PCs target property crime; NDP focuses on francophone community

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This article was published 26/09/2023 (754 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The provincial election campaign continued Tuesday with two public-safety promises from the Progressive Conservatives and a pledge from the New Democratic Party to fund francophone communities.

On Tuesday morning, the PCs promised an extra $1 million annually for the Winnipeg Police Service’s property-crime unit if the Tories are re-elected on Oct. 3.

Fort Whyte PC candidate Obby Khan made the announcement on Tuesday morning at the Burnett Avenue campaign office of the candidate for Rossmere, Andrew Micklefield.

Khan said the additional $1 million would help create between 50 to 60 additional shifts for WPS officers to work on property-crime investigations, but could not say whether those extra shifts would be weekly, monthly or within another time frame.

He said the exact details of how the funding would be used would be worked out with the WPS. The police operating budget accounts for $326.6 million of the city’s $1.3-billion 2023 budget.

The Fort Whyte candidate added that the WPS property-crime unit would also use the money to implement community crime-prevention initiatives.

“They need more officers on hand to deal with crime,” Khan told reporters.

Khan said property crime has been a particular concern of constituents he’s spoken to on the campaign trail. Khan and Micklefield also used the campaign announcement to throw barbs at the NDP and federal Liberal Party, calling both soft on crime.

Tuesday afternoon, Waverley PC candidate Jon Reyes and Dawson Trail candidate Bob Lagassé pledged a $5 million one-time spend on post-traumatic stress disorder services for first responders.

“Police, firefighters and paramedics put their lives on the line every day to protect Manitobans, and when these brave men and women are exposed to traumatic incidents in their line of duty, we need to have their backs,” Reyes said.

Reyes said the money would be administered to organizations that provide services for prevention, early intervention and treatment for police, firefighters and paramedics, as well as educational campaigns.

The PC candidates also promised a Tory government would work with Manitoba Public Insurance to create a charity licence plate to support the Manitoba Motorcycle Ride for Dad, which raises funds to battle prostate cancer.

Retired Winnipeg police officer and former Winnipeg Police Association president Maurice Sabourin endorsed the PC campaign promises, which he said are dear to his heart.

“I can tell you first-hand that first responders are subjected to things that most people would not want to see to keep us all safe,” Sabourin said.

The Tory crime and safety promises came after a pledge on Monday to establish a $3-million fund for security upgrades and repairs at retail stores and hotels.

Meanwhile, the Manitoba NDP pledged to bolster education support for the francophone community, announcing millions in additional funding.

“There are many, many needs, and we’ve started with education because that’s where we’ve heard a lot,” NDP Leader Wab Kinew told reporters outside the historic St. Boniface Cathedral.

If victorious in the upcoming provincial election, the NDP would provide funding for French-language education at all levels — including daycare — and develop a strategy to train and recruit French teachers, he said.

The promise includes $100,000 in salary funding to restore the assistant deputy minister in the Bureau de l’Éducation française and a $5 million capital investment in the Centre culturel franco-manitobain. A portion of the provincial education budget would be reserved specifically for French teachers, and additional funding would be used to improve Info Santé phone line services.

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Kinew said the pandemic revealed deficiencies with the 24-hour phone line, with the service sometimes unavailable or ineffective at communicating health information as a result of a lack of French-speaking public-health nurses.

The Opposition leader accused the PC government of ignoring francophone communities and cutting services.

The promised investments are based on a list of 15 requests submitted by the la Société de la francophonie manitobaine, the NDP said.

erik.pindera@freepress.mb.ca

tyler.searle@freepress.mb.ca

Tyler Searle
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Since joining the paper in 2022, Tyler has found himself driving through blizzards, documenting protests and scouring the undersides of bridges for potential stories.

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Erik Pindera
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Erik Pindera is a reporter for the Free Press, mostly focusing on crime and justice.

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