Winnipeg Civic Elections Endorsements

I have been terribly undecided all this civic election.

I think I had my school trustee selection for Ward 1 in Pembina Trails decided before any of my other candidate selections.

Without further adieu here are my selections for trustees.

I am voting tomorrow for Dianne Zuk and Eugene Melnyk, the incumbents. Why? I think Pembina Trails so far has been managed fairly well and they have the experience to watch for the big changes coming in Waverley West. The new trustree I am voting for is Jaime Glenat who is endorsed by retiring incumbent Gail Watson. I was leaning toward Glenat even before hearing that though.

For Charleswood-Tuxedo councillor I am voting for Evan Duncan. Why? He speaks passionately on the issues and seems intent on representing the ward. Why him and not others? I was concerned about some candidates having two jobs in business and in council and not having significant separation between the two. I was concerned some candidates were too party connected.

In the end, politics isn't personal. The person I don't vote for this time can be the person I vote for next time. That is also vice versa.

In the last election, I voted for Judy Waslycia-Leis. I won't this time. I have not been certain she can be her own woman once elected. I have thought I'd vote for Brian Bowman to ensure JWL doesn't win. However, I have been disappointed in the candidate from time to time. I have been impressed with Robert-Falcon Ouellette even when I don't always agree with him.

What can you say about Steeves? While some might agree with some of his policies, the campaign has been a three ring circus. As for other candidates, it is a crowded field and standing out is hard.

For mayor, I will be voting for Robert -Falcon Ouellette.

I am often on the losing side of elections. It isn't as important to me as feeling happy with that vote. And just every so often, my candidate wins.

I am one voter. Just vote for the candidate you think is right.

Lindor Reynolds Loses Battle With Cancer

Lindor Reynolds, center

Lindor Reynolds lost her 15 month battle against cancer last night at age 56.

The long time Free Press columnist had over 20 years at the big paper and wrote on nearly every subject. She had her fans and her detractors as befits anyone writing in any medium.

Her last days were spent at Riverview Health Centre. In her last contribution to the paper she spoke of the care of both the health professionals and from family and friends.

The age of 56 seems to young to go with four daughters still needing mom around for the big moments in their lives. She was able to attend one of her daughter's marriages in recent months.

Our family made their annual contribution to Riverview Health Foundation this year. The health facility had been there to help build up some of our family members so they could go home and they have been there at the end when tender cars was needed most.

Lindor Reynolds helped raise money for many charities in her life but perhaps a thought could be given to Riverview as most of us in Manitoba may have a family member who needs their help.

New Stores at Grant Park Shopping Centre

Polo Park is not the only mall welcoming new stores.

Grant Park Shopping Centre is also finishing off the long awaited makeover for the entire mall. The arrival of Target triggered expansions of existing stores such as Shopper's Drug Mart and Liquor Mart as well as refurbished mall tile, lighting and skylights. Several stores closed, other new ones including kiosks opened.

Last week I went to the Modern Man Barber Shop and was suitably impressed. It is good to see the old style barbershop come back with modern amenities such as flat screen TVs and sports. It is directly across from McNally Robinson's which remains one of the finest book stores in Canada.

One new store in the mall is Creative Kulture which sells ballcaps and T-shirts. Another new store is Dream Shoez which as the names suggests sells women's shoes.

The new Booster Juice has been open for a while and the next group of stores opens November 1.

Charleswood-Tuxedo Fun Questions - Kevin Nichols

Question 1: What is your favourite form of recreation?

I just like being outdoors, working around the house or working on my cars.

Question 2: Do you have any hobbies?

My hobbies include working on my cars and woodworking.

Question 3: Do you support any charities?

I donate to various charities, no one in particular.

Question 4: What is your favourite book(s)?

Favourite book – The Iron Maiden

Question 5: What is your favourite movie(s)?

Too many to list, but of them all I would say Vision Quest, then Top Gun, then Days of Thunder.

Question 6: What is your favourite TV show(s)? 

