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Last week I shared that I was encouraged by conversations with officials at the City and Province and with our partners at Downtown Community Safety Partnership (DCSP) to address growing safety concerns this summer. We have been working collaboratively and quickly to develop an action plan with both short and long-term solutions for our community.
Tuesday, our BIZ team was proud to join Premier Kinew, Mayor Gillingham, Greg Burnett, Executive Director of DCSP, Frank Parkes, Executive Director of N'Dinawemak and members of the Winnipeg Fire Paramedics Services (WFPS) to announce nearly $1.6 million to establish the Downtown Safety Action Plan.
WATCH the press conference here →
The action plan includes over $435,000 to enhance and increase visible presence with more feet on the street and eyes and ears in the downtown community this summer – a top priority for our BIZ members and something we strongly advocated for. In the coming days, you will see more than double the patrols in the neighbourhood as DCSP increases its hours and partners with other community organizations like Bear Clan and OPK. We know having more people downtown – living, working, visiting and patrolling the area - increases public safety and vibrancy of our community.
The BIZ is proud to provide $50,000 to support this critical work, and I also want to commend the Mayor for the City’s $100,000 contribution and the Premier for the Province’s $285,000 in funding towards improving safety downtown this summer.
Additionally, this action plan will help DCSP build on its new integrated system with the WFPS which allows the two organizations to coordinate their response efforts – a first-of-its-kind partnership in Canada between an outreach organization and an emergency service provider.
Working 24/7, DCSP has the expertise and is a recognized, trusted, and connected agency within our downtown community. I am confident these additional funds to scale up DCSP’s operations will have a positive impact in our community this summer, and well beyond.
The Downtown Safety Action Plan also includes a provincially funded sobering centre in N’Dinawemak, providing a safe place for people struggling with mental health or addictions to stay while they get help from trained health professionals.
The Downtown Safety Action Plan is the result of collaboration and coordination between government and community leaders. It’s another example of what we can accomplish when we work together.
LEARN more about → DCSP
READ the → Downtown Safety Action Plan
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