Our City, Our Podcast

Narrator: 00:02

We know our services and programs impact you, so let's talk about them. Together, we'll learn from the people behind the scenes and get to know our city a little better. From the city of Winnipeg, this is our city, our podcast.

Natalie: 00:14

This podcast is recorded in Treaty 1 territory, the home and traditional lands of the Anishinaabe, Ininew, and Dakota peoples, and the national homeland of the Red River Metis. We acknowledge that our drinking water comes from Shoal Lake 40 First Nation in Treaty 3 territory.

Tamara: 00:29

Hi, I'm Tamara.

Natalie: 00:30

And I'm Natalie.

Tamara: 00:31

Happy New Year everybody. I mean, it's only January. Odds are as you aren't thinking ahead to the fall, but our next guest certainly is.

Natalie: 00:38

Sherwood Armbruster has been behind the scenes of general elections around here in 2014, 2018, 2022. We can also throw in a few by elections, and now he's gearing up for the general election this year in October.

Tamara: 00:53

Short's a very busy guy, but he did find a few minutes to talk to us about one of his favorite topics, democracy.

Natalie: 01:00

Well, welcome. Yeah. You are our election guy here at the city, also known as the senior election official. It's a very non biased position. How's that been helped by the the variety of roles and offices you've held throughout your career?

Sherwood: 01:15

Oh, thank you. It's great to be here. I guess to answer that question, I do have to acknowledge gratitude for a variety of roles and a career path that's led me in many ways looking back to to home, to being here at the city of Winnipeg and running elections. I go back to grade nine, social studies class when I was 14, and we take a section where we studied about democracy and governance. And, when I was 14 years old, think I came home from school one day and told my parents I love, governance.

Sherwood: 01:44

I love elections. I think one day I wanna be a politician. And I think my parents at the time said they'd rather see me turn out to be a cowboy, or any other any other profession, than that. But, I studied political science in university. I took a law degree.

Sherwood: 02:01

I got involved in the democratic process on the partisan side. But it was probably in my mid twenties and following some world travel that I realized that that my experience in in partisan politics kinda left me feeling incomplete and there was more to my career path than just becoming the, you know, next elected official or whatever I aspired to when I was 14 years old and that idealism had worn off a bit. And so my career path took me into social services field working in group homes. I did a stint working in nonprofit sector and working with Slow Mission. And I found that in both places and coming back, following my return to the city and working in elections in democracy, I found that caring for others or working in the public service is no different.

Natalie: 02:58

Well, you know, maybe we'll just get straight into it. Elections are under increased scrutiny, it seems, now more than ever, and there's unfortunately a lot of misinformation out there. Can you walk us through how how a comment like the vote was manipulated is is checked and disproven for civic elections?

Sherwood: 03:16

Yeah. That's that's a question that I get asked on a on a regular basis or respond to in individually or informally or or on a formal basis. I am an institutionalist and that I believe in democracy. I think democracy is a sacred privilege and something that we should never take for granted. We should all be grateful for.

Sherwood: 03:38

But I also believe it's something that we need to be accountable in. We need to be ready. I'm prepared to always prepared to answer questions along with a dedicated group of public servants that provide and ensure the integrity of elections to Winnipeg voters. The use of technology we implement in elections, we're proud of the to be a a leader in delivering local democracy and elections to citizens. But we still citizens and voters should be assured and candidates need to be assured that we still maintain the integrity through numerous checks and balances, including the requirement of in person voting, the requirement of of ID, the we still keep a paper ballot.

Sherwood: 04:23

There are lots of it. There's lots of misinformation, for lack of a better word, floating around in the world today. That information needs to be held accountable in the same way that our election team and and our processes need to be held accountable. But we do test hundreds of thousands of ballots, every machine that we use, every worker operates under an oath and we work within a layered documented verifiable process. We welcome questions, we have endless conversation and we're transparent in our work.

Sherwood: 04:59

But the bottom line is that everything we do, every process we undertake is double and triple checked, every one of us is accountable to that.

Natalie: 05:07

Can you can you describe that a little bit if someone comes to you with a question? How do you handle that?

Sherwood: 05:12

I welcome questions. We welcome interruption. I'm happy to sit down. And in a in a general election, the last election, we had a 106 school trustee candidates. We had 45 council candidates.

Sherwood: 05:26

There were 15 mayoral candidates. Every one of those candidates is emotionally involved and has a vested stake. The 200,000 voters that are voting in a general election, many have questions, many come with opinions. So we, as an election team, have no problem engaging in those discussions. The best way to deal with a question is to answer it.

