general election.

A byelection in Winnipeg South Centre is expected this summer.

Rollins, 49, said she can continue to perform her duties at city hall if she wins the nomination.

She said she is being encouraged via the “invite her to run” initiative on the Liberal website that’s trying to improve the representation of women in Parliament.

Rollins has worked on campaigns for Liberal heavyweights such as Lloyd Axworthy, Anita Neville, Terry Duguid and Carr.

“Winnipeg needs boosters and we lost a really good one,” Rollins said of Carr.

After his death, a letter from Carr arrived in the mail. He congratulated her for being re-elected to city council in October.

“I look forward to the meaningful changes you will bring to our city and communities,” Carr’s letter said.

Rollins said she has demonstrated through her work as chair of the Winnipeg School Division and her years on city council that she can work across the aisle with New Democrats “and conservatives who are progressive who feel that they don’t have a place in the Conservative party anymore…That’s needed more than ever in the House of Commons.”

carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca