Some in area feel overrun with underlying issues, lack confidence upcoming election will spur change
Words and Photos by Savannah Guzzi
Located in the northeast side of Winnipeg, Transcona can be considered its very own small town.
It contains many diverse neighbourhoods, including Regent, Peguis, Transcona Yards, Melrose, Victoria West, and Kern Park.
Statistics Canada reported in the 2021 Census that 101,691 people resided in the Transcona ward, rising 9.7 per cent over a five-year span.
Transcona hosts many local events, most notably its Hi Neighbour festival that happens every first weekend of June with mascot Hi Neighbour Sam. A statue of him sits on the median strip of Regent Avenue West.
There are five candidates running for the Transcona seat. The incumbent City councillor of Transcona is Russ Wyatt, who is seeking re-election. He previously served between 2002 to 2018 and won again in 2022.
He entered this year’s race at the last minute, and it remains to be seen what impact, if any, criminal charges he currently faces will have on his vote-share.
Another candidate seeking election is Shawn Nason who was also Transcona’s former councillor from 2018 – 2022. Lora Meseman, Chris Giesbrecht and Nathine Dagdick are also running.
Benjamin Judson, 52, senior solution architect
Has lived in ward for 17 years.
What’s life like in the ward?
Life in Transcona is good. We’re part of Winnipeg, but the community still has something of a small-town feel. You can talk to your neighbours, go for a walk, and feel safe. The schools are great, and their staff are friendly.
Downtown Transcona is a nice area, although it’s small. I want to support our local businesses, but I have mixed feelings about bringing in more big-box stores. It would be convenient to have more shopping options nearby, but I wouldn’t want that to come at the expense of local businesses or Transcona’s character.
What are some local needs that you notice?
Like many communities, Transcona could use more services and amenities. For me, the biggest need is better transportation connections to the rest of Winnipeg, whether through rapid transit or a major road that provides a more direct route across the city.
People sometimes joke that Transcona residents don’t like leaving Transcona, but there’s a practical reason for that: there are only a few main routes in and out, and traffic backs up. Much of the drive downtown is on roads with speed limits of 60 km/h. Early in the morning, I might get downtown in 20 minutes, but during rush hour near Christmas, the same trip can take an hour and a half. In moderate times it’s often a 30 – 35-minute drive there and another 35 minutes back. It’s like taking a trip.
Schools also seem to be bursting at the seams. Transcona Collegiate was designed for roughly 300 students, but enrolment may now be close to twice that. École Margaret-Underhill has also been overcrowded for years. Other schools in the area suffer from the same overcrowding. Housing development keeps expanding, but I don’t see new schools being built to keep pace. I think that’s a mistake.
There are shopping options at Kildonan Place and Kildonan Crossing, but I often feel I need to go to Polo Park, St. Vital, or Kenaston to find the stores I’m looking for. I’d like to understand why more retailers aren’t choosing Transcona. I think a city councillor serving this community should actively work to attract more businesses and services here.
What’s your take on the Oct. 28 election?
I find the number of mayoral candidates overwhelming, and I’m frustrated by how difficult it is to find mayoral and council candidates I trust. Too many seem out of touch with residents’ concerns or more focused on their own agendas.
Property taxes and service fees feel increasingly out of control. Home prices have risen dramatically, yet residents still face higher tax bills, higher water bills, higher waste bills. I want a clearer explanation of why costs keep increasing and what we’re getting in return. Why should one family of 4 be paying drastically higher taxes than another family of 4 a block away from each other because someone chose to develop closer to the first family? How does that affect fire, police, roads and water that have been there for ages? The mill system is absurd.
The condition of our roads is another major frustration. Every year, people damage their tires and vehicles because of potholes. Why can’t we find more durable solutions instead of repeatedly repairing the same problems?
Road construction also needs better coordination and accountability. From a resident’s perspective, a street can be torn up in April or May, sit with little visible progress for months, and then receive a thin layer of asphalt just before the snow flies. Meanwhile, drivers deal with disruption for much of the year.
