Russ Wyatt
Encyclopedia
Russ Wyatt is a politician in Winnipeg
, Manitoba
, Canada
. He has represented Transcona on the Winnipeg City Council
since 2002, and is currently a member of the city's executive policy committee. His father, Reg Wyatt
, was a councillor from 1983 to 1986.
at the University of Winnipeg
and worked for the Wyatt Insurance Group, a family company, before entering public life. In the 1990s, he was an assistant to Transcona councillor Rick Boychuk
and chairman of the East Kildonan-Transcona residents advisory group.
In 1993, Wyatt recommended that the City of Winnipeg introduce "park-and-ride" areas to improve public transportation. During the 1997 federal election
, he argued that renewed debates over national unity were drawing attention away from pressing issues such as job creation, and credited the New Democratic Party
as the only political party willing to discuss the economy. He led a petition drive against bus fare increases in 1998.
Wyatt planned to run for city council in the 1998 municipal election
with an endorsement from the New Democratic Party of Manitoba
, but withdrew just before the nomination deadline. He led a citizen's campaign to preserve Transcona's health centre in 2000, and criticized the provincial government of Gary Doer
when it chose to move the centre.
At the time of the 2002 municipal election, Wyatt was the director of communications for the Association of Manitoba Municipalities
.
, at age 32. He was no longer affiliated with the NDP by this time, and ran without a party endorsement. He called for improved municipal infrastructure, and an increased police presence in his ward. After the election, he was appointed to the city's protection and community services committee.
Wyatt soon developed a reputation as a hard-working councillor and a vocal defender of his ward's interests. He also emerged as a prominent opponent of Mayor Glen Murray, with whom he frequently clashed at council meetings. Some accused Wyatt of grandstanding, and of acting in an undiplomatic manner toward other councillors.
Police services
Wyatt opposed Winnipeg's 2002 police restructuring plan, in part because his ward was slated to lose its station to the St. Boniface area. Following unsuccessful attempts to block the plan on council, he launched a billboard
campaign that called for Transconans to protest Murray's handling of the issue. Murray described this move as "very unprofessional", adding that it was based on the flawed assumption that he was personally driving the policy. Council approved the restructuring plan in July 2003.
Other issues
Wyatt remained a vocal supporter of public transportation, and endorsed rapid transit
services for Winnipeg in 2002. He opposed Mayor Murray's plans to introduce a sales tax, on the grounds that it would unfairly target the city's working and middle classes. He also proposed a "Taxpayer's Bill of Rights" in 2004, arguing that it could be used to give citizens a direct vote on new taxes and major capital investments.
Wyatt indicated his support for urban reserves in June 2003, as a means of alleviating poverty among aboriginal communities in Winnipeg. In the same year, he argued that Winnipeg had fallen behind in its efforts to hire greater numbers of women and visible minorities
, and called for a department-by-department investigation into the existing state of employment equity programs. He also opposed the possibility of private companies overseeing Winnipeg's trash services, arguing that municipal employees were more reliable.
2004 mayoral election
Glen Murray resigned as Mayor of Winnipeg in mid-2004 to run for the Canadian House of Commons
. Wyatt considered running for mayor in the by-election
that followed, but eventually chose to endorse Garth Steek
. He said that he was impressed with Steek's "law and order
" focus, and particularly his pledge to crack down on the Hell's Angels biker gang. He later became disillusioned with the campaign, however, and suggested that Steek was actually trying to ensure the election of rival candidate Sam Katz
by attacking Katz's more serious opponents and otherwise keeping a low profile. Katz won the election, while Steek finished a distant fifth.
Wyatt sought to improve his relationship with Mayor Katz after the election. He supported Katz's decision to shelve a rapid transit bus line in September 2004, and was appointed chair of the city's Rapid Transit Review Task Force the following month. After several months of public consultation, the force called for Winnipeg to re-establish a rapid transit plan with a more city-wide focus.
