Four of 10 Steinbach council candidates attend election forum

Six candidates running for the Steinbach city council failed to show up at the election forum organized by South East Equity Coalition Centre ahead of municipal elections. The forum was held at the Southeast Event Centre on Oct. 7 and was only attended by four of the 10 council candidates. There are six council seats available.

Candidates Mitesh Kumar, Brad Unger, Gary Dyck and Nicholas Goertzen participated in the forum. Candidates Greg Carlos, Ron Falk, Bill Hiebert, Jake Hiebert, Damian Penner and Susan Penner were not present.

The forum started with attendees divided into groups to discuss life quality, housing and development, health and well-being, and transportation. Later, the candidates spoke on the issues that were raised in these conversations.

The co-organizers Gary Snider and Gay Boese said they planned the forum for months.

“It was an opportunity for the community to be heard, and for the candidates to hear the community,” Boese said, noting she began reaching out to the candidates from the beginning of September.

“Every candidate got two emails, two phone calls as a minimum, ” she said.

Boese noted some candidates said they had prior commitments, while some did not give any reason for not accepting the forum invitation.

“I really feel it’s their loss because they missed an opportunity to hear from the people, ” she said.

“You can sit down with the mayor and talk, but to actually engage with councillors, it’s hard,” Boese said. “They come to our doors occasionally, when they want our vote. Otherwise, there are four years where we don’t see them.”

Boese added that close to 100 people attended the event and all four candidates who showed up gave her positive feedback on the forum.

“All of them were very grateful. They thought it was a wonderful event,” she said.

Attendees John and Kiran Mahi, who have lived in Steinbach for 40 years, said discussions on quality of life and health were the most important to them.

“We would like to see a good arts centre and more recreation for young people, ” John said.

John and Kiran said they would also like to see more jobs to keep the young people in Steinbach.

The municipal elections will be held on Wednesday, Oct. 28.