One of the first things Marijka Kostenchuck tells you is that she’s not a really political person. She ran for council in Neepawa not with aspirations to hold public office, but because having grown up in the community and raised her own family here, she had a lot of ideas about Neepawa and wasn’t shy about expressing them. Many of her friends and clients at her massage and reflexology business encouraged her to run, the same people who now bring their questions and ideas to her as their town council representative.

“I want to be a person that the community can come to and approach and say ‘I’m having issues with this’ or ‘I would like to see this done,’” says Kostenchuk. “I appreciate that. I have no problem with that. … But we have to deal with things as council as a whole, which is what we do, and it’s not always the reply or the response that they’re looking for.”

One of the biggest things being on council has taught her is that there is usually a long process that has to take place before most things can be done. A lot of the council work, she says, is long-term planning. Nothing happens overnight. You need a vision for years into the future.

While she is co-chair of the Public Works and Infrastructure committee, her main committee work is as Town of Neepawa representative on the Neepawa & Area Disabled Persons Association, which primarily runs the town’s Handivan, and the County Court Building, which is also undertaking an accessibility project. The building, which is a Manitoba heritage site, has not been as heavily used as it once was, and making those kinds of necessary adjustments is something she hopes will revitalize the space.

Ultimately, Kostenchuk says, “You are elected to make the decisions that are the best for the taxpayers in your community. That’s what you are here for. It’s not what you might think personally. You really have to think what is best for the people that elected you. That is your duty as a councillor.”