Two candidates are vying to become the next mayor of Winkler

Henry Siemens (left) and Karl Krebs (right), shown here during separate Zoom interviews with CTV News on Oct. 21, 2022, are both running to be the next mayor of Winkler. (Source: CTV News Winnipeg)

After Winkler's mayor of more than a decade announced his retirement, two candidates are vying to fill the role.

The race for Winkler's top office was left wide open after long-time Mayor Martin Harder announced in March he was retiring. During his 16 years in office, Harder told CTV News he saw the community grow from 7,800 people to nearly 14,000 people.

MAYORAL CANDIDATE HENRY SIEMENS

With no incumbent running in the 2022 civic election, Harder's deputy mayor has thrown his hat in the ring to fill the role.

Henry Siemens, who has owned and operated a number of businesses in the area, has sat as a councillor in Winkler for 16 years – 12 of which he served as deputy mayor.

"I've enjoyed my time on council immensely. I've had an opportunity to be involved in a time of tremendous growth and transition and change in the City of Winkler," he said.

He told CTV News the decision to run for mayor came down to his two children.

"I want Winkler to be a consideration for them someday. If in fact I want that, then I have to make sure that I'm prepared to continue to step into influencing the change, effecting the change that I believe we need in our community."

He said there some large projects that need to happen in Winkler, including wastewater and water treatment work, and upgrades to the Centennial Arena. He said to get those projects done, the city needs partnerships with the provincial and federal governments, and surrounding communities.

"We need our neighbours to work together with us," he said.

If elected mayor, Siemens said he would focus on rebuilding relationships.

"Over the course of the last 30 months Winkler has not shown well in the greater world," he said,

Siemens said he feels Winkler needs a leader who will listen to residents and have conversations with them.

Right now, when we take a look at what's out there, I really believe Winkler needs to have its reputation worked on, its relationships worked on, its partnerships worked on," he said.

"I recognize that no one person is going to do that. But I'm prepared to help facilitate some of that, to step into it as a leader and to show by example how we get back to the reputation that Winkler had as a progressive, industrious community where there's lots of opportunity."

MAYORAL CANDIDATE KARL KREBS

Running opposite Siemens is Winkler resident Karl Krebs.

Krebs told CTV News he moved to the city in 2003 and has spent 20 years in the automobile retail business and was in the long-distance trucking industry. He said he left the industry when mandates were put in place during the COVID-19 pandemic.

"From that moment I stepped out into an unfamiliar role and it still remains a role that I'm growing comfortable with, of becoming a public figure," he said, adding he has been outspoken against the public health orders and vaccine mandates.

Krebs said he made the decision to run to provide a 'conservative viewpoint and platform' in the city.

"There was definitely a void of the conservative voice that is here in Winkler and so I waited and watched and when none stepped forward I felt I had to bring another viewpoint and present a second option on the ballot," he told CTV News.

Krebs outlined his platform on a pamphlet which he says he handed out to about 6,000 homes in the area. Among the points included in his platform are commitments to encourage churches to remain open at all times and give them a strong position at council, to weigh government mandates and their impacts on community, and a promise to revitalize the Winkler Mall.

He also pointed to the low COVID-19 vaccine uptake in the Winkler area, and said he would support people's choice.

"To anyone that doesn't believe as I believe whether it's my faith or my healthcare choice, I say welcome. That's your right to choose, nobody should take that away from you either."

He told CTV News, if elected, he wants to make city hall more accessible and transparent, and schedule regular town hall meetings. He promised to make himself available on a 24-hour guaranteed workday response.

"I want to be accessible to my people, to my friends in the community. I want council to be transparent in all matters that it does," he said.

Both candidates shared their platforms during an All Candidates Forum hosted by the Winkler & District Chamber of Commerce. A recording of the forum can be found online.

Election Day is Oct. 26. More information about how Winkler residents can get out and vote can be found on the City of Winkler website.