The Better Voter Series: This week on the campaign trail…

Katz and Wasylycia-Leis face-off with crime-fighting commitments

The two top contenders in Winnipeg’s civic election address crime, a key city issue, from very different perspectives. Mayor Sam Katz stated that he would put 58 more police officers on the street while Judy Wasylycia-Leis pledged $1 million in community resource funding to deter crime, according to CBC.ca. Wasylycia-Leis’s announcement was a follow-up to her August promise of expanding anonymous crime-reporting phone lines.

Federal meets civic

Conservative Member of Parliament Steven Fletcher is throwing his true blue support behind incumbent mayor Sam Katz. The junior cabinet minister and federal representative for Charleswood-St. James-Assiniboia announced in a press release and on his Twitter feed that Katz has been a supporter of justice reforms that, “the federal NDP have opposed, obstructed and watered down at every opportunity.”

Katz’s office downplayed the partisan endorsement noting that official support is being accepted from various levels of government, as reported in the Winnipeg Free Press.

A Jet at city hall?

Veteran Winnipeg Jet Thomas Steen has joined the race for city council. Steen announced his campaign on Thursday, Sept. 9 and will run against NDP-endorsed Shaneen Robinson, former school trustee Rod Giesbrecht and Nelson Sanderson for the city councillor seat in the Elmwood-East Kildonan ward. Long-time incumbent and NDP-supporter Lillian Thomas is retiring from the seat this fall.

All signs point to an election

Starting on Sunday, Sept. 5, official civic election signs began popping up on homeowner’s lawns as a way to boost name recognition for candidates and allow Winnipeggers the opportunity to display their support. While there are many restrictions and bans on signage for public property, private spaces are far less governed. For a list of requirements for public spaces, check out the City of Winnipeg bylaw here: www.winnipeg.ca/clerks/docs/election_services/defaultES.stm.

Published in Volume 65, Number 3 of The Uniter (September 16, 2010)

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