With just over a week to the election, three Winnipeg mayoral candidates hit the campaign trail on Tuesday to talk about hospitals, accountability and policing. At a news conference, mayoral hopeful Kevin Klein spoke about the number of police officers getting stuck in emergency rooms to wait on individuals in custody. He said this takes them off the streets and away from their ability to answer 911 calls. To ease this issue, Klein pledges to create a hospital custody relief team that involves stationing cadets at Health Sciences Centre and St. Boniface Hospital. He added that he would call on the province to split the team’s annual $2 million price tag. “My proposal specifically frees the officers that are stuck in the waiting room, sitting with somebody in custody awaiting treatment for hours and hours to get back on the street and catch bad guys,” Klein said. “Long emergency waits at both hospitals, often exceeding 10 hours, make the problem worse and multiplies the impact across the entire police service.” Mayoral candidate Don Woodstock was also focused on hospitals on Tuesday. If elected, Woodstock promises to put an end to the “municipal healthcare parking tax” with the Hospital Meter Relief Act. Through this act, Woodstock pledges to make street parking free at city-owned meters near Winnipeg’s hospitals by introducing digital validation codes at hospital reception for anyone attending as a patient or visitor. Woodstock estimates this would cost around $300,000 a year, adding that the funds would come from aggregate recycling savings, fixed-price infrastructure contracts and cutting some external consultants. “When a Winnipegger goes to the hospital, their focus should be on getting healthy or being there for a loved one, not worrying about an expiring street meter or an unfair bill from City Hall,” Woodstock said in a news release. “Charging people who are forced to access healthcare isn’t fiscal management; it’s a predatory tax on sickness, and at city-operated street meters, under my administration, it ends.” Meanwhile, mayoral candidate Umar Hayat spoke out about accountability after the Winnipeg police headquarters inquest report determined that the city was overcharged $43 million. To ensure this won’t happen again, Hayat pledged to put more accountability measures in place, including stronger conflict-of-interest disclosure, independent oversight of major contracts, and transparent public reporting of budgets and revised costs. Winnipeg’s municipal election is coming up on Wednesday, Oct. 28.