Sherwood: 05:52

The best thing to take to to dispel misinformation is to put it in the light. So the more we're able to communicate, bring people on board in the process, the more we build trust and the more we can move forward together. It's we're all all of us in society, whether it's individuals that are candidates, whether it's voters or or election officials, we're all in this thing, in this in this democratic process together. While we have different roles to play, every all of us need to be to be open to engage and to to bring those conversations to service. So happy to have those kind of conversations, including the one that we're having here today.

Tamara: 06:29

Beyond talking to somebody, what tools do you have available when when somebody does come in and make very bold and very inaccurate and very public comments about elections?

Sherwood: 06:40

Yeah. The well, every process, as I've said, every every process, everything we do and every one of us, we operate within a world where we're documenting. We're verifying, there are checks and balances in place so we record a statement of the vote. Every vote that goes into a tabulator of voting machines recorded in front of scrutineers, partisan individuals that are there to observe the vote, The counting of the ballots tabulation is is observed by by representatives of the candidates. The the institution of democracy is worth contending for, but there is and there is a requirement of independence and impartiality within that, and that's the oath of office that all election workers take.

Sherwood: 07:22

If that's not sufficient to allay concerns, fears, skepticism, cynicism, There is always the option of going before the judicial branch and having that conversation, having bringing forward evidence in front of a judge. There is a legislative provision to contest an election to request a recount, And I have every confidence that should that requirement be be needed to preserve trust in local democracy and confidence in the system that I'd be prepared to be accountable in that way.

Tamara: 08:00

Have you ever had to do that?

Sherwood: 08:01

We have not.

Tamara: 08:01

Let's get into logistics here because the next election, even though it's not until October 2026, so this year, planning is very well underway. What goes into putting on a civic election?

Sherwood: 08:13

There's a lot of work that goes into planning a general election. When I use the word election, speaking singular, really, there's a mayoral race. There's 15 council races. And then there are 25, city, school trustee races, that result in the election of 52 school trustees in the city of Winnipeg. So it's not one election, it's 41 different contests.

Sherwood: 08:41

Planning for the election starts about a year in advance where we prepare our systems, our database. Have to create the maps for those 41 different contests, building the geographies with groups of voters that are voting subdivisions, also known as polling subdivisions. We're preparing to hold voting in close to 200 locations on election day, as well as 200 locations for advanced voting. We have to make preparations for mail in voting. There is registration of candidates and nomination.

Sherwood: 09:17

So there will be in the last general election, there were a 106 school trustees that would come through, will be coming through again to be registered. All the legislative provisions have to be met as part of that process. They will be given under oath a copy of the voters list, street index, maps, documentation, candidates guides, ID requirements, of course, have to be met. So I'll sometimes use the analogy of event planning or elections as a major civic public service initiative and I'll use the analogy of comparing running elections to organizing a wedding. In this case where we have 400 locations, a 150 to a 160 candidates, it might be the equivalent of running 200 weddings on a single day.

Sherwood: 10:04

And the candidates, not to compare but to the groom or bride on election day, they're emotionally involved in that event and they're gonna have needs to put it mildly. But they might have concerns, they might have questions, they might have complaints related to ensuring a level playing field, ensuring that they're not the only ones that are following the rules. Things like our neighborhood livability bylaw that applies to campaign signage, eligibility questions, voter information. We send out voters notices to 525,000 individuals in the last campaign. They're all personally addressed that advises candidates, advises voters of where they can vote, when they can vote, and what's required to vote, namely identification requirements.

Sherwood: 10:52

All of that has to occur within legislative immovable deadlines. And just like with a wedding, anyone that's been involved in planning a wedding or a significant event, there are elements beyond your control such as the weather, such as the caterer showing up on time, such as the the wardrobe perhaps malfunctioning in various ways. So we do have to as much as we're planning a year in advance when we shift into execution, we have to be prepared to find and fix and address issues as they arise and doing that independently in a fair manner. But response times have to be immediate and while resources are not unlimited, our response does need to be immediate and commensurate with the issue that is at hand.

Natalie: 11:43

In addition to this, can you tell us a little more about all the hands on deck you have to pull it all off?

Sherwood: 11:49

Oh boy. So we this as the biggest single day customer service initiative of the city, I am grateful for the resources of of the city of Winnipeg. All departments come together behind the scenes. And on election day, we recruit city staff from all departments to help in areas of hiring, training, from registration to nomination to supplies, to technology support, the the support of IT, communications departments. There are hidden heroes all throughout the department.

