Winnipeg Area Council urges members to vote in municipal election

Dear PSAC member:

On October 22, Winnipeggers will head to the polls to elect a new mayor and city council that will oversee our city’s priorities and growth over the next four years.

As with every election, we encourage our members to educate themselves on the candidates and the issues, and ultimately to exercise their democratic right on Election Day and vote.

While PSAC and our members are vocal and visible in federal politics, it’s equally important to be politically active at the municipal and provincial levels. As taxpayers living in the City of Winnipeg, we are impacted by the decisions and policies of City Council and it’s important that we have a say.

PSAC is non-partisan and we do not endorse any specific candidate. However, we do encourage our members to support labour-friendly candidates with progressive values. The Winnipeg Labour Council promotes the goals of the labour movement in Winnipeg at the municipal level and has compiled a list of candidates that they’ve endorsed. In a ward where no candidate is deemed suitable, no endorsement has been made. We’ve included this list in this mailing (attached below).

The Winnipeg Area Council also sent a letter to all mayoral candidates on behalf of the more than 8,000 PSAC members in Manitoba, the majority living and working right here in Winnipeg. We introduced PSAC and explained the diversity of our membership. In order to help our members get to know the candidates, we asked that they respond with the top three priorities they would focus on within the first six months of being elected to office.

• Bowman, Brian – Advised he would respond, but never did and didn’t respond to follow-up inquiries
• Fillion, Michael – No response
• Havixbeck, Paula – No response
• Ouellette, Robert-Falcon – No response
• Sanders, David – No response
• Steeves, Gord – No response
• Wasylycia-Leis, Judy – Responded September 30 (attached below)

As mandated by the PSAC Constitution, Area Councils are designed to serve as liaisons for PSAC members and help coordinate campaigns, political action and community outreach. It’s important to the Winnipeg Area Council that all members living and working in Winnipeg participate in the upcoming election. Please use the information provided in this package to get to know the candidates and the issues they stand for.

We urge you to get out and vote on October 22 to show your support and vote for a candidate that values the issues important to PSAC member and their families.

In Solidarity,