The Rural Municipality of West Interlake will be holding a byelection on March 25 for a Ward 1 council seat after former councillor and deputy reeve Keith McLelland handed in his resignation last year.
Two candidates – Keith Lundale and Walter Whiteside – are running for Ward 1. Each candidate answered six questions: political experience, volunteer service, why they’re running for council, three major issues they want to see addressed, whether they’d like to see changes to the way the RM operates and their approach to teamwork.
Keith Lundale
Keith Lundale previously served as councillor from 2015-2019 for the RM of West Interlake and has four years’ experience in municipal politics and governance. He helped steered the RM through the 2015 amalgamation of the former Siglunes and Eriksdale rural municipalities.
He has undertaken a number of volunteer service positions in the community that range across the financial, health and business sectors.
“I have over 25 years of service as vice president and president of the Eriksdale Credit Union, which is now the Access Credit Union. I was the director of the Eriksdale Community Club and chair of the Eriksdale Community Development Corporation before it was amalgamated into West Interlake. I was also a 40-year firefighter veteran and served as deputy chief of the Eriksdale Fire Department,” said Lundale. “I’m currently president of the Eriksdale & District Chamber of Commerce, and have been for a number of years, and I’m presently president of the Eriksdale Royal Canadian Legion Branch No. 140. In the health care field, I’ve been an advocate for equal access to health care for about 40 years. I’m currently chair of the Lakeshore Handivan, as well as a volunteer handivan driver.”
He also coached hockey when his kids were growing up and served as director of the Eriksdale Minor Hockey program.
Lundale said it was his dad who inspired him to give back to his community through volunteer service.
“And that’s what I’ve been doing over a number of years. It makes me feel good. I also have a word in my vocabulary that’s hard not to say, and that’s no. It’s in my DNA,” he said. “I’d like to see more inclusion of other people in the community on our local boards, letting them have a chance to sit on boards or lead them. I think we need to have a successor and mentorship program to make that happen. I don’t think it’s healthy for an organization to have the same president for a number of years. I think it’s imperative that we change it up every so often. But we do a poor job of mentorship on these boards.”
Lundale he said he wants to run for Ward 1 because he has concerns about the way the present municipal government is operating, and wants municipal decisions made transparent to the public.
“I’m not happy with the present local government and its ability to govern fairly and ethically. A large portion of residents have told me Ward 1 has not been represented. They approached me when they heard I was running and said, ‘We’re not getting a fair shake,’” said Lundale. “And council meetings must be open and transparent. The only time you go in camera is for a human resources matter, a legal matter or a transaction such as the purchase of land that could contain sensitive information.”
Lundale said the three major issues he’d like to see addressed are unfair representation, the likely closure of the RM’s municipal office in Eriksdale and the high turnover of key positions in the RM.
“The control over democracy is concerning. In Ward 2 and Ward 3, there are four elected officials. Ward 1 only has two elected officials. The reeve represents another vote. My issue is the control of democracy. There’s unfair representation for all of the people in the RM of West Interlake,” said Lundale. “They’re also wanting to close the RM office in Eriksdale and have everything centralized in Ashern. And they have the power to do so because the councillor in Ward 1 [there will be two after the byelection] can be outvoted. There’s no democracy.”
The loss of the RM’s former chief administrative officer, chief financial officer and most recently a councillor (and deputy reeve) from Ward 1 concerns him, said Lundale.
“Why is this happening? Leadership has to take ownership of this. When you have key staff quitting, you have to look yourself in the mirror and say, ‘What am I not doing right?’” he said.
The one thing he said he’d like to see changed with regard to how the RM operates is to have “a professional and ethical council that has everyone’s interests [at heart].”
As for how he approaches teamwork, Lundale said he’s always believed that teamwork is the best approach to getting things accomplished.
“I have always been an advocate for a team approach in all aspects of my professional and personal life. No one person can move positive change forward; it takes a team,” he said. “It takes a village to raise a child, according to the familiar quote, and it’s the same principle here with municipal governance: it takes the whole of council to raise a community.”
The byelection will take place on Monday, March 25 from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. at the Eriksdale Recreation Centre.
Walter Whiteside
Walter Whiteside said he hasn’t had a lot of past experience in politics but is employed by the province and has lots of management experience that’s applicable to the governance of a municipality.
“Local politics has been on my radar for the past several elections and is something I’d like to do. It’s something I feel I could possibly excel in as I do have a very good understanding of how government works as I have been employed the provincial government for over 20 years and in a management position for over 15 years,” said Whiteside. “I know the process regarding who to call and how to get results for a fair number of things that could roll into local politics.”
Whiteside’s volunteer work in the community includes his service as an auxiliary constable in the RCMP.
“I’ve always answered the call whenever needed at local events like Bull-a-Rama or miscellaneous sporting events,” he said. “But what I am most proud of is my time with the RCMP. I was an auxiliary RCMP member for over seven years with both the Lundar and Ashern departments. During this time, I was honoured with receiving the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal for exceptional contributions to public service.”
Whiteside said he wants to run for Ward 1 because he has more time to devote to service and wants to contribute to enhancing the community for residents.
“My kids are getting to their teenage years and I want to be able to make a difference for them. I would like them to have something local that they’re proud to call home, something to have here and something to stay here for,” he said. “I don’t plan on moving out of the RM and I want to try and make a difference.”
The three major issues he’d like to see addressed are lack of growth, keeping the Eriksdale hospital open, and infrastructure and RM financial accountability.
“Our community is dying. There’s other way to say it. We’re losing business and our population is shrinking. This community has changed since I was younger. We need to try to find a way to bring the community back before it’s gone like many others across Manitoba,” he said. “We need to keep our hospital open. I believe that council needs to hold the newly elected provincial government accountable with their campaign promises. Eriksdale has an amazing hospital with fantastic and very experienced nurses and doctors who are from the area. It’s a must that we do everything we can to keep this facility available.”
On the infrastructure and financial accountability side of things, he said the roads need work and the RM needs to improve its business model.
“I believe there’s a better way to manage and maintain our local network than how we’re doing it now,” said Whiteside. “The RM needs to be financially responsible and improve their business model on how infrastructure is maintained.”
He said he feels the way the RM currently operates – a ward system that arose after a provincially mandated amalgamation of Siglunes and Eriksdale in 2015 – results in unfair representation. He also wants to see municipal decisions made transparent to the public.
“I don’t like the way the Ashern and Eriksdale wards are split. The former RM of Siglunes has two wards with four councillors and the former RM of Eriksdale has one ward with two councillors. In my opinion this is unfair and it should be even. I believe that the RM should have equal representation with its council members,” he said. “I believe the RM should have more transparency. With our existing ward system, it opens the chance of unbalance and swing voting on decisions that affect all areas. I think any RM voting and decisions should be public information. Everything should be documented and readily available to everyone.”
Whiteside said he works with others every day and his approach to working in teams entails fairness to the whole RM while standing up for Ward 1
“I work with others daily but at the end of the day, I would be elected by the people of Ward 1, and I’d have Ward 1’s best interest first while still being fair to the RM as a whole,” he said. “Teamwork is important in any environment, but a person cannot be bullied or pushed over. A strong councillor needs to have a backbone and be willing to stand up for what they believe in and what they feel is right.”
