{"id":227442,"date":"2019-08-19T19:56:48","date_gmt":"2019-08-19T23:56:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=227442"},"modified":"2019-08-19T19:56:48","modified_gmt":"2019-08-19T23:56:48","slug":"manitoba-election-trail-two-parties-spar-over-addiction-and-crime","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2019\/08\/19\/manitoba-election-trail-two-parties-spar-over-addiction-and-crime\/","title":{"rendered":"Manitoba election trail: Two parties spar over addiction and crime"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Tory Leader Brian Pallister promised $10 million for enforcement measures \u2014 including extra money for police drug units, a centralized criminal intelligence database and for Crime Stoppers drug tips. (File Photo<\/a>: Brian Pallister\/Facebook<\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

WINNIPEG \u2014 Manitoba New Democrats and Progressive Conservatives argued Monday as the provincial election campaign entered its second week over the rise in drug-related crime in downtown Winnipeg.<\/p>\n

Tory Leader Brian Pallister promised $10 million for enforcement measures \u2014 including extra money for police drug units, a centralized criminal intelligence database and for Crime Stoppers drug tips.<\/p>\n

The Tories, if re-elected Sept. 10, would move on recommendations from the Manitoba Police Commission that has been asked to examine the possible benefits of increased foot patrols, more security cameras and beefed-up enforcement of anti-panhandling bylaws, Pallister said.<\/p>\n

\u201cOver the last decade, crime in downtown Winnipeg is keeping too many Manitoba families away, and it’s making those who work and live here feel unsafe,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Winnipeg police Chief Danny Smyth highlighted a rising crime rate last month and cited what he called a crisis in the growing use of methamphetamines.<\/p>\n

The New Democrats do not have specific promises on crime or public safety in their campaign platform released earlier this month, but have many promises focused on treating addiction.<\/p>\n

NDP Leader Wab Kinew reiterated Monday an earlier promise that, if elected premier, he would open a safe consumption site in downtown Winnipeg \u2014 something the Tories have vehemently opposed.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhether we like it or not, some folks in the community will continue to use substances,\u201d Kinew said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd so long as that is happening in our backyards, we have a moral responsibility to use harm-reduction techniques to keep them and other community members safe.\u201d<\/p>\n

A safe consumption site would result in fewer needles in public places, reduce the spread of disease via needle-sharing and cut crime by giving addicts support, Kinew added.<\/p>\n

An NDP government would also set up a meth intervention program at a downtown shelter and a new live-in program for people addicted to alcohol, he said. He said the meth problem has grown rapidly because the Tories have failed to react.<\/p>\n

The Tories promised earlier in the campaign to set up a new detox facility, housing for people in recovery from addiction, and new drop-in centres for those seeking help. But a safe consumption site for meth is out of the question, the Tories said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe NDP are ignoring the advice of addictions experts and Winnipeg’s police chief, who have correctly noted that there is no such thing as a safe injection site for meth,\u201d Cameron Friesen, the province’s health minister seeking re-election, said in a written statement Monday.<\/p>\n

Friesen also pointed to media reports in Calgary that have cited a rise in crime in the area around a recent safe injection site.<\/p>\n

The Liberals focused their campaign Monday on child care.<\/p>\n

Leader Dougald Lamont said he would create 18,000 additional spaces over eight years to cut long wait times many parents face in finding quality child care.<\/p>\n

\u201cMany parents face waiting lists for child care so long that they would need to put a name on a waiting list well before their child is born,\u201d Lamont said in a news release.<\/p>\n

The Liberals are also promising that they would boost funding to child-care centres to ensure workers were well-paid and to help improve literacy among young children. The total cost would be $33 million a year, Lamont said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

WINNIPEG \u2014 Manitoba New Democrats and Progressive Conservatives argued Monday as the provincial election campaign entered its second week over …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":226053,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18,16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-227442","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news-ca","category-news","mauthors-steve-lambert","mauthors-the-canadian-press"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/227442","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=227442"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/227442\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":227446,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/227442\/revisions\/227446"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/226053"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=227442"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=227442"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=227442"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}