Transcona candidates eye Winnipeg council seat as incumbent faces sex assault charges
Posted August 5, 2026 5:26 pm.
Last Updated August 6, 2026 5:57 am.
Winnipeg’s municipal election is less than three months away, and one ward has more questions than answers.
In Transcona, incumbent Russ Wyatt is the only city councillor yet to decide whether he will seek re-election amid pending criminal charges for sexual assault.
That leaves the door potentially open for a slew of other candidates.
Wyatt is facing charges stemming from a late March arrest by Winnipeg police connected to an alleged sexual assault, and the administering of a noxious drug to a man in a home in the east area of the city.
CityNews reached out to Wyatt’s office and legal counsel to ask whether he will run again but did not hear back.
Shawn Nason, who previously served a term as councillor for the ward from 2018 to 2022, has thrown his hat back in the ring. He says the biggest issues facing the ward are roads and infrastructure, higher taxes, and homelessness and addictions.
“I was working to try to improve some things with groups like St. Boniface Street Links, but we continue to struggle with addictions, homelessness,” he said. “There’s a myriad of things I want to work on, but it’s one step at a time.
“I’ve lived in this community for well over 20 years. I have a feeling that I still need to give back to the community.”
Running for the first time is Lora Meseman, who says her time as executive director of the General Council of Winnipeg Community Centres gives her valuable experience working closely with council and the mayor’s office.
She believes the biggest needs of the community are connectivity, funding for the East of the Red RecPlex recreation centre, and managing growth.
“Our area is growing exponentially,” Meseman said. “There is an area in in Transcona called South Transcona, they are experiencing some new development there and the residents are quite concerned. So we need to be listening to them and working with them closely to make sure that we preserve the community, the nature areas, the green space, and the feel of their community.”
Chris Giesbrecht, who’s running for the first time as well, says he hopes to bring to council, if elected, his experience and connections working for a federal MP.
“We need to get some movement on that,” Giesbrecht said. “But in order to get that built, you need somebody who has relationships across levels of government, and you need somebody who can build this relationship, because you need federal and provincial funding.”
Rounding out the field is Nathine Dagdick, who has worked for the city for just under 10 years in various departments. He says the ward needs a fresh voice, and his main focus is on fixing the transit system.
“If you rely on a bus on the weekend, and that bus doesn’t come down, I don’t have a magic ferry that drops off a car on my driveway on the weekends,” Dagdick said. “It’s ridiculous. We have seniors with disabilities, mobility issues, parents. Some of these bus stops are almost half-hour walks, and that’s not acceptable.”
The municipal election will be held Oct. 28.
