A heavyweight in the Canadian labour movement has decided not to run for Windsor City Council.
Ken Lewenza Sr., a former national president of the Canadian Auto Workers, announced Wednesday afternoon in a Facebook post that he will not run as a candidate in the Ward 7 by-election. Lewenza said his decision came after a lot of thought and soul-searching.
"This decision is not born of a loss of my devotion to my city and its future interest, nor by a lack of recognition for all the encouragement and love I have received from the great people of Windsor the past couple weeks, it has been amazing," wrote Lewenza.
Lewenza's name has been kicked around for a couple of weeks as a potential candidate, and he had been encouraged to run for the seat by Unifor members. However, he posted that he did not feel the drive to follow through.
"I just felt my passion to do the job right was not quite there, at this time," wrote Lewenza. "Once I concluded not to run, I felt a sense of peace. I know it is the right decision."
Lewenza is also a former president of Unifor Local 444.
The Ward 7 council seat has been open since Irek Kusmierczyk resigned to become the MP for Windsor-Tecumseh. So far, six candidates have filed to fill the place. They are Igor Dzaic, Barbara Holland, Ernie "The Baconman" Lamont, Greg Lemay, Michael Malott and Therese Papineau.
Candidates have until 2 p.m. March 13 to file. The by-election is on April 27.
