Wide-open St. James race draws 5 candidates to replace outgoing Gillingham

With its current councillor running for mayor, St. James is one of only two wards in Winnipeg guaranteed to get a new representative at city hall this election.

Kelly Ryback, one of five candidates vying to replace Scott Gillingham as city councillor, describes his top three priorities as pavement, policeand poverty.

"We need to return back to the focus of the essentials," Ryback said in an interview.

On Linwood Street, he gestures to newly paved sections of the road as an example of what he sees as that essential work of city council.

This past April, the city selected Linwood Street as part of its enhanced cycling route.

When Ryback canvassed the residents about how they felt about the program, he said they were largely supportive of it, but they also pointed out heavy damage to the pavement, with large potholes showing exposed rebar.

WATCH | Meet the 5 candidates vying to become the next councillor inSt. James:

5 candidates vie for Winnipeg council seat

2 years ago

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St. James is one of only two wards in Winnipeg guaranteed to get a new representative at city hall.

After he brought the issue up at the city's infrastructurerenewal committee, the city repaired the road.

"I advocated for the people of Linwood and the people of St. James and others that would be using this enhanced bike lane and it got done. So that's the type of effort that I would be taking to city council," he said.

Ryback, 58, retired after working as a call centre manager. Previously, he sold sponsorships for the Pan Am Games, worked in the IT industryand was once the Buzz mascot for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

He was the first person to declare his candidacy for the seat in March.

Raised in Crestview, Ryback lives just outside the ward boundaries in Westwood.

Shawn Dobson runs again

That area was previously represented by another current candidate for the St. James seat, Shawn Dobson.

Although his campaign signs say "Re-elect Shawn Dobson," he is not an incumbent. Dobson's former seat, St. Charles, was amalgamated into St. James and Charleswood-Tuxedo-Westwood in 2018.

Dobson ran for the St. James seat in that year's election, but lost to Gillingham. Dobson declined CBC's request for an interview.

EddieAyoubwants programming

On Queen Street, Eddie Ayoub moves door to door, introducing himself to residents.

As the artistic director for Art City, the Silver Heights resident said his experience with community development makes him the "natural successor" to Scott Gillingham.

Ayoub praised Gillingham for his capital investments in the neighbourhood's community centres. Now, Ayoub wants to see more programming.

"We've built all these great places and invested in them. But we need free accessible programs," he said.

Another priority for Ayoub is putting a stop to urban sprawl and moving development to areas like around the former football stadium near Polo Park.

"We have a mature neighborhood like St. James, our roads are crumbling," he said.

"The infrastructure is in bad need of maintenance and repair. And we have the site of the old stadium is now a vast sea of cracked concrete with weeds growing out of it."

Tim Diack's priority is crime

Tim Diack came in third place in the race for mayor in 2018. He also declared a mayoral candidacy in 2004, but dropped out and endorsed Sam Katz.

Now running in St. James, the Winnipeg police officer says crime is his top priority.

"It's the primary concern of people," he said.

"They can't wait for a bus, they can't get on a bus, and they can't go downtown. Those three things people don't feel safe doing."

Diack, who lives in the Deer Lodge neighbourhood, said the city needs to reduce police response times.

"We don't have any good excuses for that anymore."

Daevid Rameycalls for homeless help

On Winston Street, Daevid Ramey loads campaign signs into his car.

The communications manager for Ikea and president of the Bourkevale Community Centre said the city needs to do more to deal with the problem of homelessness.

"We need to do something to help them, lift them up, provide them with appropriate shelters. Nobody aspires to live in a bus shack," he said.

With five candidates for the St. James seat, Ramey says he's glad the residents have options for their next councillor.

"A race like this can only benefit the residents of St.James."

• Read more from CBC on the 2022 Winnipeg election