Sherwood: 12:22

And on election day, there are hundreds of city staff that are in the field supporting, voting, facilitating the voting process for the hundreds of thousands of voters that that vote in elections. The the my favorite part of the election often tends to be at the end of the process. And after a process in September and October, there's a core group of staff that are in well before the rise of the sun before dawn early in the morning till late at night for September and October, seven days a week. And on election day, part of our process, we have a memory card, the voting machine results that come back from every location to city hall. And the locations are throughout the city, 15 to 16 to 17 per ward.

Sherwood: 13:16

There's an individual election worker that takes that memory card, drives it downtown, and brings it here to City Hall headquarters so that we can process, tabulate, and report those numbers. And I at the end of every election, usually around 08:30, 9PM, I see the cars lined up. The last election, we had a 198 locations, which meant a 198 vehicles, a 198 citizens who've signed up for a fourteen hour day for limited pay as an active community services a community service. But I see those vehicles lined up down around James And King Street and down the block and through the intersection, bringing back what I know will be results that will lead to the election of 52 school trustees, 15 counselors, a new mayor, the results of 200,000 citizens that have participated in the democratic process. And I feel deeply emotional just knowing what those memory cards and what those 198 individuals that are now in their fifteenth hour of the day, what that represents.

Natalie: 14:21

All of that work just in a in a moment

Sherwood: 14:23

in a snapshot. Feel so proud. It's it's impossible to convey. I I honestly, I sit there, I stand there, and I weep. And and our work is not done because we, you know, there still is the post election and the cleanup and the reporting and the entering of OSA and the putting away of supplies.

Sherwood: 14:42

But but knowing that we've somehow lived up to our city motto, one with the strength of many, we've done what feels impossible within any one of those portfolios that I've described. It's all of these jobs are bigger than any one person. But when you're part of a team that comes together and achieves and accomplishes more than the sum of its parts, that's the stuff of community. That's the magic of team that people talk about and dream about. But to experience that is is an indescribable feeling.

Sherwood: 15:09

And it's one of those things at the end of your life and career as much as it's nice to have a job to provide for your family, to have a pension, but to have a feeling of community contribution, to deliver something directly to citizens and democracy that matters not just to your kids, to your family, to your neighbors, but to our society and to future generations. I feel deeply connected to that in that moment.

Tamara: 15:33

And you have a fantastic team. They go to a lot of places to do just that, right? To get people to vote, to give them that opportunity. In some cases, they're going to bedsides in hospitals, and they are interacting with people who this is among one of their last wishes. What what are some what are some stories you can share from where they go and and what they hear?

Sherwood: 15:52

That's right. As much as as much as elections are on a massive scale, and we need processes that are scalable to be able to deliver services to significant numbers of people. My favorite experiences and stories come back to the individual and to the one. And so when we're delivering elections, we are required to provide voting to individuals with barriers to voting. I mentioned the mail in voting sealed envelope ballot.

Sherwood: 16:19

We go to every hospital. We go to every personal care home, and we go to significant number of seniors' homes to provide voting, small teams of people that provide voting. And in those locations at times, there are requests to provide a ballot bedside to an individual that may have a limitation or disability or are suffering from an illness or could be in palliative care. And this is a request, possibly one of the last requests that they're making that they would like to contribute, that they would like to participate in the election. And so to hear stories of election officials and to be part of teams that are providing the opportunity to vote in an election, and to exercise their right is deeply meaningful and compelling and something that also motivates me.

Sherwood: 17:10

And I have to ask myself the question, what excuse do I have not to participate when I know how important it is to members of our community that have every reason not to exercise their vote. And yet when we're able to provide that service, it feels good. It feels like we're doing something that's part of the societal fabric that goes beyond our own day to day existence.

Tamara: 17:37

Is there a story there that sticks with you that you've heard on those really tough days that you kind of recall back to about why this is all important?

Sherwood: 17:45

Yeah. We've gone I mean, some of my favorite stories would be from locations. We'll go into places where there are developmental, physical, intellectual disabilities. And we will work together with volunteers in homes and in these institutions and to see individuals that lie that are waiting for us to come, that have taken the time to inform themselves together and to learn about the election, the democratic process, and the different voting opportunities, whether it's to vote for school trustee or for city council or for mayor. And that's the role of the community and of the candidates, of course, to educate themselves of the different options on the ballot.

Sherwood: 18:29

But for us to go and do our role and to provide that ballot in places where people have taken the time to do that and worked hard, and And we know that it's deeply appreciated. And I think those would be my favorite stories.

