By Graeme Forsyth
Voters in Winnipeg’s The Maples riding say they want a leader who will continue to help move the community’s resources forward.
The Maples has a population of 24,500 and is made up of a mix of newer and older housing stock.
One of the big concerns voters have is with health care, saying they want to see more opportunities for workers to enter the field to work. The riding has one personal care home, and no hospitals.
The New Democratic Party of Manitoba is the only party to win in the riding since 1999 according to Elections Manitoba.
The Progressive Conservatives of Manitoba usually finish second, but 2019 was the first time the party finished third. The Manitoba Liberals historically finish third but won the second-most votes in 2019.
The signs in the Maples riding are dominated by mostly NDP and PC signs. There are fewer Liberal signs on lawns.
The Candidates
Mintu Sandhu – New Democratic Party of Manitoba (incumbent)
- Received 2,792 votes in 2019
- Received 39.05 per cent of votes in 2019
- General Manager at Unicity Taxi from 2014-2019
Eddie Calisto-Tavares – Manitoba Liberal Party
- First foray into provincial politics
- Semi-Retired
- President, Human Resource Consultant, Career Coach, Facilitator, Speaker at Options for Succeess
Sumit Chawla – Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba
- Didn’t run in 2019’s election
- Real Estate Agent, business Owner at A-Spade Homes
The Maples by the numbers:
The median household income has risen in the riding since 2016, it’s up 23.5 per cent to reach $98,000 as of 2021, according to Elections Manitoba.
The Maples has expanded in population over five years, adding 1,315 more residents from 23,185 to 24,500. The riding also saw an increase of 55.4 per cent more Canadian citizens to the population at 13,265 in 2021, according to Elections Manitoba.
Most of The Maples immigrant population has roots in Asia, with 6,875 Filipino’s and 4,455 Indians making up 86.8 per cent of the ridings immigrant population in 2021.
There’s been an -11.3 per cent decline in the Indigenous population from 2016 to 2021 in the riding by in the most recent data from Elections Manitoba.
Jobs for men are dominated by trades, transport and equipment operators, and related occupations industries. These fields saw the largest percentage increase at 42.6 per cent, rising from 1,995 workers in 2016, to 2,845 workers in 2021.
Women tend to work in sales and service occupations more than other fields in the riding. Women working in these fields make up 16.4 per cent of the working population for women. These industries saw a big increase in workers from 2016 to 2021 at 23 per cent, per Elections Manitoba.
More men have taken jobs in healthcare compared to women in the riding from 2016 to 2021. Stats from Elections Manitoba say male workers increased by 9.8 per cent, while women workers saw a 3.2 per cent decrease.
Data sourced from electionsmanitoba.ca
VOTER VIEWPOINTS
John Wayne Patacsil, 23, is a production worker for Maple Leaf Foods:
“Most of my family is in the healthcare industry. As long as they (the province) improve the industry and make it more accessible in a way that there’s more jobs.”
Sherry Marginet, 58, has lived on Adsum Park for 30 years:
“If you see my sign on my lawn ‘disabilities vote matters.’ Well yeah everyone could be a day away from a disability. The fact that so many people with disabilities have difficulty maintaining employment, so it’s something that would help them and would be lovely.”
Edward Katz, 83 and retired, has lived in The Maples for 44 years:
“They need to be certain that they keep taxes down, and not start wasting money on things that are not important, things that can wait. Manitoba’s had quite a problem of losing population for quite a while now, and one of the reasons is the high taxes.”
Philip Malonzo, 45, has lived in the riding for 16 years.
“Most important thing is how to help our kids educate. Me and my wife have two little boys now and knowing the things going on around in school is important. I want to see a better education and see what they offer. The park across from me is pretty run down, hopefully they can make some improvements over there.”