Daniel McIntyre city council candidates met with locals from the downtown ward for a night of debating and drinking at Political Party night at the King’s Head pub this past Wednesday.
The candidates touched on a range of issues, with several questions coming from the audience, including strengthening community involvement, bed bugs and improving community gardens, along with other hot topics of the civic election such as crime and the City of Winnipeg’s contract with environment consulting firm Veolia Canada.
Keith Bellamy, John Cardoso, Cindy Gilroy-Price and incumbent Harvey Smith were in attendance to discuss their platforms and issues that matter to students and citizens in the downtown ward.
Bellamy noted that in looking at the there are many areas that are in crisis versus areas that are more stable, which made it difficult to create a unified sense of community in the ward and draw more people to the area.
“People aren’t staying in one place and getting to know who their neighbours are,” said Bellamy.
“As soon as they arrive, they’re trying to find a way out.”
Bellamy stated that the city needed a stronger housing strategy that created an environment that people would want to stay in.
He also felt increasing the amount of police officers on patrol in the city was not necessarily the best way to combat crime, and that more attention should be put into improving neighbourhood watch programs.
Incumbent Harvey Smith felt that the elimination of poverty was the solution to combating gang-related crime in the city.
“There are no gangs in Charleswood. Why is that? Because there’s not as much poverty in Charleswood,” said Smith, who then highlighted the need to give young people places to go in the evening to draw them away from gang activity.
Gilroy-Price felt that there were many people in the ward, even in the areas of crisis which Bellamy referred to, that were very active in community and who want to their area improve.
“They want to be part of that change; you just have to facilitate that to happen,” said Gilroy-Price.
She explained that there needed to be a collaborative approach with members of the community and city hall.
When asked about how he felt about the city’s treatment of new comers to Winnipeg, Cardoso said that there should be more assistance for new immigrants, considering he was once one himself.
“When you come to this country you are lost for a few years, and I know you need all the support you can get,” said Cardoso.
All four candidates were not supportive of the Veolia contract, which would see the firm designing, building and possibly maintaining $661 million worth of new facilities at the city’s North End and South End Water Pollution Control Centres.
On the issue of improving and increasing community garden space, Smith stated that as councillor, he has been supportive of community gardens in Daniel McIntyre and suggested making the garden lots permanent and mobilizing people to use backyard spaces.
Bellamy said that similar policies to housing policies should be put in place for community gardens, with a “use it or lose it” rule for maintaining the garden property.
Gilroy-Price felt that obtaining the space to begin and maintain community gardens should be made an easier process for people and that larger property could be used along the floodway.
Cardoso agreed with his opponents that community gardens were important to the community.
The debate ended on the topic of public transit in Winnipeg and whether they supported completing the rapid transit corridor as a bus rapid transit or light rail transit system.
Cardoso thought the city should study what other cities have done in regards to this issue and thought light rail transit should still be considered an option.
Bellamy, Gilroy-Price and Smith agreed that the corridor should be completed as a bus rapid transit system with Bellamy stating that switching to a light rail transit system half way through was “incoherent.”