Natalie: 18:45

Tamara and I have prepared a quick round of questions about the upcoming election in October. We're gonna really get you to to to show us in the numbers here. I'll start? Sure. Okay.

Natalie: 18:59

Let's go. Alright. So what are the key dates people need to mark in their calendar this year?

Sherwood: 19:03

Okay. Well, one of the first dates that, should be, top of mind would be May 1. May 1 is the first date for registration, for mayoral candidates. So anyone that's interested in running to be the next mayor of Winnipeg, they can do so as early as May 1. It's a two part process, registration and nomination.

Sherwood: 19:24

Nomination isn't until, September. That's '35. It ends on the thirty fifth day before the election, starts on the forty second day before the election. But anyone that wants to run for mayor you cannot raise or spend money until May 1 so we'll be populating the website and be prepared to register mayoral candidates on May 1. After that the next notable date would be June 30.

Sherwood: 19:49

June 30 will be the first date that candidates can come in to register for City Council as well as for School Trustee in the six school divisions in the City Of Winnipeg. So we will be, individuals that are running for us want wish to run for city council. We will have information candidate guides are available, that the campaign period starts. Candidates who wanna run for council can do so as of June 30. I would also encourage voters, anyone that's, you know, maybe not interested in running for mayor, councilor, or school trustee but wanna make sure that, voting is as streamlined as, easy process as possible and that you receive a voters card, check the voters list.

Sherwood: 20:29

Go on the city website, call 311 to confirm that you're on the voters list. Voters list is open. It will be open all year. It gets closed prior to the start of nominations in September. But it's a good idea to call 311, check the city site to ensure that you're on the voters list and that you're registered.

Sherwood: 20:45

Once the campaign period is underway and nomination closes, we will be posting notice of election in all races where there's a contested race. Advanced voting is going to start at the October. It will run for the first three weeks of October. It closes three days before the election. Election day is Wednesday, October 28.

Natalie: 21:05

Mark it down guys.

Sherwood: 21:06

Polls will be open from 8AM to 8PM. So take advantage of advanced voting. Vote on election day. We're gonna have hundreds of opportunities to to vote, and we look forward to serving citizens of Winnipeg, all voters of Winnipeg during that time.

Tamara: 21:19

Anything new at the polls this year?

Sherwood: 21:21

We do. We're, city of Winnipeg has been using automated voting machines. We're a leader in the use of election technology since 1995. We've been using vote voting machines to tabulate votes. So since 1995, thirty years ago, we've been implementing in an incremental basis a pilot project, use of electronic poll books, which allows voters to vote anywhere within their ward.

Sherwood: 21:51

So for the first time ever, this will be the biggest implementation of or change in the use of technology in city elections since 1995. We're going to have electronic poll books available at all locations, including Advance and on Election Day to provide a better, more streamlined service to voters, and we're excited about that.

Natalie: 22:11

Okay. So you're driving home. You're in your ward. It doesn't matter. You see the sign.

Natalie: 22:14

You can you can go. It's not what was on your card. Good to know. Yes. What else do you need in in the pocket of your coat?

Natalie: 22:20

What do you need to bring to vote?

Sherwood: 22:21

Good idea to bring your voters card. It's not a requirement but if you receive a voters notice bring that to the polls. That will help election officials to know whether you require an oath or not. If there's a change that's needed on your voter card if any of that information needs to be changed you'll be required to take an oath which is a simple process only takes a minute or two. But bring your identification documents under legislation.

Sherwood: 22:42

A government issued photo ID that proves your name and current address is required of all voters.

Tamara: 22:48

Best time to vote, Sherwood. When should

Natalie: 22:50

I go?

Sherwood: 22:51

Best time to vote is whenever it works for you. I would encourage people to vote at advanced voting. We are able to resource and equip advanced voting opportunities in a way that reduces bottlenecks on what we see is on election day. Everybody tries to vote right after work and right before soccer practice or the Jets game or whatever is going on that evening because we're legislated under the charter to hold elections on the fourth Wednesday in October every four years. Elections must be held on a on a weekday.

Sherwood: 23:23

But I would encourage voters that are eligible to consider voting at advanced opportunities or vote during during non peak periods of the day to ensure quicker service. But I would say the best time to vote is whenever vote works for you and vote whenever you can.

Natalie: 23:40

What about yourself? When do you vote?

Sherwood: 23:42

So that's a good question. I vote personally, vote in advance. The one thing I would caveat I would put on that is that as senior election official, I am sworn by oath to impartiality and, and independence in the exercise of my duties. So and all election officials are required to to are precluded from participation in partisan activities. Any kind of activities or endorsements are completely off limits for me and for my team and the perception of such.

