My goal is to be informed, so I can be there to fight for what is important to the residents of Mcphillips. I hope you will reach out to me and help me understand what is important to you. Or, please feel free to reach out if you would like to know more about me.
Hello, my name is Sheilah Lee Restall and I am running for MLA here in McPhillips where my husband and I are raising our family. It is my pleasure to share with you why I seek to be your representative in the Manitoba Legislature.
I strive to be the person who makes someone else’s moment, day, or life better. I continuously look for ways to improve our community and the lives of the people who live here. Be it through programs, initiatives, structures, or just connecting people, I work to help build a sense of community and belonging, a lesson and theme instilled by my family.
My values stem from the deep roots my family has in its heritage. My father’s family has been in Winnipeg for over 120 years, and my mother was an immigrant from Hong Kong. These two drastically different backgrounds and experiences continue to guide my perspective of what it means to be Manitoban. Most of us come from families where we are reminded daily that hard work, family and respect are key but we are also taught community is something you have to work to be part of, work to help it grow, and work to make it better, a philosophy that I have been practising my whole life.
In the hours after my day job, I have volunteered for multiple organisations, fundraised for charities, coached the younger generation, and on top of that, founded multiple short and long term projects. At the beginning of the pandemic, I started Winnipeg One Neighbourhood, a project that connected people in need with those who could help. Further into the pandemic I founded The Great Winnipeg Bear Hunt and The Little Gardeners Club, both projects giving children a better sense of belonging and having something to look forward to. I founded The Poppy Blanket Project, a project that brought together Manitobans who knitted and crocheted over 8,000 poppies to make a blanket spanning more than 85 ft in length so that we as a community could honour and remember our fallen soldiers and veterans.
I am seeking office as the MLA for McPhillips because I know I can do more. I want to take my drive for community and fight for initiatives and projects that do more for our neighbours and more for our fellow Manitobans. This is my home, I was born here, grew up here and now I, along with my husband, am raising my family here and I want it to be a place everyone can be proud of and a place everyone can be happy in.
This fall, I hope you will work with me to earn this role. I ask for YOUR support on this journey. I know together we can do great things.
If you wish to learn more about me, please check out my responses to the Winnipeg Free Press' Questionnaire
Sheilah was a recipient of the Manitoba 150: Honour 150 award for her contributions to the community
Sheilah was awarded the Minister of Veterans Affairs Commendation for having "performed commendable service to the Veteran community"
I have talked to countless people, and knocked on countless doors, seeking to understand what is important to the members of our community, and these are some of the topics I have heard again and again as being the most important.
Our healthcare system is currently in distress. It needs help building the proper infrastructure, resources, and, most importantly, the people to strengthen it. I will advocate not just plans that help with the immediate needs but investigate the root cause of the issues and build plans and programs that will have long-lasting positive effects. We have already grown the number of nursing seats in the MB education system, which will have a continuous and long-term positive impact, and this is just one of many steps we can and will take to improve healthcare here in Manitoba.
McPhillips is my home, and I want it to be a place that feels safe. We need to focus on elements that will help both the short and long term. Our PC team has provided an average increase of 28% to police funding across the province, allowing for more support and resources to be available. For the long term, our PC team has a strategy for homelessness and has funded over 1600 addiction treatment spaces. These actions will help to reduce crime at the root of the problem, and it is these kinds of plans and solutions I will fight and advocate for.
As inflation increases, the same dollar we earn is becoming stretched more and more thin. Determining methods we can help Manitobans to make ends meet is absolutely essential to me. Our PC team has provided tax breaks and benefits to families to help make things more affordable. I intend to continue to try and see where we can find ways to help make life more affordable, while not diminishing the quality of services and programs we rely on as Manitobans.
Education is one of the most essential and important pillars of our society. Education brings our communities knowledge, strength through knowledge, and, with that, opportunities to grow. I have heard from many educators and parents about how our education system needs help. The PC team has set funding for education at an all-time high in Manitoba, we have built twenty-three new schools in the past few years and announced a capital investment of $260 million for capital projects in our education system. It is my intention to continue the conversations with teachers to understand what they see as the areas of need and see how we can build the support systems they require to educate the next generation superbly.
From our highways to our city streets, every day someone tells me about a road that needs repair. When it comes to highways, the PC government has committed to a multi-year infrastructure strategy, with $2.5 billion for highway infrastructure, and $280 million to upgrade the perimeter. As for city roads, that is not within the provinces' responsibilities, but what I can do is be the voice to help identify the roads in our neighbourhoods that the residents of McPhillips feel need to be improved the most, and share that with the teams in charge.
Like education, having strong community structures and infrastructures is another pillar of building a strong society. With grant money available from the province through the Arts, Culture and Sport in Community (ACSC) Fund, I intend to work with community members to see if we can grow and improve the places our families go to enjoy our community and neighbourhoods.
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Only personal donations within the province of Manitoba can be accepted, and each individual has a maximum amount up to a total $5000 per year across all provincial political causes.
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Sheilah@SheilahforMcPhillips.ca
204-784-7874