In this episode of WINNIPEG VOTES 2026, host Graham McDonald spoke to Tony Guan, a financial services professional running for trustee in Ward 3 of the Pembina Trails School Division.
Guan attended elementary, junior high and high school in the division before studying at the University of Manitoba.
“To say that Ward 3 is very special to me is an understatement,” Guan said.
Guan said trustees should help set the division’s direction through board decisions while recognizing that each trustee has only one vote.
“Our job as school trustees is to influence, through our votes, the school board’s decisions,” he said. “Every vote counts.”
With enrolment continuing to grow, Guan said the division should hire more teachers and educational assistants while also considering classroom expansions.
“We have to do a better job hiring more teachers and more educational assistants in order to service this influx,” he said.
Guan said his work in financial services would help him scrutinize how the division allocates its budget. He also called for greater transparency about where public money goes.
“Funding is great, but then we have to look at how we can allocate it,” he said. “The allocation is very important, whether it is going to an immediate need or a future need.”
Guan said hiring teachers and educational assistants should be the division’s top budget priority. He pointed to the OECD’s PISA 2025 study, which found that Canadian students continued to score above the OECD average in science, reading and mathematics, although Canadian results have declined over longer periods.
“The biggest thing that we need to protect is obviously our educators,” Guan said. “Teachers are getting stretched thin. They’re having to take care of more children, and our EAs are helping multiple students rather than one-on-one.”
He argued that staffing presents a more difficult challenge than adding physical space. “We need to realize that these educators are stretched very thin,” he said. “There are more kids than the teachers that we have.”
Guan said introducing students to cultural celebrations could help make schools more welcoming to families from newcomer backgrounds.
“Whether it’s Chinese New Year, we get the dancing dragons and lions into the school, just so students from other cultures can be familiarized with that as well,” he said. “If you incorporate it into the curriculum, or something that’s very fun, then they’re more receptive.”
On artificial intelligence, Guan said students should learn about its limitations, particularly the risk of inaccurate information, while educators develop a consistent approach to using it in school.
“Don’t hide from it. It’s here to stay,” Guan said. “You want to use AI in order to gather information for you, but at the same time, you need to go back and check its work.”
Guan also called for broader use of school buildings during the summer, including camps and facility rentals that he said could generate revenue for the division.
“Why can’t we do something like a summer camp?” he said. “We’re always hurting for budget. Wouldn’t this generate some cash flow?”
To learn more about Tony Guan, his candidacy and his positions, check out the full interview on U Multicultural Channel 14 in Manitoba, Bell MTS channel 1029 in Winnipeg, U Radio on 88.7 FM in Manitoba and U Multicultural’s YouTube channel.
Disclaimer: As part of U Multicultural’s 2026 Winnipeg Municipal Election Coverage, candidates were invited to share messages with our audience. The views expressed in this article are the candidate’s own, and this article does not constitute an endorsement by U Multicultural.
Graham McDonald, U Multicultural Journalism and Media Arts Centre