For major routes, I’d also like the city to make greater use of evening and overnight crews where practical. We need candidates who will take these everyday problems seriously and deliver visible improvements.
Jason Vandale, owner of Meta Property Maintenance
Has lived in ward for 13 years
What’s life like in the ward?
It’s a lot quieter than the North End. Transcona feels like it’s stuck back in time a little bit compared to the rest of the city. I spend a lot of time landscaping in that end of the city. It’s developing really fast. Here, it’s kind of… stuck.
What are some local needs that you notice?
Access to a landfill would be nice. East St. Paul has a landfill, but you need to be a resident and show your ID to get access.
What’s your take on the Oct. 28 election?
I personally don’t care. Cause it doesn’t feel like it matters in the long run. It’s all the same.
Stephen Armitage, 49, network systems administration manager
Has lived in ward 36 years
What’s life like in the ward?
It’s quiet. Transcona is almost like a town itself. People that live in Transcona seldom leave Transcona cause everything we need is here. We got groceries, we got everything.
What are some local needs that you notice?
More community spaces for youth, specifically indoor spaces would be handy. And overall better access to community centres we do have.
I would also like to see bike paths that actually lead somewhere. Not like a random bike path in the middle of nowhere that goes nowhere. It would be great if they were all connected to the greater Winnipeg bike trail system, which is happening, but it’s being built illogically.
What’s your take on the Oct. 28 election?
Blissful ignorance. Civic politics is not a thing for me, it’s not important to me. But it is at the same time, or at least it should be.
Saachi Parbhakar, 22, Legal Assistant
Has lived in ward 20 years.
What’s life like in the ward?
Convenient. There’s a mall, grocery stores, lots of restaurants. Gas stations… Costco! That’s the big one for me. A Costco in my area.
What are some local needs that you notice?
We need more small businesses. There’s a lot of chain restaurants nearby. For local places like that you need to drive to other areas, like Downtown. So, some in this area would be really nice.
Something to do with little kid activities too. Maybe a bowling alley, more parks, some small stuff like that. They’re building more schools, like the one down Peguis Street, so maybe they should add more things in that area for kids.
What’s your take on the Oct. 28 election?
I haven’t done much research. I should look into that. But it doesn’t come across my feed a lot, so it’s like very ‘out of sight out of mind’ for me.
Dylan Downey, 24, shift supervisor at Red River Megacoats
Has lived in ward 21 years.
What’s life like in the ward?
Life in Transcona is really nice. There’s a bit of everything, from shopping, to entertainment, to industry, you can almost live an entire life without leaving the area.
What are some local needs that you notice?
One area that Transcona struggles with is road maintenance. Taking a drive down any of the side roads off Kildare Avenue will almost guarantee some form of suspension damage. There is also a lack of accessibility for bicycles. There is only one bike route that leads out of Transcona, so biking isn’t a viable option unless you can brave the regular roads.
What’s your take on the Oct. 28 election?
I don’t have very high hopes for the election. None of the people running really speak to me in terms of their platform. Every candidate has at least one thing about them that makes it difficult to vote for them. The candidate that spoke the most to me is Chris Geisbrecht, with his platform on fixing the “forgotten roads” as he puts it. However, I read that he is an avid supporter of AI, which as a musician and environmentalist, I cannot in good conscience bring myself to support him. With that said, I have a lot more research required before I can even begin to feel comfortable voting for anyone.
Dennis Koniak, 60, retail supervisor and small business owner
Has lived in ward 40 years
What’s life like in the ward?
Transcona is like a small-town community. Small businesses support small businesses. Neighbors know one another. Lots of Winnipeg history in Transcona.
What are some local needs that you notice?
I feel Transcona is slowly becoming overrun with people who are addicted to different types of illegal narcotics and we’re seeing a growing amount of homeless (panhandlers) begging for money.
What’s your take on the Oct. 28 election?
I feel in the upcoming election, that not one of the candidates has clearly come out with a logical plan to deal with some of the bigger issues we face on a daily basis.
For information on how to vote and where, head to the official City of Winnipeg election website
The staff of Winnipeg Better can be reached by email at jmajorrrc@gmail.com