Russ Wyatt

Infobox_Politician


name = Russ Wyatt
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birth_date =
birth_place =
residence =
office = Winnipeg City Councillor for the Transcona Ward
term_start = 2002
term_end =
predecessor = Shirley Timm-Rudolph
successor =
party =
religion =
occupation = city councillor, management consultant

Russ Wyatt is a politician in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. He has represented the Transcona ward 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.

Early life and career

Wyatt studied Political Science at the University of Winnipeg, and worked for the Wyatt Insurance Group, a family company, before entering public life. [ [http://www.cbc.ca/manitoba/features/winnipegvotes2006/council/15.html "Transcona", Winnipeg Votes 2006] , Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, accessed 8 February 2008; "Seeking city hall seats", "Winnipeg Free Press", 2 July 1998.] He was chairman of the East Kildonan-Transcona residents advisory group in the 1990s, and was an assistant to Transcona councillor Rick Boychuk. [Bill Redekop, "Factory boss set for tall-grass fight", "Winnipeg Free Press", 10 August 1993.]

In 1993, Wyatt recommended that the City of Winnipeg introduce "park-and-ride" areas to improve public transportation. [Bill Redekop, "City agrees to study park-and-ride idea", "Winnipeg Free Press", 29 July 1993. "Park-and-ride" areas are for drivers who choose to park their cars before taking public transportation.] During the 1997 federal election, he argued that renewed debates over national unity were drawing attention away from pressing issues like job creation, and credited the New Democratic Party as the only political party willing to discuss the economy. [Russ Wyatt, letter, 2 June 1997, A11.] He led a petition drive against bus fare increases in 1998. [Kim Guttormson, "City budget plan secretive, too rushed, councillors told", "Winnipeg Free Press", 28 February 1998, A4.]

Wyatt planned to run for city council in the 1998 municipal election with an endorsement from the New Democratic Party of Manitoba, [Linda Quattrin, "10 New Democrats run under banner", "Winnipeg Free Press", 18 August 1998, A3.] but withdrew just before the nomination deadline. ["Wyatt departs race; leaves two to vie for Transcona seat", "Winnipeg Free Press", 3 October 1998, A8.] 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. ["Transcona fights to keep health centre", "Winnipeg Free Press", 24 November 2000, A6; David Kuxhaus, "Health-care centre move opponents 'betrayed'", "Winnipeg Free Press", 16 December 2000, A14.]

At the time of the 2002 municipal election, Wyatt was the director of communications for the Association of Manitoba Municipalities. [Nick Martin, "Pining for police", "Winnipeg Free Press", 20 October 2002, A6.]

City councillor

Murray administration

Wyatt was elected to city council for the Transcona ward in the 2002 municipal election, at age 32. He was no longer affiliated with the NDP by this time, and ran without a party endorsement. ["Candidates endorsed", "Winnipeg Free Press", 21 September 2002, A2; Nick Martin, "Pining for police", "Winnipeg Free Press", 20 October 2002, A6.] He called for an improved municipal infrastructure and an increased police presence in his ward. [Carol Sanders, "Transcona win sends message: new councillor", "Winnipeg Free Press", 24 October 2002, A10.] After the election, he was appointed to the city's Protection and Community Services Committee. [Mary Agnes Welch, "Rookies win plum positions on city council", "Winnipeg Free Press", 13 November 2002, A6.]

Wyatt soon earned a reputation as a hard-working councillor and a vocal defender of his ward's interests. [Mary Agnes Welch, "Wyatt's abandonment of hell-raising style sign of his ambitions?", "Winnipeg Free Press", 13 December 2004, B3.; Mary Agnes Welch, "Transcona tired of being abused", "Winnipeg Free Press", 14 March 2003, B1.] 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. [Mary Agnes Welch, "Shouting match erupts between mayor, councillor", "Winnipeg Free Press", 17 July 2003, A3.]

;Police services

Wyatt opposed Winnipeg's police service restructuring plan in 2003, in part because his ward lost its police station to St. Boniface. [Leah Hendry, "Police stations at risk", "Winnipeg Free Press", 11 December 2002, A1; Leah Hendry, "Police station plan 'alienates' Transcona", "Winnipeg Free Press", 14 January 2003, A6; Mary Agnes Welch, "Councillor threatens to 'fight' city hall", "Winnipeg Free Press", 27 June 2003, B3.] Following unsuccessful attempts to block the plan on council, he launched a billboard campaign calling for Transconans to protest Murray's handling of the issue. Murray described this move as "very unprofessional", and said it was based on the flawed notion that he was personally driving the policy. [Mary Agnes Welch, "Councillor targets police station plans", "Winnipeg Free Press", 19 July 2003, A7.] Council approved the restructuring plan in July 2003. [Mary Agnes Welch, "New police stations win council approval", "Winnipeg Free Press", 24 July 2003, A3.]

