No rest for Elmwood voters

Elmwood

The last couple of years have brought quite a political whirlwind to residents of Elmwood. Multiple federal, provincial, and municipal elections have taken place, accompanied by the standard door-knocking and campaign literature drops.

In October 2023, after months of canvassing, the Manitoba provincial election was held. Jim Maloway was once again elected the member of the legislative assembly for Elmwood while Matt Wiebe was elected MLA for the adjacent Concordia district.

Then, at the end of February 2024, Elmwood-Transcona member of Parliament Daniel Blaikie resigned to take a position advising Manitoba premier Wab Kinew on intergovernmental affairs.

On Sept.16, 2024, after months of campaigning, New Democrat Leila Dance was elected to succeed Blaikie as Elmwood-Transcona MP. Dance served for several months but was defeated by Conservative Colin Reynolds in the general federal of April 28, 2025

In April of this year, Jason Schreyer, who had served 11 years as city councillor for Elmwood-East Kildonan, died unexpectedly. A municipal by-election was called for Oct. 25 and Emma Durand-Wood was elected to the position.

For some Elmwood residents, the past few years have felt like a deluge of non-stop campaigning with all the standard and special elections. Not to mention the door-knocking some provincial representatives do years before any election to keep in touch with voters. There will be another suite of campaigns in the fall of 2026, as candidates vie to be mayor, city councillor, and school trustee.

As someone who has door-knocked for campaigns at the federal, provincial, and municipal levels, I know it can become overwhelming. But candidates engaging with voters and people getting to know their political representatives is important.

Each level of government has its own responsibilities. The feds cover foreign policy, tariffs, and federal taxation while the provinces are responsible for many front-line services, such as education and health care. Our city council deals with issues such as snow clearing and land-use planning. There is overlap and collaboration between all levels of government, with the federal government providing a lot of funding for health care and the provincial government sometimes overruling civic land-use decisions through the Manitoba Municipal Board.

It’s important for Elmwood residents to stay informed on all levels of government and talk to their representatives.