Ray Brunka

Raymond Brunka is a politician in Manitoba, Canada. He was a member of the Winnipeg City Council from 1974 to 1977, and has since become a perennial candidate for office at several levels.

Brunka graduated from the Manitoba Institute of Technology (a forerunner to Red River Community College) in 1963. He worked as a baker in private life, was a board member of the St. Gerard Catholic School Board and was a founder of the Elmwood High School parent council. He was a resident of Winnipeg for many years, and is the recipient of an exemplary citizen award from the city. ["And the winners are ...", "Winnipeg Free Press", 20 June 1995, B2.] He has more recently relocated to Brandon. He is retired from the baking trade, and owns a karaoke bar. [ [http://rrc.mb.ca/index.php?pid=922 "Ray Brunka, Commercial Baking, 1963", Alumni and Friends] , Red River Community College, accessed 16 September 2007.]

He began his political career at a member of the Liberal Party, and unsuccessfully sought election under its banner in the 1973 provincial election. He was subsequently elected to the Winnipeg City Council in 1974, winning in the Riverton ward as a candidate of the Independent Citizens' Election Committee. He served for three years, and was a member of the city's finance committee and police commision. The size of city council was dramatically reduced for the 1977 election, and Brunka was forced to seek re-election in the new Elmwood ward. He was narrowly defeated by fellow incumbent Alf Skowron, a candidate of the New Democratic Party.

Brunka later won the Liberal Party of Canada's nomination for Winnipeg—Birds Hill, and planned to be its candidate in the 1979 election. He resigned after he described Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau as a millstone around the neck of Liberal candidates, and called for John Turner to become the party's leader. [Larry Krotz, "Called PM 'millstone,' Liberal in Manitoba resigns as candidate", "Globe and Mail", 27 October 1978, P8.] He later left the Liberal Party entirely, and ran for the Progressive Conservative Party in the 1986 provincial election.

Brunka ran for Mayor of Winnipeg in 1979, following the death of Robert Steen. He finished well behind victorious candidate Bill Norrie and runner-up Joseph Zuken. He later sought re-election to City Council in 1980, 1983, 1986, 1995, 1998, 2002. [In 1995, he called for more police officers and waste reduction at city hall. See Steve Pona, "Ray Brunka", "Winnipeg Free Press", 5 October 1995, A7. In 1998, he focused on crime and infrastructure. See Glen MacKenzie, "Crime an issue in hot battle in Elmwood", "Winnipeg Free Press", 21 October 1998, A5.] The closest he came to re-election was in 1983, when he finished 66 votes behind Skowron. When he lost in 1995, he accused rival candidate Henry McDonald of splitting his vote and allowing Lillian Thomas to win. ["Women figure in upsets", "Winnipeg Free Press", 26 October 1995, A4.]

He ran for a seat on the Brandon City Council in 2006, and was again defeated.

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