The task force later removed Katz's preferred option of a downtown light-rail system, following a second round of consultations. This created a rift between Katz and Wyatt, and by the summer of 2005 Wyatt had returned to his previous role as a critic of the administration. The task force ultimately recommended a bus transit corridor. When the final report was submitted, Wyatt expressed concern that Katz's inner circle would cherry-pick its least expensive recommendations and simply ignore the rest. By 2008, he accused Winnipeg Transit of watering down the report beyond all recognition, and described the task force's work as a waste of public money.
Veteran Winnipeg activist Nick Ternette
criticized the task force's conclusions, arguing that light rail transit is more effective than bus rapid transit.
OlyWest
Wyatt was one of the earliest critics of the OlyWest hog processing plant, which was proposed for the Transcona and St. Boniface areas of Winnipeg in 2005. When provincial cabinet minister Rosann Wowchuk announced the project, Wyatt objected on the grounds that it could obstruct transit, and bring foul odours and water contamination to the area.
Other issues
Wyatt opposed the provincial government's plan to construct the Waverley West
suburb in 2005, arguing that it would incur significant infrastructural costs. He voted against Sam Katz's anti-panhandling bylaw later in the same year. Wyatt supported malathion
spraying to target the city's mosquito population, and supported an unsuccessful motion to introduce term limits in March 2006.
2006 election
Wyatt was re-elected in the 2006 municipal election
with 85.2% of the vote in his ward. He was endorsed by the Winnipeg Labour Council
, and by an "OlyOpp group" of businesses opposing the OlyWest project. He described his victory as a message for Gary Doer's NDP government, and warned that Doer's support for OlyWest would hurt him in the next provincial campaign.
After the 2006 election, Mayor Katz surprised many political observers by appointing Wyatt to the municipal cabinet (officially known as the executive policy committee) as downtown committee chair. Some described this as a savvy move on Katz's part, in that it would shift Wyatt's opposition from the council chamber to the political backrooms. Wyatt was also named chair of a municipal Red Tape
Commission in February 2007, and was appointed to the municipal Housing Commission the following month.
Wyatt has openly disagreed with Katz on several issues. He was the only cabinet member to oppose the creation of an Assiniboine Park Conservancy in June 2007, arguing that he could not support more private-sector control of the city's parklands. In September 2007, he broke with the mayor and voted in favour of a proposed commission into police conduct. He later criticized Winnipeg's decision to ban pesticides, describing it as part of a "national fad". He was strongly critical of Katz's decision to close the Disraeli Freeway for sixteen months in 2008, and to permit Canadian Pacific Railway
queue-ups in the Transcona area. On one occasion, Wyatt argued that Katz was undermining Transcona's interests with these decisions, and accused him of supporting only "personal business friends or residents in places like South Tuxedo", an upscale south Winnipeg neighbourhood. Katz did not publicly reprimand Wyatt for these remarks, and kept him as a member of the municipal cabinet.
Wyatt called for a single agency to manage Winnipeg's downtown development in February 2008, arguing that existing responsibilities were divided among too many organizations. He has also supported calls for a municipal integrity commissioner, with ombudsman
powers over all municipal governments in Manitoba.
Mayor Katz shuffled his municipal cabinet in October 2008, and gave Wyatt a new position as secretary of infrastructure renewal. Bill Clement
, who chairs Winnipeg's public works and infrastructure renewal committee, expressed concern that Wyatt's new responsibilities would overlap with his own. Katz rejected this suggestion. One of Wyatt's first acts in his new position was to order a review of Winnipeg's unfunded infrastructure projects, which was issued in January 2009.
Following Katz's shuffle, Wyatt proposed the introduction of a 1% municipal sales tax to target road and bridge repairs. The provincial government was skeptical of the idea, and the Association of Manitoba Municipalities
subsequently voted against pursuing the option.
In November 2008, Wyatt tabled a motion to have Winnipeg's chief administrative officer devise with a strategy for reducing environmentally damaging plastic bag
s. The motion was passed by a vote of 7-0 by the executive policy committee. Wyatt later supported a proposal by Jim Maloway
to expand Winnipeg's Disraeli Bridge from four lanes to six.
