Mayor announces new public-safety initiative in annual State of the City address By: Joyanne Pursaga Posted: 2:11 PM CDT Friday, Mar. 14, 2025 Last Modified: 5:53 PM CDT Friday, Mar. 14, 2025 Updates

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Mayor Scott Gillingham will launch a new “Safe Winnipeg Initiative” and add a senior adviser on public safety to his office to help combat crime.

Gillingham, who made the announcements during his third State of the City address at the convention centre Friday, said the initiative will bring safety organizations, businesses and the community together to track crime trends, share intelligence and make “real-time decisions on where to act before problems escalate.”

The mayor said he’s already contacted police, Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service, Downtown Community Safety Partnership and Community Safety Team leaders to prepare for the work.

“This isn’t about being tough or soft on crime — it’s about being smart on crime.”–Mayor Scott Gillingham

And he’ll hire a senior adviser on public safety, who will be tasked to get city hall, the Winnipeg Police Service, Winnipeg Police Board and safety organizations working together on a framework for a new mental-health emergency service.

“This isn’t about being tough or soft on crime — it’s about being smart on crime,” said Gillingham.

In a question-and-answer session after the speech, the mayor said he would also like to see city staff work at their offices full time, not at home.

“My expectation as mayor is that our staff are back in the office five days a week,” he said.

Gillingham said he believes that change will enhance city services and trigger more collaboration. He said it’s too soon to say when the shift could take place, whether certain jobs would be exempted, what penalties workers could face if they reject the mandate or whether the change will apply citywide or just for those whose offices are downtown.

“I’m a believer that the best public service is when people are working from the office,” he said, adding a requirement for some city staff to work at the office at least three days a week was implemented recently and appears to be going well.

The city is currently recruiting for a new chief administrative officer, who will help guide further steps, he said.

After the event, the mayor told media the safety initiative will ramp up collaboration between agencies under a new formal plan. He said $200,000 has been set aside to get the work started.

“It’s just to take what these groups are already doing, bring others to the table, use data, use crime trends and make our city safer,” he said.

Keith Horn, president of the North End BIZ, said he’s pleased to see a focus on combating crime. He said crime is a key reason why the number of members in his organization plummeted from 110 to 57 over the past 10 years.

“Every time you pick up the paper or listen to the news, you always hear about some crime going on. Something has to be done,” said Horn.

Broken windows, customers being harassed and graffiti, along with fewer patrons visiting the North End overall, are common complaints, he said.

“Every time you pick up the paper or listen to the news, you always hear about some crime going on. Something has to be done.”–Keith Horn

Loren Remillard, president of the Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce, voiced support for the mayor’s focus on safety.

“Right now, when you have high criminal activity, it creates an unsafe environment for (businesses) to make that investment,” he said.

And he welcomed plans to get more city workers back downtown.

“We need everyone to come back downtown for the economy, for our businesses, for the safety of our downtown, for the vibrancy of our city. We’re not asking people to do something they didn’t do before the pandemic,” said Remillard.

The head of the city’s largest union said a grievance was filed after the city took its first steps to shift away from remote work and more research is needed before further changes take place.

“As far as the general principle of whether (the city) should allow certain people to work from home…. Is this something that’s being offered by other employers that they’re competing with? Is this going to cause a recruitment or a retention issue?”–Gord Delbridge

“As far as the general principle of whether (the city) should allow certain people to work from home…. Is this something that’s being offered by other employers that they’re competing with? Is this going to cause a recruitment or a retention issue? If I was the CAO, I would want to be able to provide that information to the mayor (to help make) an accurate decision,” said Gord Delbridge, president of the Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 500.

Delbridge said the grievance is aimed at ensuring union members are treated fairly in cases where child-care challenges, medical issues or other impediments complicate their return to the office.

Meanwhile, Gillingham said the city exceeded a key housing goal he set at his 2024 State of the City address to get 8,000 new housing units — including single homes, apartments and condos — approved for development by Nov. 30. On Friday, he said the effort led to 14,000 new housing units by the end of year.

Looking forward, the mayor said Winnipeg’s economy is facing “another huge problem we still haven’t figured out how to solve,” while a screen beside him displayed a picture of U.S. President Donald Trump.

“Right now, of course, one of the biggest challenges is an unstable, unpredictable trade relationship with our largest partner. Washington’s policies seem to change by the hour, and that creates uncertainty for local businesses that depend on export sales and cross-border supply chains,” said Gillingham.

He said Winnipeg must proactively diversify trade relationships to help address the issue.

joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.ca

X: @joyanne_pursaga