NCIS is up there as a favourite, Magnum P.I. was a great one too,again, too many to list

Question 7: What is your favourite sport(s)?

Football hands down

Question 8: Who is the most important person(s) in your life?

Well I suppose I could say the person who cuts me a cheque every two weeks, but I better say my wife is the most important person in my life

Question 9: What is the last sporting event in Winnipeg that you attended?

The Bomber game, season ticket holder(obvious from #7)

Question 10: What is the last artistic event that you have attended in Winnipeg?

Not really the art type, I guess going to Gimli drag races doesn’t count, although I think it is an art to take 3500 lbs and make it do 200 mph in a quarter mile.

Question 11: What is your favourite type of music?

Heavy Metal, Rock(classic)

Question 12: Who is your favourite musician(s)?

Iron Maiden

Question 13: Who is your favourite author(s)?

I don’t really have a favourite

Question 14: What is the mode of transportation you use daily?

I use my car in the summer and my truck in the winter

Question 15: Who is the person you admire most outside of your family?

I wouldn’t say it is one person per se but more a group, I admire anyone that volunteers, that is the person who I admire.

Question 16: What school did you graduate from?

I graduated from John Taylor Collegiate in 1982

Question 17: What was the first job you ever had?

I worked concession at the stadium and arena as my first job

Question 18: What was your dream job growing up?

Always dreamed of being City Councillor

Question 19: What countries have you visited?

I have always lived in Canada

Question 20: Do you have a cottage?

I do not have a cottage, don’t need one, I live in Charleswood

Question 21: Do you have a second winter home?

I don’t have a second winter home

Question 22: Where was your last holiday and how long were you away for?

I vacationed in the States, 10 days driving

Question 23: What would be your dream holiday destination?

My dream get away, somewhere warm in the winter, Florida, Texas, Arizona

Question 24: What languages do you speak?

Well before my morning coffee I speak gibberish, my main language is English

Question 25: What is your favourite dessert?

Puff Wheat cake

Question 26: What is your favourite food?

 Roast beef with red pepper jelly

Question 27: What is your favourite restaurant?

Don’t really have a favourite restaurant, love all kinds, especially Chinese food

Question 28: What radio stations do you listen to?

I listen to 92.1, Wheeler in the morning and Shadoe at night

Question 29: What local or national newscasts do you watch on TV?

I watch Global news

Question 30: What provincial politician do you admire the most?

Duff Roblin – his foresight has yet to be matched

Question 31: What federal politician do you admire the most?

I don’t really have one that I admire

Question 32: Who in history would you want to have dinner with if you were to get the chance?

Bruce Lee

Question 33: Who is your secret celebrity crush?

Princess Di

Question 34: Which are better dogs or cats?

I don’t know if they are better or not but I do prefer dogs over cats

Question 35: What is your favourite season of the year?

Spring

Charleswood-Tuxedo Questionnaire - Kevin Nichols

Question 1: What is your name?

Kevin Nichols

Question 2: What is your profession? What business holdings do you have in Winnipeg and beyond. How would you avoid conflict of interest as an elected official with what you do now?

My profession- Safety Technician for the City of Winnipeg, I have no business holdings in or beyond Winnipeg. As a City employee of 28 years, I deal with conflict all the time. To avoid conflict of interest I would back away from anything that may even be perceived as a conflict of interest.

Question 3: How old are you?

Age- 50

Question 4: Can you tell us about your family?

My family – I am married with 3 kids

Question 5: Why are you running in Charleswood-Tuxedo?

I am running for Council for Charleswood – Tuxedo – Whyte Ridge because I feel that our needs have not been addressed and have gone unheard. I feel I can do the job that will restore public confidence and benefit all the citizens in the ward and the City.

Question 6: How long have you lived in the ward? Do you live full time in Winnipeg?

I have lived in Charleswood for 22 years, I was born and raised in the City of Winnipeg. Lived here all my life.

Question 7: Have you had any past political affiliations in provincial or federal politics?

I have no political ties what so ever.

