Posted Jun 25, 2026, 2:33 PM
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Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: Winnipeg, Manitoba
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Quote:
After 12 years at city hall, Lukes hangs up her hat
By: Joyanne Pursaga and Malak Abas
Wednesday, Jun. 24, 2026
MALAK ABAS / FREE PRESS
Waverley West Coun. Janice Lukes won’t run for re-election after 12 years on the job. She did not rule out a future return to politics.
Janice Lukes, the longtime councillor for south Winnipeg, will not seek a fourth term.
“Serving south Winnipeg and Waverley West has been one of the most meaningful experiences of my life,” said Lukes, her voice at times, breaking with emotion.
She recalled being an advocate for more trails and active transportation routes before being elected in 2014. She listed her accomplishments as increasing the active transportation budget, adding student housing, securing land for a Waverley West recreation campus and fire paramedic station and a strategy to make better use of city resources.
She pointed to her work to initiate a road safety policy, in part owing to the memory of her father, who was killed in a vehicle crash when Lukes was 18.
The councillor said she wanted to leave city hall now, when she feels her ward is in a good position for a new councillor to take over.
“We’ve got a lot on the go, and I want to go out on a high note of doing good work. I want to be able to hand it off to someone else, and for that person to pick up and learn with it,” she said.
“Now’s the right time from that perspective, and for me personally, it’s the right time. You know in your heart, in many things in life, when it’s the right time, and this is the right time.”
Lukes initially represented the St. Norbert-South Winnipeg ward. Since it was created in 2018, she has represented the Waverley West ward.
She said she has not sorted out the next step in her career but did not rule out a return to politics.
“Never say never, right? I don’t know, we’ll see what the future holds,” she said.
Mayor Scott Gillingham said Lukes has been a “strong ally” and a smart, outspoken leader who encouraged him to run for mayor in 2022.
“I know it’s a loss for the City of Winnipeg right now. Her wisdom and strength and experience around the council chamber are really going to be missed,” said Gillingham, who also became emotional Wednesday.
Gillingham and Lukes were both elected councillors in 2014. Lukes said she plans to door-knock in support of Gillingham’s re-election campaign. The vote is scheduled for Oct. 28.
Lukes said she’d like more women to take on roles at city hall, noting just 34 women have been elected as councillors in Winnipeg’s 151-year history.
“It is my sincere hope that we will see another woman lead and continue shaping the future of the Waverly West ward,” she said.
She and her fellow female councillors held several events to encourage women to get involved in municipal government.
Coun. Vivian Santos said there were large turnouts to those events and she commended Lukes for “opening up the doors for possibly other women to run.”
“Who knows, we might have another female step in in councillor Lukes’s shoes,” she said.
Coun. Evan Duncan, whose Charleswood-Tuxedo-Westwood ward neighbours Waverley West, called Lukes a “fighter” and said she has set an example for newer councillors such as himself.
“We see politicians now, at all levels, including the city, complain about how they don’t get this and how they don’t get that, and whining instead of getting things done … Coun. Lukes proved that if you put your nose down and grind it out, you’re going to be able to accomplish things for your residents,” he said.
“It’s a perfect example that you’re not there to serve yourself and your ego, you’re there to serve your community and the people.”
MALAK ABAS / FREE PRESS
Mayor Scott Gillingham hugs Coun. Janice Lukes during her announcement Wednesday.
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