About Cam Scott
When were you born?
Between 1981 and 1996 (Millennial)
Tell our readers a bit about your professional life. What do you do for a living? If you're an incumbent candidate, what did you do before you entered politics?
I am a writer and a programmer for an art gallery and music festival. Before entering the world of arts non-profits, I worked in retail as a bookseller for almost twenty years.
What's the highest level of education you've attained?
No certificate, diploma or degree
How long have you lived in the constituency? If you don't currently live there, what led you to run there instead of where you live?
I've lived in the constituency for two years and for much of my adult life before that, though I lived away from Winnipeg between 2015 and 2020.
What is the biggest challenge facing your constituency, and how would you address it?
As I see it, many of the biggest issues in this election loom across constituencies. The likelihood of climate collapse and any number of encroaching environmental disasters are palpable as soon as you step outside — even in the downtown of the city you can taste forest fires on the air. The PCs have systematically dismantled our systems of environmental monitoring and protection - I've read about a 70% drop in conservation staff since they took office in 2016. We need green jobs in the public sector in order to support a serious climate plan, undertaken with respect to Indigenous land rights and sovereignty.
If elected, what will be your first priority?
The provincial government has to take responsibility for the acute housing crisis in Winnipeg, which means immediate action on several fronts. The province must invest in thousands of units of high-quality, publicly owned housing as a human right. Safe housing is also one of the recommendations of the national inquiry into MMIWG2S+, and it's chillingly clear that government neglect of this basic security participates in genocidal acts of violence. In short, I would immediately call to house people as a human right, and to search the landfill as a basic prerequisite for any justice on stolen land.
Who are your role models in politics, and why?
I admire the life and work of Jacob Penner, who was a Communist city councillor as well as an early advocate for minimum wage, unemployment insurance, and other essential reforms that we fight to expand even today. Historian Walter Rodney offers a guiding example of the intellectual as militant. Closer to home, I think of Elsa Cubas, one of the first people I met in the Communist Party of Canada, and her indefatigable optimism and conviction.
Tell us something about yourself that voters might find surprising.
I am a published and unrepentant poet.
Other candidates in constituency:
Janine Gibson (Green)
Lisa Naylor (New Democratic Party)
Mickey Leuzzi (Progressive Conservative)
Phil Spevack (Liberal)