City Election and Charleswood Part 6

Paula Havixbeck, candidate for Charleswood-Tuxedo



Paula Havixbeck is one of seven candidates running in the Charleswood-Tuxedo ward. By profession she is a lecturer at the University of Manitoba and a business consultant. She has worked for the City of Winnipeg in the Fire Paramedic Service Department and also as a manager at the Workers Compensation Board of Manitoba.

She has indicated that she has five priorities.

1. Keeping our communities safe
2. Keeping citizens safe through Fire Services and Emergency Medical Services
3. Engaging our community through Recreation Facilities and Community Centres
4. Pushing for new roads, better drainage, new communities, and a stimulus for business all in a sustainable plan
5. Encouraging sustainable taxes

She has been endorsed by the police and firefighter unions and mentions this fact often. She is endorsed by the Progressive Conservative MLAs locally and Conservative MPs federally. It appear she has the big blue machine organization at her disposal.

She supports maintaining the tax freeze but isn't clear on how she will pay for some of her infrastructure spending as well as police and firefighter pay increases. At the moment, it looks like she will do this by supporting development in housing and other business growth.

On her website she seems caught between supporting new business but then saying businesses like IKEA cause businesses to move out.

When it comes to business, many people have told me they think Charleswood is falling behind – that vacancies are up, and few if any new businesses want to come to Charleswood.

Adding to that concern is the fact that IKEA and surrounding business developments will move more business out of Charleswood.

Still trying to decide if that is a withdrawal of support for IKEA coming.

I am still waiting to hear from Paula in regards to the questionnaire I sent out in July.

In the debate at Charleswood United Church, she took the toughest stand on crime of any but didn't indicate how she would pay for her plan since she supported no tax increase.

She was among the slickest of the candidates in the debates but she appeared to be the one most beholden to the promises she has made to interest groups with no real clarity has to how her platform would be paid for.