At a December 2008 meeting of the Executive Policy Committee, Wyatt and fellow councillor Mike Pagtakhan
unexpectedly voted against a $476.1 million public works plan on the grounds that it did not provide sufficient resources for bicycle and pedestrian trails. Both councillors later tried, without success, to have expenditures for these trails added to the budget at a regular meeting of council.
In February 2009, Wyatt was appointed as co-chair of a new mayor's environmental advisory committee. He later proposed that Winnipeg replace its diesel-powered buses with electric trolley cars, in a bid to save money and reduce harmful greenhouse gas emissions.
Fall of OlyWest
The provincial government's support for the OlyWest hog processing plant diminished after December 2006, when two of the three companies supporting the project withdrew and the third was informed that it would need to submit a new proposal. Progressive Conservative Party
leader Hugh McFadyen
and Liberal
leader Jon Gerrard
called for the project to be abandoned, while New Democratic Party Premier Gary Doer was initially non-committal. During the 2007 provincial election
, Wyatt wrote a guest editorial column in the Winnipeg Free Press
calling on Doer to declare that the project would not be continued. Doer withdrew his support for OlyWest a few days later, and Wyatt wrote a follow-up letter commending the premier's decision.
2010 election
Russ Wyatt was re-elected in the 2010 Municipal Election defeating Vlad Kowalyk 9503 to 1885.
and Liberal Party
were courting him to run for federal office.
Winnipeg
Winnipeg is the capital and largest city of Manitoba, Canada, and is the primary municipality of the Winnipeg Capital Region, with more than half of Manitoba's population. It is located near the longitudinal centre of North America, at the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers .The name...
, Manitoba
Manitoba
Manitoba is a Canadian prairie province with an area of . The province has over 110,000 lakes and has a largely continental climate because of its flat topography. Agriculture, mostly concentrated in the fertile southern and western parts of the province, is vital to the province's economy; other...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. He has represented Transcona on the Winnipeg City Council
Winnipeg City Council
The Winnipeg City Council is the governing body of the city of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.Members represent wards throughout the city, and are known as councillors.-2006-2010:Council elected in the 2006 election:-2010-2014:...
since 2002, and is currently a member of the city's executive policy committee. His father, Reg Wyatt
Reg Wyatt
Reg Wyatt is a businessman and former politician in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. He is an insurance salesman, and was a member of Winnipeg City Council from 1983 to 1986. His son Russ Wyatt is a current member of city council, having represented the Transcona ward since 2002.Wyatt created the...
, was a councillor from 1983 to 1986.
Early life and career
Wyatt studied Political SciencePolitical science
Political Science is a social science discipline concerned with the study of the state, government and politics. Aristotle defined it as the study of the state. It deals extensively with the theory and practice of politics, and the analysis of political systems and political behavior...
at the University of Winnipeg
University of Winnipeg
The University of Winnipeg is a public university in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada that offers undergraduate faculties of art, business and economics, education, science and theology as well as graduate programs. The U of W's founding colleges were Manitoba College and Wesley College, which merged...
and worked for the Wyatt Insurance Group, a family company, before entering public life. In the 1990s, he was an assistant to Transcona councillor Rick Boychuk
Rick Boychuk
Rick Boychuk is a labour leader and former politician in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. He served on the Winnipeg City Council from 1989 to 1995, representing the Transcona ward. Boychuk is a member of the New Democratic Party....
and chairman of the East Kildonan-Transcona residents advisory group.
In 1993, Wyatt recommended that the City of Winnipeg introduce "park-and-ride" areas to improve public transportation. During the 1997 federal election
Canadian federal election, 1997
The Canadian federal election of 1997 was held on June 2, 1997, to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 36th Parliament of Canada. Prime Minister Jean Chrétien's Liberal Party of Canada won a second majority government...
, he argued that renewed debates over national unity were drawing attention away from pressing issues such as job creation, and credited the New Democratic Party
New Democratic Party
The New Democratic Party , commonly referred to as the NDP, is a federal social-democratic political party in Canada. The interim leader of the NDP is Nycole Turmel who was appointed to the position due to the illness of Jack Layton, who died on August 22, 2011. The provincial wings of the NDP in...
as the only political party willing to discuss the economy. He led a petition drive against bus fare increases in 1998.