;Other issues

Wyatt remained a supporter of public transportation, and endorsed rapid transit services for Winnipeg in 2002. [Leah Hendry, "Higher fares for bus riders get council OK", "Winnipeg Free Press", 12 December 2002, A12.] He opposed Murray's plans to introduce a sales tax, on the grounds that it would unfairly target the city's working and middle classes. [Daniel Lett, "'Get off the fence,' Tory chief tells Doer", "Winnipeg Free Press", 25 September 2003, A6.] 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. [Mary Agnes Welch, "Committee rejects bill of rights for city taxpayers", "Winnipeg Free Press", 6 May 2004, B3.]

Wyatt indicated his support for urban reserves in June 2003, as a means of alleviating aboriginal poverty in Winnipeg. [Mary Agnes Welch, "Urban reserves to tackle poverty?", "Winnipeg Free Press", 25 June 2003, A1.] 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. [ Patti Edgar, "City slighting employment equity: Wyatt", "Winnipeg Free Press", 4 May 2004, B2.] He also opposed the possibility of private companies overseeing Winnipeg's trash services, arguing that municipal employees were more reliable. ["Privatized garbage pickup debated", "Winnipeg Free Press", 22 April 2004, A5.]

;2004 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" campaign, and particularly his pledge to crack down on the Hell's Angels biker gang. [Mary Agnes Welch, "Eight could run for mayor's crown", "Winnipeg Free Press", 7 May 2004, B1; Mary Agnes Welch, "Election battles begin brewing", "Winnipeg Free Press", 18 May 2004, B2; "Hockey, law and order take the podium", "Winnipeg Free Press", 29 May 2004, A1.] He later became disillusioned with the campaign, however, and suggested that Steek was actually trying to ensure the election of Sam Katz by attacking Katz's more serious opponents while otherwise keeping a low profile. [Patti Edgar, "Steek denies campaign winding down", "Winnipeg Free Press", 21 June 2004, A1; Patti Edgar, "Mihychuk says Katz team made her unsolicited offer", "Winnipeg Free Press", 22 June 2004, B3.] Katz won the election, while Steek finished a distant fifth.

Katz administration (first term)

;Rapid Transit Review Task Force

Wyatt sought to improve his relationship with Mayor Katz after the election. [Mary Agnes Welch, "Wyatt's abandonment of hell-raising style sign of his ambitions?", "Winnipeg Free Press", 13 December 2004, B3.] He supported Katz's decision to shelve a rapid transit bus line in September 2004, [Mary Agnes Welch, "City transit boss quits", "Winnipeg Free Press", 30 September 2004, A1.] and was appointed chair of the city's Rapid Transit Review Task Force the following month. ["Who got what", "Winnipeg Free Press", 20 October 2004, A8.] After several months of public consultation, the force called for Winnipeg to re-establish its rapid transit plan with a more city-wide focus. [Leah Janzen, "$312-M transit vision unveiled", "Winnipeg Free Press", 14 May 2005, A1; Mary Agnes Welch, "The path of least resistance", "Winnipeg Free Press", 24 May 2005, B5.] It later removed Katz's preferred option of a downtown light-rail system, following a second round of consultations. These decisions 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. [Patti Edgar, "Light-rail plan derailed", "Winnipeg Free Press", 5 July 2005, B1.] The task force ultimately recommended a bus transit corridor. [Bartley Kives, "The bus stops here", "Winnipeg Free Press", 15 June 2008, B1.] When the task force's final report was submitted, Wyatt expressed concern that Katz's inner circle would cherry-pick its least expensive recommendations and ignore the rest. [Patti Edgar, "Rapid transit years away", "Winnipeg Free Press", 27 October 2005, B1. During the city's 2006 budget negotiations, he introduced a successful motion calling for the province to pay for half of the city's transit costs. See Bartley Kives, "Council approves $308-M capital budget", "Winnipeg Free Press", 22 February 2006, A7.] In 2008, he accused Winnipeg Transit of watering down the report beyond all recognition, and described the task force's work as a waste of money. [Bartley Kives, "Transit task force a $200,000 'waste'", "Winnipeg Free Press", 27 May 2008, A5. ]

Veteran Winnipeg activist Nick Ternette has criticized the task force's conclusions, arguing that light rail transit is more effective than bus rapid transit. [Nick Ternette, "Light rail better than buses" [letter] , "Winnipeg Free Press", 30 May 2008, A12.]

;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. [Leah Janzen, "Hog plant to bring 1,100 jobs", "Winnipeg Free Press", 15 November 2005, B1; Helen Fallding, "Councillor says postpone hog plant", "Winnipeg Free Press", 19 November 2005, B2.]

