Who will be part of Winnipeg city council's new inner circle?

Brian Bowman scored a major victory this week, and not just by winning a second term as Winnipeg's mayor.

On Wednesday, Bowman received 2,718more votes than he did on election night in 2014, earning the support of 114,222 voters. He increased his share of the popular vote from 48 per cent to 53 per cent.

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And just as significantly, he's on the verge of presiding over a city council with fewer clear opponents. This will make it easier for Bowman to select six councillors to serve with him on executive policy committee.

That decision must be made prior to council's organizational meeting on Nov. 14. Here's who's likely to join the powerfulEPC and who isn't.

ReturningEPCcouncillors

Five elected officials who sat on EPC before council was prorogued are returning to city hall. There doesn't appear to be any pressing need for Bowman to remove any of them from his inner circle.

Coun. CindyGilroy(Daniel McIntyre) was the only woman onEPCbefore it was prorogued. She is a near lock to remain, and should wind up with more responsibility this term. Before the prorogation, she had light duties as the chair of council's innovation committee.

Coun. Scott Gillingham(St. James) did not support the reopening of Portage and Main but did not criticize the mayor in any manner. Given the short time frame for developing the 2019 budget, Bowman needs Gillingham's experience as council's most recent finance chair.

Coun. John Orlikow(River Heights-Fort Garry), who had a very heavy workload as council's property chair,is still recovering from the recent death of his brother. He may request a lighter workload. Like Gillingham, he did not support reopening Portage and Main but never criticized Bowman in public.

Coun. Brian Mayes(St. Vital) also opposed the reopening of Portage and Main but was slightly less diplomatic in public. That alone wouldn't compel Bowman to remove him from EPC, though. He has expressed his desire to continue chairing council's water and waste committee.

The retirementof MartyMorantzand JennyGerbasifrom council leavesCoun. MattAllard(St. Boniface), who was the last council's public works chair,as Bowman's closest ally on council. He too is bound to remain onEPC.

Front-runners to join EPC

Mike Pagtakhan's departure from council leaves one vacancy on executive policy committee. There are two obvious choices to replace him.

Rookie Point Douglas councillor-elect Vivian Santos is a known commodity to Bowman, who relied on her as an assistant when he was a lawyer and then hired her to work in the mayor's office. While she was among more than a dozen people to quit that office during Bowman's first term, she continued to work at city hall as Pagtakhan's assistant.

Placing Santos on EPCwould improve the committee'sgender-parity ratio, as well as its ethnic diversity. This move would also broaden the geographic representation on EPCto include more suburban neighbourhoods, as the bulk of the growth in Point Douglas is in northwestern Winnipeg.

Bowman could also opt to place rookie Fort Rouge-East Fort Garry councillor-elect Sherri Rollins. Like Santos, her appointment would improve gender parity. It would also place a second Indigenous member on EPC:Rollinsidentifies as Huron-Wendat, and Bowman as Mtis.

Rollinsalso has governance experience as a trustee with the Winnipeg School Division. The only knock against her appointment is geography: central Winnipeg neighbourhoodsare already well-represented on EPCby Gilroy, Allard and Orlikow, assuming they remain on the committee.

Long shots

Three other rookie councillorsmay also get a look-see from Bowman.

Charleswood-Tuxedocouncillor-elect Kevin Klein, who expressed support for Bowman during the campaign, has a varied resume. But he would add nothing in the way of diversity and was associated during the campaign withthe Winnipeg Police Association, which has been highly critical of the mayor.

St. Norbert-Seine River councillor-electMarkusChambers is expected to be Bowman-friendly. He would improve EPC's ethnic diversity but would not improve its gender ratio. He may also be too much of a political unknown to join Bowman's inner circle, at least for now.

Transcona councillor-elect Shawn Nason, who is affiliated with federal Conservatives, would be an intriguing addition to EPC. His appointment would send a positive signal to Brian Pallister'sProgressive Conservative government, whose relationship with Bowman has been strained.

It's more likely Nason would seek to keep a respectful distance from Bowman in orderto keep on side with residents of increasingly conservative Transcona. But it's too soon to predict Nason will join council's unofficial opposition and become an outright opponent of the mayor.

On paper, Old KildonanCoun. Devi Sharma wouldthe most qualified non-EPC councillor to join Bowman's inner circle. She has served two termson counciland has grown increasingly assertive as council's speaker. She would also add diversity to the committee.

Sharma, however, is unlikely to seek or accept a position on EPC, as she professed to enjoy her status as the only truly independent member of council during the last term.

Bowman's opposition

All the surviving members of city council's unofficial opposition from the last term are unlikely to join EPC, especially as they endorsed Jenny Motkaluk'smayoral campaign.

Janice Lukes(Waverley West) and Jeff Browaty(North Kildonan) are estranged from Bowman after he kicked them off EPC.

Ross Eadie(Mynarski) and Jason Schreyer(Elmwood-EastKildonan) have been very critical of the mayor and frequently vote against him.

It remains to be seen whether any other councillorswill join the opposition, whose ranks dwindled by two when Shawn Dobsonlost to Gillingham in St. James and Russ Wyatt retired in Transcona.