Russ Wyatt (born 1970) is a Canadian politician in Winnipeg, Manitoba. He represented Transcona on the Winnipeg City Council from 2002 to 2018, and is the incumbent. And at times he served as 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. In the 1990s, he was an assistant to Transcona councillor Rick Boychuk and chairman of the East Kildonan-Transcona residents advisory group.
In 1993, Wyatt recommended that the City of Winnipeg introduce "park-and-ride" areas to improve public transportation. During the 1997 federal election, he argued that renewed debates over national unity were drawing attention away from pressing issues such as job creation, and credited the New Democratic Party as the only political party willing to discuss the economy. He led a petition drive against bus fare increases in 1998.
Wyatt planned to run for city council in the 1998 municipal election with an endorsement from the New Democratic Party of Manitoba, but withdrew just before the nomination deadline. 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.
At the time of the 2002 municipal election, Wyatt was the director of communications for the Association of Manitoba Municipalities.
City councillor
First Term (2002-2006)
Wyatt was elected to city council for Transcona 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. He called for improved municipal infrastructure, and an increased police presence in his ward. After the election, he was appointed to the city's protection and community services committee.
Wyatt soon developed a reputation as a hard-working councillor and a vocal defender of his ward's interests. He also emerged as a prominent opponent of Mayor Glen Murray, with whom he frequently clashed at council meetings. While some accused Wyatt of grandstanding, and of acting in an undiplomatic manner, Wyatt achieved broad popularity in his community for his brash style, support for residents, and no-nonsense attitude toward public policy and government.
Police services
Wyatt opposed Winnipeg's 2002 police restructuring plan, in part because his ward was slated to lose its station to the St. Boniface area. Following unsuccessful attempts to block the plan on council, he launched a billboard campaign that called for Transconans to protest Murray's handling of the issue. Murray described this move as "very unprofessional", adding that it was based on the flawed assumption that he was personally driving the policy. Council approved the restructuring plan in July 2003.
Other issues
Wyatt remained a vocal supporter of public transportation, and endorsed rapid transit services for Winnipeg in 2002. He opposed Mayor Murray's plans to introduce a sales tax, on the grounds that it would unfairly target the city's working and middle classes. 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.
Wyatt indicated his support for urban reserves in June 2003, as a means of alleviating poverty among aboriginal communities in Winnipeg. 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. He also opposed the possibility of private companies overseeing Winnipeg's trash services, arguing that municipal employees were more reliable.
2004 Mayoral Election
When Glen Murray resigned halfway through his term as Mayor of Winnipeg in 2004 to run for the federal Liberal Party in the House of Commons of Canada, 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" focus, and particularly his pledge to crack down on the Hells Angels biker gang. Later he became disillusioned with the Steek campaign, however, and suggested that Steek was actually trying to ensure the election of rival candidate Sam Katz by attacking Katz's more serious opponents and otherwise keeping a low profile. Katz won the election, while Steek finished a distant fifth.