Strong reeve’s race in RM of Stuartburn

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This article was published 13/10/2022 (1051 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Two experienced candidates are vying for the reeve’s chair in the RM of Stuartburn, while races in individual wards are nearly devoid of incumbents.

David Kiansky, Stuartburn’s reeve from 1995 to 2002 and 2018 to the present, is seeking re-election against Michelle Gawronsky, a high-profile former labour union leader who wants to leap into local politics.

Both reeve candidates discussed their platforms in separate interviews, while ward candidates were canvassed by email.

Drainage key for Kiansky

David Kiansky said he wants another term as reeve to finish addressing the water and drainage issues that he has contended with for decades.

“Water is my business,” said Kiansky, who established Kiansky Bros. Well Drilling in 1980.

“I see peoples’ problems and my passion is that I like to help people and get things done.”

Kiansky said water drains into the RM Stuartburn from the east and from the south, causing a variety of problems for rural areas and the town of Vita.

“It’s a real dilemma,” Kiansky said. “It’s crucial to growth in the RM, because if we get flooded, it’s going to go backwards. I want to be proactive not reactive, and that’s the key.”

Vita has been hit twice by flooding in recent years, causing $350,000 in damages in the fall of 2019 and another $500,000 in damages the following spring.

But Kiansky said periodic droughts mean the solution isn’t as simple as draining away all the water.

“We can’t drain our swamps, but we have to manage our water” he explained.

Kiansky said the RM must ensure its infrastructure can handle extreme weather events, which have depleted federal and provincial disaster assistance funds.

“We can’t depend on EMO anymore,” Kiansky said.

If re-elected, Kiansky said he’d work on a checklist of outstanding drainage projects, some of which require provincial or inter-municipal cooperation.

He would also continue pressing for upgrades to Provincial Road 201. Council successfully lobbied get weight restrictions increased to 90 percent from 65 percent.

Before that, farmers were getting fined for moving their implements down the highway, which Kiansky called “entrapment.”

“It was not allowing our town of Vita to grow. We have all the amenities there, but we have no road to it. The school buses overloaded it every spring. It deterred any manufacturers to come in, because you could not bring any loads in.”

For Kiansky, roads and drainage pave the way for development. Kiansky said a developer is preparing to build 20 new 55-plus housing units near the Vita and District Health Centre. Kiansky wants to build a sidewalk connecting the new development to paved walking paths in the centre of town.

Kiansky said the hospital needs more staff, and a reopened emergency department.

He proposed an income tax exemption for rural health-care workers to address staffing shortages.

The exemption could also extend to rural police, he said, to boost police presence and reduce property crime rates, which Kiansky said are high.

“It’s continuous,” Kiansky said. “People are scared in our RM right now and they’re asking what are we going to do about it.”

Kiansky is also determined to prevent the western prairie fringed orchid from stifling development and agriculture.

The RM is home to the only Canadian population, and half the global population, of the critically endangered flower.

In 2019, a local Amish farmer was fined $1,000 for disturbing the orchid on his property. At the time, Kiansky called the sentence “completely unfair.”

A federally-funded landowner incentive program was created to help bridge the divide between conservation groups and local farmers, but Kiansky said other problems persist.

Municipal staff are left waiting for clearances before they can complete drainage work or trim the grass along roadways.

“It’s stalling progress in the RM. We had a couple ditches to clean—we waited for the permits for two years,” Kiansky said. “It’s great to have it, but who are we saving the flower for?”

Health-care tops for Gawronsky

Michelle Gawronsky has lived in Vita since 1974.

She embarked on a 37-year career in health-care, first as a health-care aide then as an EMS coordinator, paramedic, and activity director. She now conducts independent audits in health-care facilities.

On the side, Gawronsky kept busy.

“I’ve volunteered in just about every organization we’ve got,” she said. “I love my community.”

Her board and committee experience includes Vita Canada Day, the Christmas festival, the arena board, the hospital board, and grad committees. She currently chairs the Vita and District Health Centre Foundation board.

In 2012, Gawronsky became president of the Manitoba Government and General Employees’ Union (MGEU). She continued in that role until last year.

The high-profile job saw her meet with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and visit the United Nations headquarters in New York City.

Gawronsky said she learned to “listen to the people” and “never make a promise you can’t keep.” She also learned to focus on solutions rather than problems.

“There’s no one hero anywhere. It takes us all to make the community.”

While Gawronsky has never run for municipal office, this isn’t her first time being involved in a campaign. She helped her late husband, Roman, get elected to three terms on Stuartburn council.

“I’m extremely familiar and experienced in local politics, as well as provincial and federal,” Gawronsky said.

Local ratepayers convinced her to run for reeve.

“I’ve got lots of time and energy,” she said.

Gawronsky said she’s determined to protect and restore health-care services in Vita.

“If you don’t have health care, you don’t have anything in a community,” she said.

The ER has been closed for years, physician recruitment is difficult, and lab, diagnostic, and home care services are stretched thin.