Wyatt planned to run for city council in the 1998 municipal election
Winnipeg municipal election, 1998
The 1998 Winnipeg municipal election was held on October 28, 1998 to elect a mayor, councillors and school trustees in the city of Winnipeg.Centre-left candidate Glen Murray defeated populist right-winger Peter Kaufmann in the mayoral contest.-Councillors:...
with an endorsement from the New Democratic Party of Manitoba
New Democratic Party of Manitoba
The New Democratic Party of Manitoba is a social-democratic political party in Manitoba, Canada. It is the provincial wing of the federal New Democratic Party, and is a successor to the Manitoba Co-operative Commonwealth Federation...
, but withdrew just before the nomination deadline. He led a citizen's campaign to preserve Transcona's health centre in 2000, and criticized the provincial government of Gary Doer
Gary Doer
Gary Albert Doer, OM is a Canadian diplomat and politician from Manitoba, Canada. Since October 19, 2009, he has served as Canada's Ambassador to the United States...
when it chose to move the centre.
At the time of the 2002 municipal election, Wyatt was the director of communications for the Association of Manitoba Municipalities
Association of Manitoba Municipalities
The Association of Manitoba Municipalities is an organization of municipal governments in the province of Manitoba, Canada. All municipalities in Manitoba are members....
.
Murray administration
Wyatt was elected to city council for Transcona in the 2002 municipal electionWinnipeg municipal election, 2002
The 2002 Winnipeg municipal election was held on October 23, 2002 to elect a mayor, councillors and school trustees in the city of Winnipeg.Glen Murray, the city's centre-left mayor, was re-elected to a second term over challenger Al Golden.-Councillors:...
, at age 32. He was no longer affiliated with the NDP by this time, and ran without a party endorsement. He called for improved municipal infrastructure, and an increased police presence in his ward. After the election, he was appointed to the city's protection and community services committee.
Wyatt soon developed a reputation as a hard-working councillor and a vocal defender of his ward's interests. He also emerged as a prominent opponent of Mayor Glen Murray, with whom he frequently clashed at council meetings. Some accused Wyatt of grandstanding, and of acting in an undiplomatic manner toward other councillors.
Police services
Wyatt opposed Winnipeg's 2002 police restructuring plan, in part because his ward was slated to lose its station to the St. Boniface area. Following unsuccessful attempts to block the plan on council, he launched a billboard
Billboard
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
campaign that called for Transconans to protest Murray's handling of the issue. Murray described this move as "very unprofessional", adding that it was based on the flawed assumption that he was personally driving the policy. Council approved the restructuring plan in July 2003.
Other issues
Wyatt remained a vocal supporter of public transportation, and endorsed rapid transit
Rapid transit
A rapid transit, underground, subway, elevated railway, metro or metropolitan railway system is an electric passenger railway in an urban area with a high capacity and frequency, and grade separation from other traffic. Rapid transit systems are typically located either in underground tunnels or on...
services for Winnipeg in 2002. He opposed Mayor Murray's plans to introduce a sales tax, on the grounds that it would unfairly target the city's working and middle classes. He also proposed a "Taxpayer's Bill of Rights" in 2004, arguing that it could be used to give citizens a direct vote on new taxes and major capital investments.
Wyatt indicated his support for urban reserves in June 2003, as a means of alleviating poverty among aboriginal communities in Winnipeg. In the same year, he argued that Winnipeg had fallen behind in its efforts to hire greater numbers of women and visible minorities
Visible minority
A visible minority is a person who is visibly not one of the majority race in a given population.The term is used as a demographic category by Statistics Canada in connection with that country's Employment Equity policies. The qualifier "visible" is important in the Canadian context where...
, and called for a department-by-department investigation into the existing state of employment equity programs. He also opposed the possibility of private companies overseeing Winnipeg's trash services, arguing that municipal employees were more reliable.