;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. [Mary Agnes Welch, "Waverley West rainy-day funds touted", "Winnipeg Free Press", 27 January 2005, B1.] He voted against Sam Katz's anti-panhandling bylaw later in the same year. [Patti Edgar, "Panhandlers be warned", "Winnipeg Free Press", 30 June 2005, B1.] Wyatt supported malathion spraying to target the city's mosquito population, [Mary Agnes Welch, "Looming infestation swats city's 'greener' approach", "Winnipeg Free Press", 13 July 2005, A1.] and supported an unsuccessful term limits motion in March 2006. [Bartley Kives, "Council nixes vote on term limits", "Winnipeg Free Press", 23 March 2006, B1. Wyatt also supported a similar motion in 2007. See Bartley Kives, "Veteran councillors terminate plan for term limits", "Winnipeg Free Press", 22 November 2007, A4.]

;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 the "OlyOpp group" of businesses opposing the OlyWest project. [Bartley Kives, "8 council candidates get labour's backing", "Winnipeg Free Press", 22 June 2006, B3; Bartley Kives, "Cerilli gets OlyOpp vote", "Winnipeg Free Press", 25 September 2006, B1.] Wyatt 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. ["Transcona", "Winnipeg Free Press", 26 October 2006, B9.]

Katz administration (second term)

;Executive Policy Committee

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. [Mary Agnes Welch, "Vocal critic gets a promotion", "Winnipeg Free Press", 2 November 2006, B1.] Wyatt was also named chair of the municipal Red Tape Commission in February 2007, and was appointed to the municipal Housing Commission the following month. ["Katz gives one-time critic Wyatt red-tape job", "Winnipeg Free Press", 21 February 2007, Web Extra; "Katz names appointees to housing committee", "Winnipeg Free Press", 8 March 2007, Web Extra. In April 2007, he recommended removing licences for home-based businesses. See Bartley Kives, "City 'cash grab' could be history", "Winnipeg Free Press", 25 April 2007, B2.]

Wyatt has openly disagreed with Katz on some 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 parklands. [Bartley Kives, "Save the park...and the riverbank...and our bridges...", "Winnipeg Free Press", 14 June 2007, B2.] In September 2007, he broke with the mayor and voted in favour of a proposed commission into police affairs. [Bartley Kives, "Police service 'isn't working': Katz", "Winnipeg Free Press", 27 September 2007, A5.] He later criticized Winnipeg's decision to ban pesticides, describing it as part of a "national fad". [Bartley Kives, "Pesticide ban passes -- with a bit of tweaking", "Winnipeg Free Press", 8 May 2008, B3.] 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. Wyatt argued that Katz was undermining Transcona 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. [Bartley Kives, "Katz's council allies become critics Disraeli Freeway, CPR issues spark rare attacks from two staunch supporters", "Winnipeg Free Press", 10 June 2008, B1.]

Wyatt called for a single agency to manage Winnipeg's downtown development in February 2008, on the grounds that existing responsibilities were divided among too many organizations. [Bartley Kives, "Who's driving this thing?", "Winnipeg Free Press", 11 February 2008, B2.] He has supported calls for a municipal integrity commissioner, with ombudsman powers over all municipal governments in Manitoba. [Bartley Kives, "Letter to Katz in question in tax dispute - He said he wasn't involved in firm", "Winnipeg Free Press", 17 September 2008, A3.]

;Fall of OlyWest

The provincial government's support for the OlyWest hog processing plant declined after December 2006, when two of the three companies supporting the project withdrew and the third was informed 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-comittal. 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. [Russ Wyatt, "Doer hoping voters forget OlyWest, pigs", "Winnipeg Free Press", 6 May 2007, B10.] Doer withdrew his support for OlyWest a few days later, and Wyatt wrote a follow-up letter commending the premier for his decision. [Russ Wyatt, "Re: Doer puts nail in OlyWest's coffin, May 9" [letter] , "Winnipeg Free Press", 11 May 2007, A14.]

Ideology

When running for re-election in 2006, Wyatt described himself as progressive on social issues and more conservative on fiscal issues. [Bartley Kives, "Transcona candidates flare nostrils over hog plant", "Winnipeg Free Press", 20 October 2006, B2. Veteran social activist Nick Ternette once described him as a right-wing populist, although others have disagreed with this assessment. See Nick Ternette, "As the world turns at city hall", "Winnipeg Free Press", 1 June 2006, A11.] In 2007, he indicated that both the New Democratic Party and Liberal Party were courting him to run for federal office. [Bartley Kives, "Hair-raising tales come out of city hall", "Winnipeg Free Press", 26 April 2007, B3.]

External links

* [http://www.winnipeg.ca/council/transcona.stm City Council page]

Electoral record

References