Gord Steeves (CHRISD.CA FILE)
Winnipeg mayoral candidate Gord Steeves unveiled an ambitious plan on Friday to tackle safety issues in the city’s downtown.
Steeves laid out a plan to ensure people who are drunk or high will not be tolerated to linger in the downtown area.
“The vast, vast majority of the people who live, work and patronize downtown make it a neighbourhood we’d all like to see flourish,” Steeves said. “Regrettably a very small minority of these folks cause issues that make downtown feel unsafe.”
Steeves said he will work with Winnipeg police and Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries to reduce violations of the Intoxicated Persons Detention Act.
The former city councillor also said he would create a high priority area map for police to focus their attention on P1 areas, while also establishing a police office on Portage Avenue. Twenty new cadets would also be hired to patrol downtown at a cost of between $600,000-$800,000.
Steeves also pledged to increase lighting in downtown’s “dark areas” and install more CCTV cameras.