Question 8: Who did you vote for in the last civic election both for mayor and councillor and why? How would you rate the last council and mayor?

I honestly don’t remember who I voted for, but I do know it wasn’t for the current mayor and councillor. I would rate them as failing miserably.

Question 9: Do you feel your political views are left, center or right? How would you describe your political views?

 My political views are neutral. While there are good ideas from all parties, there are equally bad ideas. My beliefs are that a politician is elected by the people and should represent all the people. I believe that people should vote for common sense, not a party. I also believe that party politics has no place in the City Council.

Question 10: What do you think are the major issues for the city of Winnipeg?

Infrastructure is a major issue, without a doubt there has been some neglected infrastructure throughout the City. Urban sprawl is another one, and very poor planning implementation.

Question 11: What do you think are the major issues for the ward of Charleswood-Tuxedo?

The major issues are the disappearing green space, the lack of indoor facilities for programs to run and the big one coming is the development of Ridgewood South.

Question 12: Do you support a tax freeze or do you believe that taxes should go up to re-build infrastructure and support programs?

Before we talk about tax freeze, tax increase or anything to do with taxes, we have to look at where the money is going and how can we be more efficient. If we are only getting 60 cents on the dollar for work that is done, we need to find out why and get better at what we do. Questions have to be asked of many people to ensure that our tax dollars are spent efficiently to get the best bang for our buck. Then and only then can we look at what an increase or freeze will be.

Question 13: Do you support cuts in the city of Winnipeg budget? Where?

We need to look at our wants and needs. Based on those, we can look at where to cut and where to increase. If it costs less to hire more fire fighters than to pay overtime, then it makes more sense to hire fire fighters. This holds true for all City departments.

Question 14: Do you support increases in the city of Winnipeg budget? Where?

See question 13.

Question 15: Do you support an increase, decrease or a freeze in the city budget for police officers? Do you believe we need more police officers? If so, would you support a tax increase for it?

The budget and what we spend on will give an indication of increase, decrease or freeze. I believe that more police need to walk the beat downtown, this does have a direct impact on the amount of crime. I believe that resources need to be deployed where they are needed most and a better use of those resources needs to be looked into. The cadet program is a wonderful program but it needs to be carried further. This program should be more of an apprenticeship where they shadow police officers to learn.

Question 16: What is your view on crime in the city of Winnipeg and what can you as councillor do about it?

I have seen the crime stats and they vary in degrees of violence, kinds of crime and numbers being committed. I believe as a councillor I can see that resources such as training are provided to ensure we prevent crime rather than just investigate it.

Question 17: Do you support rapid bus transit or light rail transit? Do you have any other ideas for rapid transit? Do you believe Charleswood is well served for public transit?

As Rapid Transit is designed right now, I can’t get behind it and wont. I believe that the City would be better served by adding more buses and more operators to man those buses. I would also like to see Cadets ride the buses as a deterrent to crime on buses such as assaults. Transit needs to provide increased service to all areas, transporting 10 people fast is not efficient. The diamond lanes seem to be working very well, moving people fast and causing less disruption to Transit operations.

Question 18: Do you believe a city should fund a zoo? If yes or no, please indicate why. 

I do believe a City should fund a zoo, and promote it as a major tourist attraction. When the zoo was handed over, it became too commercial and less attractive to those on a fixed income. It used to be a great place for parents to take kids on a nice summer day. Now it seems as if it is a “go once” type of thing and that’s it because it is too costly for parents to take their kids every day. I have been to a few zoos and for what other zoos charge, we are far behind in attractions.

Question 19: Do you believe a city should fund arts and culture? If yes or no, indicate why.

Yes, we do need to provide subsidies to the arts to a point. Arts in many forms help to enhance the city and promote creative thinking.

Question 20: Do you believe the fire department should have an increase, decrease or a freeze in their budget? Would you support a tax increase for the fire department?

See question 13. We need to look at all city departments to find efficiencies.

