With mere weeks away, the campaign trail in Brandon is starting to heat up—and one candidate is hoping for a good clean race. “If I have to step on someone to win, then I hope I lose,” said Tyson Tame, incumbent candidate for Ward 10 in the City of Brandon. Tame has served on Brandon city council since 2022. This time around, he’s running against Mitesh Patel, who moved to Brandon in 2021. You won’t hear Tame blasting his opponent, however. “I’m a taxpayer; I want my dollar spent the best they can be spent,” Tame said. “If Mitesh can do that better than I can, then I hope he beats me.” “It’s not about who is better than each other,” Patel said. “It’s about what we can bring better for the City of Brandon.” Both men believe smear campaigns and political name calling don’t serve the public. In fact, in recent weeks Tame has come to the defence of his challenger online after racist remarks were made about Patel’s background and his legitimacy to run for political office. Patel moved to Canada in 2008. “The very best thing I can do is to have Mitesh’s back,” Tame said. “He’s my friend. He’s a Canadian citizen. He deserves all of the opportunities that I’ve been afforded.” “I appreciate the support he had and it was not more about support; it was more about standing for the democracy and the rights which are given by the charter rights of Canada,” Patel said. Political experts following this municipal race are commending the actions of both candidates. “At the end of the day we should all be on the same team, right?,” said Kelly Saunders, chair of political science at Brandon University. “As Manitobans, as Brandonites, as Canadians, as human beings wanting to better our communities.” The political science professor said the level of discourse across the country is as bad as it’s ever been. She said this creates more voter apathy. Saunders said less than 20 percent of Brandon’s eligible voters participated in the 2022 municipal election. “That is a sign of a citizenry that’s frustrated, that’s unhappy, that is just so disengaged that they can’t even bother to do the most basic thing, which is voting,” she said. Whichever candidate voters choose, Tame said he has already won a friendship with his opponent. “If he were to win, I will wholeheartedly support him and I hope the same from him to me.” The municipal election date is Oct. 28.
