Winnipeg and choosing its future direction

Winnipeg, the capital of ‘Friendly Manitoba’, is becoming far less friendly to anyone who is struggling to survive. The city is also less and less supportive of the not-for-profit sector which struggles to support those struggling to survive.

Municipal politicians have long insisted that social services are provincial responsibilities. However, the city charter makes it clear that mayor and council are “to promote and maintain the health, safety and welfare of the inhabitants.”

Mayor and council are empowered to decide how they do that. Every four years, we citizens get to vote on what we think and feel about those decisions. That’s our democracy, weighted against the disenfranchised though it is.

In 2022, only 37.17 per cent of eligible voters, the lowest percentage since 1989, voted. Recent Probe Research data demonstrates that only one-third of Winnipeggers believe the next mayor and council will make even a minor difference in addressing Winnipeg’s challenges, and another third believe they will make no difference at all.

Except, of course, their decisions do make a difference. Where and how our city tax dollars are spent makes a difference.

The same Probe Research survey said more than a quarter of those polled identified crime and public safety as the top issue; 27 per cent said poverty and homelessness; with another 20 per cent highlighting the addictions crisis. Probe did not ask what people wanted done on these issues, just identified them.

In 2022, however, Probe did ask people what they thought would be the best way to reduce crime in Winnipeg. And 62 per cent said they wanted more spent on poverty reduction; only 19 per cent said more on policing.

Mayor and council chose instead to continue to spend more on policing while also creating a secondary enforcement program of community safety officers. The Winnipeg Police Service received 47 per cent of the 2026 tax-supported city budget, or $309 million of its total $370-million budget.

Compare these figures to the just 26 per cent (or $159 million) of the 2026 budget allocated for recreation, parks, urban forestry, libraries, arts and culture — budget areas that decades of research prove can be used to promote health and combat poverty.

In 2026, 61 organizations received city community grants, up from 47 in 2025. That should be good news. However, given that no additional funding was added to the pot of $2.6 million, previously funded programs were cut to pay for the expansion. This had a destabilizing impact on the sector, and again, those they are trying to serve.

With the exception of Coun. Emma Durand Wood (East Kildonan–Elmwood), elected in October 2025, and Coun. Evan Duncan (Charleswood–Tuxedo–Westwood), who is completing his first term, the mayor and every other councillor have served multiple terms. (Mayor Gillingham was a councillor before being elected mayor.) They have been in on the decisions that got us where we are now.

The 2024 decision to defund the Millennium Library’s Community Connections space was one such decision. It didn’t matter how many times community and sector representatives spoke to committees and council about how well it was working. Evidence was ignored. Community Connections was deemed to be providing social services. Mayor and council refused to stretch for $650,000 to support it.

It isn’t just about the money. Last September, when the encampment enforcement bylaw was proposed, sector representatives tried to tell mayor and council what the results would be. The bylaw was passed unanimously.

Connections and relationships were lost. Given the lack of a suitable housing supply, people ended up on the streets, often losing what few possessions they had. With the streets becoming the only place they could be, drug use — which is what some people do to cope with the harshest of realities — became more visible.

The Winnipeg Police Service responded according to its mandate.

“We cannot normalize open drug use” was the message from enforcement-first advocates at city hall.

Why not? We have normalized poverty, so why not one of its inevitable consequences?

Winnipeg Centre has long been the urban federal riding with the highest rates of child and family poverty in the country. Annual reports from Campaign 2000 Manitoba demonstrate the harms poverty causes. Even relatively short episodes of poverty can damage early childhood development. Campaign 2000 also makes clear how racialized and gendered poverty is in Winnipeg and Manitoba. All of these can be addressed through good public policy.

Drug enforcement sweeps will continue until at least November, which will also mark a full year of the encampment enforcement bylaw. That is, of course, when cold weather will set in and the number of people on the streets will decrease. So, will victory be declared? If yes, on what basis?

It should be acknowledged that WPS Chief Gene Bowers did listen to the sector after the first drug enforcement sweep. Some organizations have agreed to work with the police to try and mitigate any further harm. However, the city is once again expecting the province to fund the additional work it created for an already overworked sector.

When the encampment bylaw was implemented, there wasn’t even an accompanying evaluation plan. Once again demonstrating that evidence is at the very least a secondary if not lower consideration in decision making at City Hall. This will continue unless those of us who can vote make it clear we expect better.

And just like that, we could create a better city for all who inhabit it.

Kate Kehler is executive director of the Social Planning Council of Winnipeg.