Gathered in a banquet hall Wednesday, dozens of front-line community workers listened as the provincial justice minister pledged to listen to their ideas on government policy and addressing root causes of crime in Manitoba.
“We are accepting any kind of input that you can offer and we appreciate your perspectives about ways we can make our province better,” Matt Wiebe told the crowd at the Fort Garry Hotel.
“Advocacy work plays a crucial role in bringing attention and affecting change to our system.”
MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS
Aiden Enns, Interim Executive Director of the John Howard Society of Manitoba, at REVIVE.
Representatives from more than 30 non-profit and social organizations gathered at the downtown hotel to partake in a community services symposium hosted by the John Howard Society of Manitoba.
Dubbed Revive, the event featured keynote speeches and workshops with a focus on criminal justice reform.
The symposium came one day after the Winnipeg Police Service announced violent crime in the city rose in 2023 for the third consecutive year. Data included in the WPS annual report also showed a spike in youths accused of violent crime.
“The recent report that the violent crime statistics are on the rise is disconcerting and points to the urgent need for greater street level support for families who are trying to keep their kids in school, fed and engaged in life giving activities,” said John Howard interim executive director Aiden Enns.
“I’m hoping that the desperation we see in the faces of many will turn around with more support for the agencies representing them.”
His voice trembled slightly as he described Winnipeg’s social landscape as challenging, saying many of those working in the sector are overworked, underpaid and overwhelmed by bureaucratic and financial barriers within the criminal justice system.
Wiebe’s invitation for input and collaboration with local agencies was a welcome “sign of goodwill” from the province, Enns said.
“We are going to take them up on that.”
Speaking to the Free Press outside the banquet hall, Wiebe reiterated his commitment to unifying government and social agencies.
“(There is) a lot of work to do. We know that years of cuts to social services, to health care, to education and families and to justice has led us to a place where we’ve got a lot of challenges in front of us,” he said.
“What we are trying to do right now is understand what the resources are and how we can bring them together and then amplify that work as a government.”
In the long term, the province intends to focus on investments that address the root causes of crime; in the short term, it is boosting funding for police, Wiebe said.
MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS
Manitoba Justice Minister Matt Wiebe makes the opening remarks at the REVIV.
He referenced a recent pledge to fund an undetermined amount of overtime pay for Winnipeg police engaged in initiatives to curb retail crime.
“Their presence and the work that they do in the immediate (future) will help to deal with some of the hotspots that we’ve seen,” Wiebe said.
Kendell Joiner, chief executive pathfinder of the Native Clan Organization, said he would like to see the province open its chequebook as it appeals for advice and support from the social sector.
“We’ve been doing the work in terms of filling government gaps,” he said. “So, just inviting government to have real tangible relationships and dialogue, but also understanding … they have to be attaching funding.”
The Revive symposium was funded by the federal government through its community services recovery fund, a one-time $400 million investment intended to support community-based organizations.
Enns said he intends to ask the province to invest in similar symposiums in the future.
“This event brings together so many of us that feel isolated in the work that we do and assures us that we are not alone and our work is important,” he said.
tyler.searle@freepress.mb.ca
Tyler Searle
Reporter
Tyler Searle is a multimedia producer who writes for the Free Press‘s city desk. A graduate of Red River College Polytechnic’s creative communications program, he wrote for the Stonewall Teulon Tribune, Selkirk Record and Express Weekly News before joining the paper in 2022. Read more about Tyler.
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