When John Falk stepped down from his seat on Niverville’s town council to run for the Manitoba Liberals in the recent provincial election, his departure created a vacancy. That vacancy will be filled through a by-election to be held on September 14. Three candidates are in the running: Nathan Dueck, Louise Billows, and John Falk, who is seeking re-election after losing his provincial contest.
“When I ran provincially, I had no choice but to step down,” says Falk. “I understand the rationale as far as having to step down, but a big part of me didn’t want to because I really love being on council. I love the opportunity to hopefully listen to people and make a difference in our community.”
Billows is a relative newcomer to Niverville, having moved to town last October. However, she has spent her entire life in southeastern Manitoba, having grown up in St-Pierre-Jolys.
“I’ve seen Niverville grow from the time I was a little girl,” Billows says. “I’m not from here, but my heart is in this area and I didn’t choose this place just by happenstance. It’s beautiful. I love it here.”
Dueck also grew up just down the road—Kleefeld, in his case. He, too, has roots in this community. “My grandmother Helen Hiebert is a direct descendant of Katherina Hiebert, who would have been Niverville’s first pioneer midwife and medical practitioner,” says Dueck, who moved to town in 2004.
John Falk
Falk, who made the decision to try to reclaim his council seat a month ago, says that Niverville is at crossroads and needs strong and communicative leadership more than ever.
“We’ve got so much good stuff happening here,” Falk says. “Having said that, we’ve also got so much more potential. I’m a big believer in partnerships. That’s where I feel I can offer something. I believe I listen to people. I think the big part is listening and trying to facilitate growth, whether it’s through a developer, whether it’s through the business community. We need to work together, and that’s where I feel my strength is: to bring that voice to council.”
Falk acknowledges that council and the business community have not had an ideal working relationship in recent months. “It’s not council versus the business community. It’s working together arm in arm, and if we can all offer different things, that’s how we’re going to grow this community and make it sustainable over the next decade or two or three. We can’t just continue to have residential growth and have our percentage of business growth dwindle even more.”
Falk anticipates that one of the biggest challenges in the next couple of years is going to be how Niverville provides police services to its citizens. Once a town hits 5,000 residents, it becomes responsible to pick up the tab, in one way or another. When the results of the 2016 census are revealed later this year, we’ll learn whether or not Niverville has crossed that threshold. It will be very close.
“They’re saying it’s going to be close to three-quarters of a million dollars to have our own police force or pay for RCMP,” Falk says. “How do you absorb that as a community without just hammering taxes? We’re already a fairly highly taxed community for the amenities that we have here. There’s got to be a line there somewhere, and I think we’re at that line. The first obvious thing is the business community. If we can get more business here, that actually brings in huge amounts of tax dollars.”
Falk often stresses the importance of working together, no matter how simple or cliche that may sound. “We can’t just build all our own little sandboxes. We’ve got to come together and build something massive together, but that takes putting aside our own personal agendas.”
Louise Billows
Before a ten-year stint co-owning an insurance agency with her former husband, Billows had a long career working in the co-op movement, specifically in the arena of French credit unions. She served as the director general of the conseil de la corporation—which perhaps needs a little bit of explaining.
“The credit unions in French are called caisses populaires,” Billows says. “The caisses populaires of the time from 1936 until the late 2000s had a non-profit arm that was governed by the conseil de la corporation. They’re the ones that started the caisse populaire movement in Manitoba.” Among their core principles was that the business wasn’t just about making money. “[The conseil] is part of a not-for-profit organization and it’s about putting back in the community—that’s a co-op principle—and it’s usually through education and economic development.”
As director general of the conseil, Billows worked closely with the government and sat on many different boards of directors, both national and provincial. She drafted and implemented mainly government-funded projects that were of socioeconomic benefit to communities where caisses populaires were present. “I did projects on matters for seniors, for business, and for young people. I would start projects, write them up, send them to the government for accreditation, and they would go for approval… and most of the time they said yes.”
One project she is particularly proud of helped business owners take advantage of the internet and increased computerization in the 1990s. Another fulfilling project saw her helping find work placements for unemployed young people who needed to get their foot in the door.
Billows’ role on the conseil also gave her the opportunity to work closely with both private businesses and different levels of government, through which she learned the importance of good communication. “Communication is at the basis of everything,” she says. “And you have to be truthful in what you communicate. That’s the basis of all good business. Unless you have ulterior motives, and a person on council or with any kind of responsibility should never, never have ulterior motives. I’m strict on that one.”
She believes a key concern of many Nivervillers is the lack of business options.
“People want more businesses, and they want good, clean businesses. They live in nice homes. They pay lots of taxes,” Billows says. “They don’t necessarily want to shop on their way back home from work.”
Nathan Dueck
For the last six years, 38-year-old Dueck has been the financial service manager at Harvest Honda in Steinbach, but his successful career in the car business actually spans 18 years.
“This career has definitely geared me up for public office by teaching me amazing communication and problem-solving skills,” Dueck says. “It’s provided me the skillset to manage people’s concerns, address them head-on, and bring those concerns to a positive outcome.” He adds that he also has a strong handle on financing, which he believes has prepared him well for a role on council.
Dueck says that the number one reason he is seeking public office is transparency on council. “I have been very disappointed as a citizen with the way that the existing town council and town office handles the flow of information to citizens, business, and the media. I feel they tell us what we need to know, not the whole story. I personally think that... the actual annual budgets, long-term economic outlooks, and true costs of capital projects are incredibly important to myself and many citizens of this town.”
A second motivation for his candidacy is the needed growth of small and medium businesses. “In order to have a viable community, it always has to be growing. Business in a town gives the community a sense of being and worth. They bring in local employment, convenience, and revenue that our town can definitely use.”
Dueck also suggests implementing new strategies to help market Niverville to investors and entrepreneurs.
“Lastly, it’s my personal belief that an elected official is a direct representative of the people and businesses in town,” Dueck says. “It would be extremely important to make sure I am meeting with people from all walks in this town and making sure their ideas, concerns, and issues are being discussed.”
Candidates Forum and Where to Vote
An all-candidates forum will be held in the Heritage Centre atrium on Wednesday, September 7. The forum, hosted by the Niverville Chamber of Commerce, will begin at 7:00 p.m.
The polls will be open a week later, on September 14, from 8:00 a.m. until 8:00 p.m. in the south end meeting room at the Niverville Centennial Arena. The town would like to remind voters that they may be required to produce one piece of government-issued identification, such as a driver’s license or passport, before being allowed to vote.
Advance voting will be available on September 7 at the Niverville Curling Rink, between 8:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m.