2004 mayoral election
Glen Murray resigned as Mayor of Winnipeg in mid-2004 to run for the Canadian House of Commons
Canadian House of Commons
The House of Commons of Canada is a component of the Parliament of Canada, along with the Sovereign and the Senate. The House of Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 308 members known as Members of Parliament...
. Wyatt considered running for mayor in the by-election
By-election
A by-election is an election held to fill a political office that has become vacant between regularly scheduled elections....
that followed, but eventually chose to endorse Garth Steek
Garth Steek
Garth Steek is a politician, lawyer, and businessman in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. He was elected to the Winnipeg City Council in 1995 and served on that body until 2004.-Background:...
. He said that he was impressed with Steek's "law and order
Law and order (politics)
In politics, law and order refers to demands for a strict criminal justice system, especially in relation to violent and property crime, through harsher criminal penalties...
" focus, and particularly his pledge to crack down on the Hell's Angels biker gang. He later became disillusioned with the campaign, however, and suggested that Steek was actually trying to ensure the election of rival candidate Sam Katz
Sam Katz
Samuel Michael Katz, OM is the 42nd mayor of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. He is also a businessperson and a member of the Order of Manitoba.- Life before mayorship :...
by attacking Katz's more serious opponents and otherwise keeping a low profile. Katz won the election, while Steek finished a distant fifth.
Katz administration (first term)
Rapid Transit Review Task ForceWyatt sought to improve his relationship with Mayor Katz after the election. He supported Katz's decision to shelve a rapid transit bus line in September 2004, and was appointed chair of the city's Rapid Transit Review Task Force the following month. After several months of public consultation, the force called for Winnipeg to re-establish a rapid transit plan with a more city-wide focus.
The task force later removed Katz's preferred option of a downtown light-rail system, following a second round of consultations. This created a rift between Katz and Wyatt, and by the summer of 2005 Wyatt had returned to his previous role as a critic of the administration. The task force ultimately recommended a bus transit corridor. When the final report was submitted, Wyatt expressed concern that Katz's inner circle would cherry-pick its least expensive recommendations and simply ignore the rest. By 2008, he accused Winnipeg Transit of watering down the report beyond all recognition, and described the task force's work as a waste of public money.
Veteran Winnipeg activist Nick Ternette
Nick Ternette
Nick Ternette is a politician and political activist in Winnipeg, Manitoba. He is a perennial candidate for mayor of the city, representing left-wing and socialist policies....
criticized the task force's conclusions, arguing that light rail transit is more effective than bus rapid transit.
OlyWest
Wyatt was one of the earliest critics of the OlyWest hog processing plant, which was proposed for the Transcona and St. Boniface areas of Winnipeg in 2005. When provincial cabinet minister Rosann Wowchuk announced the project, Wyatt objected on the grounds that it could obstruct transit, and bring foul odours and water contamination to the area.
Other issues
Wyatt opposed the provincial government's plan to construct the Waverley West
Waverley West
Waverley West is a planned suburb in the southwestern corner of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. It was approved by the government of Manitoba in 2005, and is scheduled to be constructed over a twenty-year period....
suburb in 2005, arguing that it would incur significant infrastructural costs. He voted against Sam Katz's anti-panhandling bylaw later in the same year. Wyatt supported malathion
Malathion
Malathion is an organophosphate parasympathomimetic which binds irreversibly to cholinesterase. Malathion is an insecticide of relatively low human toxicity, however one recent study has shown that children with higher levels of organophosphate pesticide metabolites in their urine are more likely...
spraying to target the city's mosquito population, and supported an unsuccessful motion to introduce term limits in March 2006.
2006 election
Wyatt was re-elected in the 2006 municipal election
Winnipeg municipal election, 2006
The 2006 Winnipeg municipal election was held on October 25, 2006 to elect a mayor, councillors and school trustees in the city of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.Sam Katz was re-elected Mayor of Winnipeg over left-leaning challenger Marianne Cerilli.-Council:...
with 85.2% of the vote in his ward. He was endorsed by the Winnipeg Labour Council
Winnipeg Labour Council
The Winnipeg Labour Council is a labour council based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Affiliated to the Canadian Labour Congress, it represents 50,000+ workers in Winnipeg through 27 affiliated labour unions.- List of affiliated unions :...