Gawronsky said she has “no fear” in approaching government officials and reminding them of their obligations at the local level.

“The RHAs have a responsibility to communities and so does the provincial government.”

Gawronsky said drainage is also “a huge, huge issue” in Stuartburn.

“We need to look at drainage not as individual issues but as a whole,” she said. “You can’t pit neighbour against neighbour and then expect your community to be a success.”

If elected, she’d convene town hall meetings on drainage to hear directly from those affected.

“I almost see myself as a bit of a mediator,” she said. “There’s lots of frustration in the whole RM, no matter where I went.”

Gawronsky also wants to attract development and investment to the RM, which she believes is on the cusp of an economic boom.

“It’s a good viable community. We’ve got lots to offer and investment here would be a huge positive for folks.”

Gawronsky said she’d sit down with farmers and conservation groups to reach an understanding over the western prairie fringed orchid.

She also wants to get Provincial Road 201 upgraded to federal transportation standards, which would eliminate weight restrictions year-round.

“Farmers need to be able to haul their equipment down the highway, in the spring and in the fall,” she said. “And if we do want growth and we want businesses to come in, we need to ensure that they’re able to come in.”

On the recreation front, Gawronsky wants an outdoor rink for Vita and more cultural festivals.

To combat rural property crime, she wants to restart Crime Watch citizen patrols, sit down with the RCMP, and explore the possibility of an inter-municipal police force.

Bodz, Penner compete in Ward 1

In Ward 1, incumbent Dan Bodz is squaring off against Jacob Penner.

Bodz has been on council for 18 years and on the fire department for 15. His board experience includes the arena board, community hall board, and museum board, as well as committees of council.

“My motivation is my passion and love for my community being a lifelong resident.”

Bodz said his knowledge of ongoing issues in the RM makes him an asset on council. His top priorities are unfinished drainage issues, the upgrading of Provincial Road 201, cellular service, and health-care.

Challenger Jacob Penner said he has always lived and farmed in southern Manitoba, including operating a Pansy-area dairy farm, hog barn, and cattle feedlot. In the Vita area, Penner ran a beef and hobby farm. He also owned and operated a backhoe for five years, giving him drainage experience.

Penner said he was involved with the Pansy and district chamber of commerce, helping to purchase Pansy park and get Provincial Road 403 built.

“My promise is, phone on and calls will be answered and messages returned,” Penner said.

Three-way race in Ward 2

A three-way race between Dylan Gurman, Tammy Tostowaryk, and Tim Wiebe has opened up in Ward 2, where the council seat is currently vacant.

At 24, Gurman is the youngest candidate. He has lived in the RM his entire life, graduating from high school in 2016.

“I’d like to be a councillor that will listen to people and do as much as possible to address their municipal needs, as well as promote teamwork within council,” Gurman said.

His top issues are drainage and road maintenance.

“I will do everything I can to fix these issues.”

Tostowaryk has lived around Vita her entire life.

“I have a background in accounting and have been a farmer’s wife for over 20 years, which I believe will help me understand some of the issues facing the residents,” she said.

Two years on the local resource council for Services to Seniors were informative for Tostowaryk.

“That experience gave me insight into some of the challenges seniors face in our municipality,” she said. “Helping others is part of who I am and being able to give back to our community would be an honour.”

Tostowaryk said she wants Stuartburn to be a place where young people stay and raise their family. Drainage infrastructure and health-care services are her top priorities.

Wiebe did not return the email survey.

Fehr, Paciorka vie for Ward 3

In Ward 3, Jake Fehr and Michael Paciorka are vying to replace Jerry Lubiansky, who did not seek re-election.

Fehr, a writer by trade, said his extensive volunteer experience would inform his work on council.

Fehr is the pen behind “Campfires and Backtrails,” a freelance outdoors column. He is also a published poet and a former reporter for this newspaper and the Neepawa Press.

Fehr said friends have encouraged him to run for council for quite some time.

“They feel this community is economically stagnant,” he explained.

His top priority is to attract a Tim Hortons franchise to Vita.

“Even Stonewall has one,” Fehr said. “We need to attract business and employers to this region. If we don’t, our young people will seek a livelihood elsewhere.”

Paciorka was raised on a family farm in the RM, and got involved in the community at a young age.

While still in high school, he joined the Vita fire department, serving 17 years. He is president of the Vita and District Wildlife Association and a longtime board member of the Ukrainian National Home of Vita.

At 21, Paciorka started his own business, Mike’s Logging and Saw Milling. He has also worked road construction, where he learned surveying, paving, blueprint reading, material ordering, and sewer and water repair. He now works for Manitoba Infrastructure.

Paciorka said fiscal responsibility is his top priority.

“I’m a believer in ‘doing a lot when you only have a little,’” he said.

“We don’t have a very large tax base here so we have to stretch every dollar in order to provide the best services we can for this Municipality while not raising the mill rate.”

Jon Mellor was acclaimed in Ward 4, where incumbent Konrad Narth did not seek re-election.

Election Day is Wednesday, Oct. 26.