A council and mayoral candidate forum in West St. Paul got heated when candidates traded jabs during their opening remarks.
Around 200 people packed the Sunova Centre just north of Winnipeg. The forum is the last in a series leading up to the municipal elections.
Incumbent mayoral candidate, Bruce Henley, took the municipality’s reigns in 2010. He’s challenged this election by longtime city councillor, Dan Garcea.
Garcea immediately criticized Henley’s mayoral style.
“Mayor Henley has a divide and conquer approach to leadership. I can’t support that,” Garcea said.
Henley countered by calling Garcea’s tone into question.
“You can kind of see by the tone that you just heard why there has been a lot of problems in council. That kind of negative tone does not help when you try to build consensus,” said Henley.
Candidates for city council were also at the forum.
All candidates answered questions from the audience about zoning by-laws, taxes, and safety in the community.
