Citizens of seven provinces and territories will be choosing new municipal governments and school boards this fall, and CUPE members are getting involved.
“I look at this election as me choosing my bosses,” says Gerry Flood, a school board worker who chairs CUPE Manitoba’s political action committee.
Municipal elections in Manitoba and Saskatchewan take place Oct. 25. In the Yukon, the vote is scheduled for Oct. 26. PEI voters cast ballots Nov. 6 while in Ontario elections take place Nov. 13. Elections in the Northwest Territories took place Oct. 16
CUPE Manitoba President Kevin Rebeck says two seats could tip the balance of power on Winnipeg City Council.
And with the city’s mayor floating public private partnerships in everything from water treatment to police stations, electing the right people could stop privatization.
Meanwhile Yorkton, Sask., nursing home special care aide Kerry Bewcyk is running for city council. “I’d like to be part of how things run, and get things right,” says Bewyck, a CUPE 4980 member. “I want to protect public services, improve labour relations and stop the mishandling of tax dollars.”
In Regina, CUPE plays an active role in the Coalition for a Citizen Friendly Regina (CCFR). The coalition was formed last October with a strategic eye on the upcoming municipal elections. Former CUPE Saskatchewan regional director Jim Holmes is running for mayor.
CUPE candidates in the 2006 municipal and school board elections
Manitoba
- Gord Bennett – CUPE 4606, retired
- Pat Cordner – CUPE 336, retired
- Karen DeLa Ronde – CUPE 500
- Greg Mandzuk – staff representative (elected councillor in July 2006 for town of Winnipeg Beach)
- Denyse Lambert – CUPE 500
- Addce Neufeld-Klumper – CUPE 2938
- Roman Yereniuk – CUPE 3909
Saskatchewan
- Kerry Bewcyk – CUPE 4980
- Glenn Douglas – CUPE 650
- Joe Friesen – CUPE 160
- Jim Holmes – staff, retired
- Terry Ludyk – CUPE 160, retired
- Marvin Mitchell – CUPE 160, retired
- Chad Moats – CUPE 21
- Betty Schmidt – CUPE 5999, retired
- Larry Vandale – CUPE 160, retired
Ontario
- Daryl Wilkinson, CUPE 151
- Raj Gill – CUPE 1281
- Tony Mancuso – CUPE 1880
- Ingrid Parkes – CUPE 822
- Gord Wallace – CUPE 1196
- Shawn Wilson – CUPE 1287
- Charlynn Stockman - CUPE 1287
- Dawn Dodge - CUPE 1287
- Ken Jensen - CUPE 1019
- Pat Chiocchio - CUPE 1263
- Janice Wing - CUPE 4207
- Ted Flynn - CUPE 1019
- Kathleen Woodcock - CUPE 791
- Grant Maloney - CUPE 5167
- Sherry McGlynn - CUPE 4700
- Avoub Ali - CUPE 1
- Chudi A. Asidianva - CUPE 1764
- François Brisson - CUPE 4155
Prince Edward Island
- Marlene Hunt – CUPE 3260
Northwest Territories
- Mary Lou Cherwaty – CUPE 4040 (acclaimed school board trustee in Yellowknife)
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