Winnipeg mayoral candidate Scott Gillingham (SCOTTGILLINGHAM.COM)
Mayoral candidate Scott Gillingham says he will make $100,000 available immediately, if re-elected on October 28, to keep a community outreach partnership working alongside Winnipeg police in the West End.
Speaking in the West End, Gillingham reaffirmed his support for Winnipeg Police Service operations targeting open drug use and trafficking, which began in June. He said enforcement must continue alongside outreach that connects vulnerable people with treatment and support.
“We can’t arrest our way out of an addiction crisis. But we can’t ignore the dealers who profit from it, either,” Gillingham said.
The Community Outreach Partnership brings together police and Indigenous-led outreach organizations. Ka Ni Kanichihk provides a coordinator who organizes weekly outreach walks and acts as a liaison between police and community groups. The organization has absorbed those costs until now but says it cannot cover them beyond October 31.
According to WPS figures released October 13, joint operations since August have resulted in 3,758 community outreach engagements and 55 arrests.
Gillingham says the funding is part of his broader community safety plan, which includes hiring more police officers for neighbourhood patrols and creating a new Community Crisis Response to handle mental health and addictions-related calls.