, and by an "OlyOpp group" of businesses opposing the OlyWest project. He described his victory as a message for Gary Doer's NDP government, and warned that Doer's support for OlyWest would hurt him in the next provincial campaign.
Katz administration (second term)
Executive Policy CommitteeAfter the 2006 election, Mayor Katz surprised many political observers by appointing Wyatt to the municipal cabinet (officially known as the executive policy committee) as downtown committee chair. Some described this as a savvy move on Katz's part, in that it would shift Wyatt's opposition from the council chamber to the political backrooms. Wyatt was also named chair of a municipal Red Tape
Red Tape
Red Tape is an album by American southern rock band Atlanta Rhythm Section, released in 1976. .-Track listing:#"Jukin'/San Antonio Rose" – 3:43#"Mixed Emotions" – 3:20...
Commission in February 2007, and was appointed to the municipal Housing Commission the following month.
Wyatt has openly disagreed with Katz on several issues. He was the only cabinet member to oppose the creation of an Assiniboine Park Conservancy in June 2007, arguing that he could not support more private-sector control of the city's parklands. In September 2007, he broke with the mayor and voted in favour of a proposed commission into police conduct. He later criticized Winnipeg's decision to ban pesticides, describing it as part of a "national fad". He was strongly critical of Katz's decision to close the Disraeli Freeway for sixteen months in 2008, and to permit Canadian Pacific Railway
Canadian Pacific Railway
The Canadian Pacific Railway , formerly also known as CP Rail between 1968 and 1996, is a historic Canadian Class I railway founded in 1881 and now operated by Canadian Pacific Railway Limited, which began operations as legal owner in a corporate restructuring in 2001...
queue-ups in the Transcona area. On one occasion, Wyatt argued that Katz was undermining Transcona's interests with these decisions, and accused him of supporting only "personal business friends or residents in places like South Tuxedo", an upscale south Winnipeg neighbourhood. Katz did not publicly reprimand Wyatt for these remarks, and kept him as a member of the municipal cabinet.
Wyatt called for a single agency to manage Winnipeg's downtown development in February 2008, arguing that existing responsibilities were divided among too many organizations. He has also supported calls for a municipal integrity commissioner, with ombudsman
Ombudsman
An ombudsman is a person who acts as a trusted intermediary between an organization and some internal or external constituency while representing not only but mostly the broad scope of constituent interests...
powers over all municipal governments in Manitoba.
Mayor Katz shuffled his municipal cabinet in October 2008, and gave Wyatt a new position as secretary of infrastructure renewal. Bill Clement
Bill Clement (politician)
Bill Clement was a Canadian politician, who represented the Charleswood-Tuxedo ward on Winnipeg City Council from 1983 to 2010. Clement was a partner in his family business, Aqua Pleasure Pools...
, who chairs Winnipeg's public works and infrastructure renewal committee, expressed concern that Wyatt's new responsibilities would overlap with his own. Katz rejected this suggestion. One of Wyatt's first acts in his new position was to order a review of Winnipeg's unfunded infrastructure projects, which was issued in January 2009.
Following Katz's shuffle, Wyatt proposed the introduction of a 1% municipal sales tax to target road and bridge repairs. The provincial government was skeptical of the idea, and the Association of Manitoba Municipalities
Association of Manitoba Municipalities
The Association of Manitoba Municipalities is an organization of municipal governments in the province of Manitoba, Canada. All municipalities in Manitoba are members....
subsequently voted against pursuing the option.