Question 21: Do you believe that roads, water and sewer should receive an increase, decrease or freeze in their budget? Would you support a tax increase for roads, water and sewer?

I believe there are efficiencies to be found(seeing the work done first hand) and before discussing budgets we need to look at what is really needed to maintain the roads and all infrastructure.

Question 23: Would you support the city of Winnipeg having a sales tax in addition to property tax?

No, I believe this will drive more people to shop elsewhere. I believe developing a municipal income tax coupled with a property tax decrease would be far more beneficial to everyone and bring in more revenue for the city.

Question 24: Do you think Winnipeg should have a tax cut? If yes or no, explain why?

See question 21.

Question 25: Do you believe that the present city of Winnipeg budget is adequate for the city of Winnipeg? If yes or no, explain why.

I believe we have to look at how we do business and what we spend money on. We also need to look at the overspending that is done such as for a new police station. We also need to look at contracts such as those for CAO’s that don’t work for us anymore but still receive a paycheck from the City.

Question 26: Should education be funded through property tax or through general funds from the province?

The province should look at different ways to fund schools and it should not be funded by property taxes.

Question 27: Do you support term limits? Will you be serving a term limit even if there are no rules in place? How long will you serve?

I believe a person’s term is decided by the constituents, if you have a great person in place, why get rid of them. If the people are not pleased with the elected official, then change will happen.

Question 27: Do you think housing should be allowed at The Forks? If yes or no, explain why.

No, the Forks is a gathering place for all, not just those that live there. The Forks has become too commercial and has strayed from its original intent in my opinion.

Question 28: What changes (if any) should be done to upkeep our city parks and recreation programs? 

More trees need to be planted in certain areas, this will cut down on the amount of grass to mow, which costs the city money. We need to ensure that new developments have adequate green space in the form of fields, not walking paths. We need to enhance green space not build on it.

Question 29: What do hope to see in the Kapyong Barracks along Kenaston?

Widen Kenaston is top of the list for Kapyong barracks. After that I would say high density housing close to Kenaston gradually tapering to regular housing to match the neighbourhood backing onto it.

Question 30: Do you support a moratorium on development on old railway lines in favour of rapid transit and bike corridors?

This should have taken place long ago, we had the chance to make a bus lane on the abandon line running north/south paralleling Kenaston. We crammed residential development into it instead.

Question 31: Do you support widening Kenaston to three lanes in each direction?

See question 29.

Question 32: Do you support the creation of service roads for any further shopping developments?

Yes, we should have made them along Kenaston south of Taylor.

Question 33: What is your view on city taxes helping to build professional arenas and stadiums?

In some major projects, I believe a reasonable amount of help is essential to help the community. However, I think that lavish spending must be curtailed if funds are provided.

Question 34: What is your view of a possible call for taxpayer help to expand  attractions around the MTS Centre? Would you support it? 

No, the arena was upgraded/funded in order to rejuvenate the downtown, if the surrounding businesses cant survive with this kind of help, then funding should not be put forward.

Question 35: What do you believe the city should do to ensure a vital downtown? Do you believe it is important as a councillor to support it?

Lots of proposals have been put forward to help downtown and not much has helped. I believe that a plan to get more people living downtown and more grocery stores available will help to draw people downtown. I would support any plan that is reasonable and sustainable to help ensure downtown does not end up a wasteland.

Question 36: Do you believe that some city service should be privatized? What services (if any) would be candidates for it?


I believe that some city services would be best served in a private industry, such as when specialized equipment is required. I believe the City has gone too far and has too much private enterprise involved. An example is garbage collection. When it was city owned and operated, the guys may occasionally drop some garbage. They would take the time to pick it all up, now, the ditches have garbage in them all over the place because no one even gets out of the truck if something falls out.

Having worked for the city for 28 years, I have seen worker pride and morale decrease, I would like to bring back worker pride, increase morale. As anyone knows, a happy employee produces more in a more efficient manner.

Charleswood-Tuxedo Questionnaire

Last election, I sent out a questionnaire for the candidates of Charleswood-Tuxedo and this year I am doing the same.