Sherwood: 24:14

But that said, as a believer in the institution of democracy, I do believe it's important to vote. I vote, at advance, while still honoring and upholding the oath that I've taken.

Tamara: 24:25

So many polling stations and you being involved with so many elections, there has to be some weirdest, bizarrest thing that has happened that you have heard in the a polling station.

Sherwood: 24:34

Well What do

Tamara: 24:35

you got?

Sherwood: 24:37

I I, like with weddings, you know, anything that can happen in the context of a massive public sector initiative will tend to happen. We have to be prepared for everything from power failure to lockdowns. I think in the last election, we did we did have a couple of school lockdowns that were momentary. Those are moments where your heart stops. If you have to suspend voting and you don't have often have enough information in the moment to know whether you should be locking everybody in or locking everybody out, if there's a a safety issue in the community, in the absence of that information, and then the contingent considerations of are we gonna have to suspend voting?

Sherwood: 25:18

Are we gonna have to extend voting later? We have to be prepared for that in those scenarios and countless others can and do arise, and we deal with it. The team rises to the occasion.

Natalie: 25:29

Now you earlier shared that really important story of folks that in their hardest moments still come out and are thankful to have the opportunity to vote. So that brings us to, you know, what you would say to people who choose not to vote even when they have the chance?

Sherwood: 25:46

That's a good question. It's a question that comes up in my home. One of my most important hats and roles in this world is to be father. I have five children. Fostered, we've adopted, we've cared for kids.

Sherwood: 26:01

And my kids are my oldest two are at the age of majority, going through university. And they all sometimes question like, what's the point? Do I need to vote? And having the conversation that we're having today with my oldest son at one point, he said, fine, dad. I'm going to go vote.

Sherwood: 26:18

And then his next question was, but who should I vote for?

Natalie: 26:25

Course. Your heart singled

Tamara: 26:26

a little there.

Sherwood: 26:27

The immediate response was that response is even better than I'm not going to vote. But brings that conversation to the surface where I'm able to share some of the stories of and it's more than just you know being compelled because you know somebody else somebody else's life is this is the most important to that person. Well that's not necessarily connected to my son's journey or his own reality. I realize I can create an environment provide an example but I cannot bypass my son's free will. I can encourage, but usually I encourage and it's cliche to say voting matters.

Sherwood: 26:57

If you don't participate, somebody else will for you. If you have any inclination to complain or to criticize or to be upset about the status quo, well the best way to counter that is to take a few minutes, inform yourselves and participate. It's another cliche that the best way to change something is to love it or to engage with it. I think within the democratic process, the best way to improve our society is in fact care for it by participating. And so I'd encourage everyone to take a moment to it's not a something we're compelled to do that we have to do, but it's an opportunity.

Sherwood: 27:37

It's something we get to do. And in the process of exercising that right and that privilege and not taking it for granted, I think most individuals, I believe, like myself, will find a sense of purpose and meaning and experience in it that looking back, they will be grateful for having participated and we'll all be better for it.

Natalie: 27:58

Last question for you. It's a question that we ask everybody. What's that one thing that you wish everyone knew about Winnipeg?

Sherwood: 28:04

That's a great question. I think my answer is this. When I look out the window and I travel to and from work, there's a lot to be concerned about in our city. At the same time, when I look around and when I think about the people that I know, the neighbors that I have, the relationships that I experience, there's equally as much to love about our city and its people. I guess elections are are a lot like many other challenges in our city and that they're bigger than any one of us.

Sherwood: 28:36

And at the same time, as no one can do everything, every one of us can do something. And so in this, I think I found I found purpose and I found that in our city motto, one with the strength of many, that it rings true. And it gives me motivation from day to day, and that's the thing that I've learned and love most.

Natalie: 28:55

Wonderful. Thank you. Thank you. Well, that was great. You know, from really big events to really big infrastructure, we've got, an interesting one coming up for you next month.

Tamara: 29:06

That's right. We're gonna take a deep dive so to speak

Tamara: 29:08

at the upgrades to the North End Wastewater Treatment Plant. You may have heard all about it. It is one of the biggest infrastructure projects going on right now, not only in our city, but in North America. And we're gonna hear from two of the people who are in charge.

Natalie: 29:20

If you have any questions that come up or, you know, on anything you hear on the podcast, we'd always love to hear from you. You can email us at city-podcast@Winnipeg.ca.

Tamara: 29:31

Talk to you next time.