What to know in River Heights-Fort Garry ward before Winnipeg's election - Action News
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Manitoba

What to know in River Heights-Fort Garry ward before Winnipeg's election

A southwest Winnipeg ward where the incumbent councillor briefly planned to leave to run for mayor will instead see a three-way race for its council seat this election.

Incumbent announced he was leaving to run for mayor then changed his mind

A map with one area highlighted in yellow.
Winnipeg's River Heights-Fort Garry ward includes the neighbourhoods of Crescentwood, Grant Park, Wellington Crescent and Linden Woods. (CBC)

About River Heights-Fort Garry

The race in River Heights-Fort Garry looked like it would be wide open at one point, afterCoun. John Orlikow announced he was running for mayor.

But Orlikowchanged his mind a few months later and instead joinedthe race for his longtime southwest Winnipeg council seat along with two other candidates.

He'll now face off against project manager Brant Field and business owner Gary Lenko to represent the ward, which includes the neighbourhoods of Crescentwood, Grant Park, Wellington Crescent and Linden Woods.

People in Winnipeg will head to the polls on Oct. 26 to vote for a new mayor, school trustees and councillors in 13 of the city's 15 wards. Councillors in the other two wards have already been acclaimed meaning they automatically hold on to their seats after no one ran against them.

In the 2018 election, less thanhalf of the people eligible to vote in River Heights-Fort Garryjust under 49per cent cast a ballot for their ward's council seat, data from the city clerk's office shows.

Here's what you need to know before election day in River Heights-Fort Garry.

Who's running?

Brant Field is a construction project manager and a lawyer who has practised at a firm in Alberta and articled and volunteered at Winnipeg's Legal Help Centre.

A bald man with a red beard and glasses smiles while wearing a suit.
Brant Field is a construction project manager and lawyer who's running for council in River Heights-Fort Garry. (Submitted by Brant Field)

Gary Lenko is a business owner who has spent decades renovating houses and used to run a dance studio. In 2018, he ran in the ward and placed third.

Gary Lenko is a business owner who has spent decades renovating houses. He's also running for council in River Heights-Fort Garry. (Tyson Koschik/CBC)

Lenko also has a lengthy record of civil litigation, including a fight with Manitoba Hydro, a suit over a residential home-improvement program and what was one of the first challenges of Winnipeg's use of red-light cameras.

John Orlikow has been the ward's councillor since getting voted in during a 2009 byelection after incumbent Brenda Leipsic died from cancer.

John Orlikow has been the councillor for River Heights-Fort Garry since 2009. (Jeff Stapleton/CBC)

In February, he said he planned to leave the seat after 13 years to run for mayor but he changed his mind three months later, when he declared the path to the mayor's office "washed out." Orlikow has held several positions during his time on council, including deputy mayor.

What are they promising?

Field says he'd work to reduce property crime, improve traffic flow, protect Winnipeg's tree canopy, prioritize street maintenance, push to use tax dollars wisely andspeed up planned combined sewer upgrades while working to mitigate runoff.

Lenko says he'd focus on addressing traffic problems caused by construction and improving communication between the city and other levels of government on issues like housing.He'd also work to improve accountability at city hall and advocate to abolish the executive policy committee, which functions like the mayor's cabinet.

Orlikow says he'd focus on fixing streets and sidewalks, protecting the city's tree canopy, reducing crime and spending more on spray pads and play structures.

More CBC Manitoba ward profiles


A map of Winnipeg with numbers on each ward.
People in Winnipeg will head to the polls on Oct. 26 to vote for a new mayor and councillors in 13 of the citys 15 wards. Councillors in the other two wards have already been acclaimed. (CBC)