I am still undecided and slowly making my way to a decision. I have formed the questions to be informative as well as fun. They were mailed out to all of the candidates and I post the results in complete form when they come in.

Here are the questions:

Questions for the candidates for Charleswood-Tuxedo Ward

Question 1: What is your name?

Question 2: What is your profession? What business holdings do you have in Winnipeg and beyond. How would you avoid conflict of interest as an elected official with what you do now?

Question 3: How old are you?

Question 4: Can you tell us about your family?

Question 5: Why are you running in Charleswood-Tuxedo?

Question 6: How long have you lived in the ward? Do you live full time in Winnipeg?

Question 7: Have you had any past political affiliations in provincial or federal politics?

Question 8: Who did you vote for in the last civic election both for mayor and councillor and why? How would you rate the last council and mayor?

Question 9: Do you feel your political views are left, center or right? How would you describe your political views?

Question 10: What do you think are the major issues for the city of Winnipeg?

Question 11: What do you think are the major issues for the ward of Charleswood-Tuxedo?

Question 12: Do you support a tax freeze or do you believe that taxes should go up to re-build infrastructure and support programs?

Question 13: Do you support cuts in the city of Winnipeg budget? Where?

Question 14: Do you support increases in the city of Winnipeg budget? Where?

Question 15: Do you support an increase, decrease or a freeze in the city budget for police officers? Do you believe we need more police officers? If so, would you support a tax increase for it?

Question 16: What is your view on crime in the city of Winnipeg and what can you as councillor do about it?

Question 17: Do you support rapid bus transit or light rail transit? Do you have any other ideas for rapid transit? Do you believe Charleswood is well served for public transit?

Question 18: Do you believe a city should fund a zoo? If yes or no, please indicate why.

Question 19: Do you believe a city should fund arts and culture? If yes or no, indicate why.

Question 20: Do you believe the fire department should have an increase, decrease or a freeze in their budget? Would you support a tax increase for the fire department?

Question 21: Do you believe that roads, water and sewer should receive an increase, decrease or freeze in their budget? Would you support a tax increase for roads, water and sewer?

Question 23: Would you support the city of Winnipeg having a sales tax in addition to property tax?

Question 24: Do you think Winnipeg should have a tax cut? If yes or no, explain why?

Question 25: Do you believe that the present city of Winnipeg budget is adequate for the city of Winnipeg? If yes or no, explain why.

Question 26: Should education be funded through property tax or through general funds from the province?

Question 27: Do you support term limits? Will you be serving a term limit even if there are no rules in place? How long will you serve?

Question 27: Do you think housing should be allowed at The Forks? If yes or no, explain why.

Question 28: What changes (if any) should be done to upkeep our city parks and recreation programs?

Question 29: What do hope to see in the Kapyong Barracks along Kenaston?

Question 30: Do you support a moratorium on development on old railway lines in favour of rapid transit and bike corridors?

Question 31: Do you support widening Kenaston to three lanes in each direction?

Question 32: Do you support the creation of service roads for any further shopping developments?

Question 33: What is your view on city taxes helping to build professional arenas and stadiums?

Question 34: What is your view of a possible call for taxpayer help to expand  attractions around the MTS Centre? Would you support it?

Question 35: What do you believe the city should do to ensure a vital downtown? Do you believe it is important as a councillor to support it?

Question 36: Do you believe that some city service should be privatized? What services (if any) would be candidates for it?

Pinkerton Series Starts Sunday at High Noon

The Pinkertons TV series has been shooting in Manitoba all this summer and now will be airing on TV starting this week. Here is where you can see it in Winnipeg.

High noon.

The western series set in the 1860s follows the Pinkerton Detective Agency which acted as law enforcement long before other American law agencies ever did.

Look to see many Canadian actors featured in the series as well as Manitoba dressed up to look like the Old West. The Prairie Dog Railway stars prominently.

Sunday, high noon. There will be 22 episodes of this syndicated series coming in the weeks to follow.