A longtime employee at Ecole Pointe Des Chenes has entered the mayoral race in Ste. Anne.

Gerald St-Laurent says running for the mayor's chair has been a passion of his for many years and adds he is now in a place where he is able to do so. St-Laurent has lived in Ste. Anne for over 40 years and because of that, knows nearly everyone in the community. He says that, along with his good communication skills, is an asset that he notes would make him a good mayor and man of the people.

"I'm a strong believer that you have to bring your strengths to the table," notes St-Laurent "I think that's a very huge part of a council is you need someone to be able to speak to your people and speak to your taxpayers in your community and I want that job."

St-Laurent says with all the growth Ste. Anne has experienced in the last few years, he adds he would like to bring more amenities to the town that would help keep the economy within Ste. Anne and in the end create jobs. "For those mothers or fathers in the community who don't want to get a daycare to be able to have to run to Steinbach or Winnipeg to work if they could get a nice part-time job in Ste. Anne and that's all they would need then we need to get those things going"

Since St-Laurent has been an employee at the school for so many years, he says one of his passions is also working with youth. He notes he would like to see more ways for youth to get involved in the community. Ideally, St-Laurent says he would like to open some sort of a youth drop-in centre in the community so the young people have a safe yet fun place to gather together. He adds he also wants to get youth involved with Villa Youville, which is a seniors residence facility in Ste. Anne.

St-Laurent says being open to the residents is also important to him. He explains he will post on social media when he plans to go for his weekly walks and encourages anyone to come along and join him to talk about their concerns or what they would like to see for the future of Ste. Anne.