Evan Duncan is trying to become the first councillor in 16 years to serve more than one term in the Charleswood-Tuxedo-Westwood ward. “I am not looking to walk it into the end zone, we’re going to do the hard work,” Duncan said. First elected in 2022, Duncan is running for re-election. During his first term, Mayor Scott Gillingham elevated Duncan to the Executive Policy Committee. He currently chairs the property committee and sits on the police board. “It’s been proven around the council table that I’m there to lead, I’m not there to follow. I’m going to continue to do that for our residents,” Duncan said. Duncan says to get the investments for infrastructure and recreation needed in the ward, a consistent voice is crucial, instead of one-term councillors, which has been the case since the late councillor Bill Clement passed away in 2010. “Bill Clement was here for 27 years and we got a lot done in this neighbourhood, and there’s been a stall out because there’s been so much turnover,” Duncan said. Dennis Bayomi is challenging Duncan. He has run under the Green banner provincially and federally, and is the current president and deputy leader of the Green Party of Manitoba. “What if Winnipeg treated the climate emergency like the emergency it truly is?” Bayomi said. Bayomi is in favour of free transit and banning e-scooters on public streets, sidewalks and paths. For the sake of the environment, Bayomi says he is not littering the ward with lawn signs. Instead, he has taken out ads on recycling bins, some of them outside the ward. “Strategically placed along Portage Avenue, because a lot of folks who live in the ward come down Portage,” Bayomi said. Despite the creative messaging, Bayomi may have an uphill battle. Chris Adams, an adjunct professor of political studies, says that barring extenuating circumstances, it is unusual in Winnipeg for a sitting councillor to lose their seat. “Odds are that the incumbent, Evan Duncan, will hold that ward,” Adams said.