In November 2008, Wyatt tabled a motion to have Winnipeg's chief administrative officer devise with a strategy for reducing environmentally damaging plastic bag
Plastic bag
A plastic bag, polybag, or pouch is a type of packaging made of thin, flexible, plastic film, nonwoven fabric, or plastic textile. Plastic bags are used for containing and transporting goods such as foods, produce, powders, ice, magazines, comic books, chemicals and waste.Most plastic bags are...
s. The motion was passed by a vote of 7-0 by the executive policy committee. Wyatt later supported a proposal by Jim Maloway
Jim Maloway
Peter James "Jim" Maloway is a Canadian politician. He was elected to the Canadian House of Commons for the Winnipeg division of Elmwood—Transcona in the 2008 federal election as a member of the New Democratic Party. He previously served in the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba from 1986 to 2008,...
to expand Winnipeg's Disraeli Bridge from four lanes to six.
At a December 2008 meeting of the Executive Policy Committee, Wyatt and fellow councillor Mike Pagtakhan
Mike Pagtakhan
Michael "Mike" Pagtakhan is a city councillor in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. He was elected to the Point Douglas ward in 2002 and re-elected in 2006 and 2010...
unexpectedly voted against a $476.1 million public works plan on the grounds that it did not provide sufficient resources for bicycle and pedestrian trails. Both councillors later tried, without success, to have expenditures for these trails added to the budget at a regular meeting of council.
In February 2009, Wyatt was appointed as co-chair of a new mayor's environmental advisory committee. He later proposed that Winnipeg replace its diesel-powered buses with electric trolley cars, in a bid to save money and reduce harmful greenhouse gas emissions.
Fall of OlyWest
The provincial government's support for the OlyWest hog processing plant diminished after December 2006, when two of the three companies supporting the project withdrew and the third was informed that it would need to submit a new proposal. Progressive Conservative Party
Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba
The Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba is the only right wing political party in Manitoba, Canada. It is also the official opposition party in the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba.-Origins and early years:...
leader Hugh McFadyen
Hugh McFadyen
Hugh Daniel McFadyen is a lawyer and politician in Manitoba, Canada. Since 2006, he has been leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba and Leader of the Opposition in the Manitoba legislature. Following his party's loss in the 2011 election he announced that he would resign as...
and Liberal
Manitoba Liberal Party
The Manitoba Liberal Party is a political party in Manitoba, Canada. Its roots can be traced to the late nineteenth-century, following the province's creation in 1870.-Origins and early development :...
leader Jon Gerrard
Jon Gerrard
Jon Gerrard, PC, MLA is a politician and medical doctor in Manitoba, Canada. He was a Member of Parliament from 1993 to 1997, and was a secretary of state in the government of Jean Chrétien...
called for the project to be abandoned, while New Democratic Party Premier Gary Doer was initially non-committal. During the 2007 provincial election
Manitoba general election, 2007
The Manitoba general election held on May 22, 2007 was held to elect Members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Manitoba, Canada. It was won by the New Democratic Party, which won 36 seats out of 57. The Progressive Conservative Party finished second with nineteen seats. The Liberal...
, Wyatt wrote a guest editorial column in the Winnipeg Free Press
Winnipeg Free Press
The Winnipeg Free Press is a daily broadsheet newspaper in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Founded in 1872, as the Manitoba Free Press, it is the oldest newspaper in western Canada. It is the newspaper with the largest readership in the province....
calling on Doer to declare that the project would not be continued. Doer withdrew his support for OlyWest a few days later, and Wyatt wrote a follow-up letter commending the premier's decision.
2010 election
Russ Wyatt was re-elected in the 2010 Municipal Election defeating Vlad Kowalyk 9503 to 1885.
Ideology
When running for re-election in 2006, Wyatt described himself as progressive on social issues and more conservative on fiscal issues. In 2007, he indicated that both the New Democratic PartyNew Democratic Party
The New Democratic Party , commonly referred to as the NDP, is a federal social-democratic political party in Canada. The interim leader of the NDP is Nycole Turmel who was appointed to the position due to the illness of Jack Layton, who died on August 22, 2011. The provincial wings of the NDP in...
and Liberal Party
Liberal Party of Canada
The Liberal Party of Canada , colloquially known as the Grits, is the oldest federally registered party in Canada. In the conventional political spectrum, the party sits between the centre and the centre-left. Historically the Liberal Party has positioned itself to the left of the Conservative...
were courting him to run for federal office.