Suburban brawl

Two farmers, a nurse and a garden shop operator.

While that may sound like the beginning of a “walk into a bar” joke, it’s the description of who is seeking a council seat in St. Norbert-Seine River.

The race is wide open since Markus Chambers, the current representative, isn’t seeking a third term.

Political newcomer Ray Dubois has owned Ron Paul Garden Centre for 17 years, and before that, he ran pharmacy tech businesses.

He said he was looking to make a career shift when he learned Chambers didn’t plan to seek re-election, so he jumped at the chance to keep working for a community he has served since he opened the garden centre.

“I think people look at the work I’ve done in the community, the people that have walked through the door and worked with me, and the young guys know that I’ll bag gravel, I’ll bag soil, and I’ll schlep bricks,” Dubois, 57, said.

Chambers encouraged voters to support Dubois in a letter sent out in August that described him as a person who would “always put the well-being of our neighbourhoods — your safety, your services, your quality of life — above any private agenda.”

Dubois said improving the Winnipeg Transit system after its massive network overhaul in June 2025 is his top priority.

“The Transit debacle is going to be first and foremost on my radar when I get in,” he said. “What can I do? I don’t know, but certainly I’m going to be kicking up some dust to find out.”

Louise May, a founding member of the St. Norbert Arts Centre and the owner of Aurora Farm, said her work has required regular contact with city hall and it has given her a sense of what constitutes the ideal councillor.

“It has to do with how communication happens and consulting happens. It has to do with what the overall direction of the city is in terms of both our human rights crisis and our climate crisis, our environmental crisis. Those are big-picture planning points that I feel I bring a lot of strength to,” the 61-year-old said.

In 2010, May ran for city council but was unsuccessful against Jason Swandel, who was the incumbent.

May is no stranger to political action.

She was part of a group that fought to stop the removal of trees in Lemay Forest last year. At one point, she stood in the path of machinery despite a court order that barred opponents from impeding the owner’s access to the land. May was found in contempt of the injunction and fined $15,000. However, the group’s efforts paid off when the provincial government announced it would expropriate the land and turn it into a provincial park.

May, who said that experience “absolutely” influenced her decision to run, is firmly behind environmental initiatives. She has pledged to push for a pedestrian and bike bridge to be built across the Red River at the University of Manitoba.

“I saw a lot of things that really were not right at city hall, and I just felt that we can do much much better,” she said.

The third candidate, Govind Thawani, registered to run for mayor in 2022, but did not complete the nomination process and was disqualified.

He blamed that outcome on “barriers” and a defamation lawsuit launched by a contracting firm whose executive included a family member of mayoral candidate Jenny Motkaluk.

Court documents allege Thawani had insinuated the company was taking bribes related to city contracts when he spoke at a seniors forum. The case technically remains before the court but no action has been taken since 2024.

“I didn’t have the resources to run for mayor back then, and I really didn’t realize the amount of corruption the election process was, and how biased it was,” Thawani, 59, said.

Thawani, a farmer and former City of Winnipeg contractor, said removing “corruption” in the tendering process will be one of his top priorities should he win.

“This thievery to the corruption from tendering, it’s got to stop. If that doesn’t stop, then taxes keep going up, water bills keep going up, they keep taxing everything that they can,” he said.

Also on the ballot is Anita Roy, a home care nurse who said her line of work has given her a close look at the needs of the ward.

“I go house to house… so I always communicate with them, and then I thought I can bring their voice to city hall as the community representative,” Roy, 54, said.

Among them, she said, are concerns about the state of Transit, which is her foremost priority.

“I am not saying to change the whole thing because I know there is a lot of money they put in to change the system, but there can be some collaboration and talk in the middle. Can we add some routes which will be good for the people to use again?” she said.

St. Norbert-Seine River is a largely suburban ward that includes the Fort Richmond, St. Norbert, Richmond Lakes and Normand Park neighbourhoods. Chambers ran unopposed in 2022 and was acclaimed.

malak.abas@winnipegfreepress.com