Crisis outreach services and foot patrols are being expanded in downtown Winnipeg this summer in a bid to improve safety for residents, workers and visitors.
Downtown Community Safety Partnership patrols are picking up more hours to increase their visibility and outreach work on the streets.
The nearly $600,000 cost is being covered by the Manitoba government, Mayor Scott Gillingham’s office and the Downtown Winnipeg Business Improvement Zone.
MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS
Premier Wab Kinew and other stakeholders announce plans to improve downtown safety Tuesday morning at True North Square.
The province is also spending up to $1 million to help set up a sobering centre at N’Dinawemak — Our Relatives’ Place at 190 Disraeli Fwy, said Premier Wab Kinew.
Funds will be used for seven new health and mental health workers, and renovations to the site. People who are in crisis can be taken to the facility to help provide supports, officials said at a news conference Tuesday in True North Square.
“Today’s announcement to continue to invest in much needed additional health and mental health resources and supports at N’Dinawemak will undoubtedly improve relative care and well-being at the shelter,” Frank Parkes, executive director of N’Dinawemak, said in a news release.
The province is providing $100,000 for additional training for downtown organizations that provide mental health and well-being services.
The downtown safety partnership and Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service, meanwhile, are now using an integrated system that allows the organizations to better communicate and triage calls involving people who are experiencing a mental health, addiction or other crisis.
Officials said it is the first partnership in Canada between an outreach organization and emergency service, and it is expected to help free up WFPS members for other calls.
“Our dispatch collaboration with the WFPS is already showing positive results,” said Downtown Community Safety Partnership executive director Greg Burnett. “Building on this initiative allows us to further extend co-ordination and assist in getting the community the right resources at the right time.”
Kinew said the summer safety plan is going into effect immediately. It was developed in response to concerns raised by downtown residents, workers, businesses and organizations.
chris.kitching@freepress.mb.ca
Chris Kitching
Reporter
Chris Kitching is a general assignment reporter at the Free Press. He began his newspaper career in 2001, with stops in Winnipeg, Toronto and London, England, along the way. After returning to Winnipeg, he joined the Free Press in 2021, and now covers a little bit of everything for the newspaper. Read more about Chris.
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