Candidates in the race to become Winnipeg’s next mayor made pitstops in River Heights, the West End, and West Kildonan on Thursday. Scott Gillingham announced new funding for a community outreach partnership as part of his greater public safety plan. Gillingham vowed, if re-elected, he’ll give Ka Ni Kanichihk $100,000 to help fund the organization’s outreach work in the community. “People in our neighborhoods deserve to feel safe. Businesses deserve to operate without a drug-related crime and disorder on the doorsteps, and we need the police to be prepared to take action,” Gillingham told reporters at the corner of Sargent Avenue and Burnell Street. He said the money would help retain Ka Ni Kanichihk’s outreach coordinator, who also serves as a liaison between Winnipeg police and community organizations. Gillingham said the partnership has resulted in more then 3,700 community outreach engagements, 48 connections to support services, 10 people helped into detox programs, and 55 arrests since August. Ka Ni Kanichihk has said it can no longer continue to absorb the costs of the initiative beyond Oct. 31. Gillingham also reiterated his plans to establish a community crisis response unit to handle mental health and addictions-related calls, and add more police resources for neighbourhood patrols. Meantime, Don Woodstock is proposing a community centre revitalization plan. If elected, Woodstock said he will fix safety issues at West Kildonan Memorial Community Centre and request a city-wide infrastructure audit of all community centres. Woodstock also pledged to eliminate ice time fees for community centres and youth sports on city-owned property, introduce a municipal maintenance division to take over facility repairs, and absorbed water and sewer bills for community centres. “When the city owns the building, the city should maintain the building,” Woodstock said in a news release. “Forcing volunteers to figure out leaking roofs, failing ice plants, $10 thousand audit bills while charging kids to use ice on property we already own is completely backwards. Under a Don Woodstock administration, that ends on day one.” He also committed to building new recreation facilities in Sage Creek and Amber Trails. Inside a shopon Academy Road, Kevin Klein vowed to reestablish an independent city ombudsman to handle complaints from residents and business owners. He said the ombudsman, an office discontinued more than 20 years ago, would investigate complaints, and publish finds on matters like staff conduct, decision processes, and costs. “The office will not veto council or fire the mayor, but it will make it much harder to bury a bad file or hold closed-door meetings that dismiss the people who pay the bills,” Klein said. “I don’t like bullies, and I will not tolerate taxpayers being treated that way.” The civic election is slated for Oct. 28.
