Winnipeg mayor must stop spinning the crime numbers

Winnipeg’s mayor needs to stop telling people how much safer the city is becoming.

That message may work in a press conference. It may look good in a report highlighting selective statistics. But people living and working in this city know something is wrong. They see it every day on the streets, in their workplaces, and in their neighbourhoods.

The public deserves honesty about crime in Winnipeg. Not spin.

The city often points to recent police reports that show small declines in certain crime categories. The Winnipeg Police Service reported total crime volume down slightly, by about 0.8 percent, and a drop in violent crime severity in the latest annual report.

But statistics do not tell the full story of what is happening on the ground. Even the police acknowledge that calls for service remain extremely high, averaging more than 2,000 calls per day.

Numbers can be selected to support a political narrative. The reality on the street often tells a different story.

I have spoken with several front-line officers recently. Their message is clear and consistent. There are more illegal guns circulating in Winnipeg than most people realize.

Not hunting rifles owned by law-abiding Canadians. Illegal firearms carried by gang members.

They are describing weapons that include semi-automatic firearms and other high-powered guns used to threaten, intimidate, and commit crimes. These weapons are not registered. They are not legally owned. They are part of the growing influence of organized crime.

Statistics Canada reports that firearm-related violent crime across the country has increased significantly over the past decade, rising 55 percent since 2013.

Manitoba’s trend is even more troubling. Firearm-related violent crime in the province has risen more than 100 percent since 2014, the first year Scott Gillingham was elected and appointed to the Police Board.

And much of this violence is linked to gangs.

Across Canada, organized crime and street gangs are responsible for a significant share of firearm-related homicides and violent offences. In Winnipeg alone, there are an estimated 4,000 gang members and associates connected to roughly 25 to 30 gangs operating in the city.

Those numbers should concern every parent in this city.

These gangs are not minor criminal groups. Some have long histories in Winnipeg, including organizations involved in drug trafficking, illegal firearms, and violent crime.

This is the environment police officers are dealing with daily.

So when city hall says crime is improving, many residents wonder if their leaders are looking at the same Winnipeg they are.

Workers downtown certainly are not convinced.

Recently, multiple unions representing workers in the downtown core joined forces to demand action from governments to make the area safer. Employees who serve the public every day say they must constantly watch their surroundings and remain alert to potential threats.

That is not the sign of a city that feels safer.

At the same time, police resources continue to be redirected toward political reactions rather than long-term solutions.

Officers are assigned to guard buses, monitor transit routes, and protect politicians. These moves often follow the latest headline or pressure from city hall.

Front-line officers will tell you privately that those decisions take resources away from the core job of policing: targeting gangs, illegal firearms, and organized crime.

There is also a legitimate question about federal funding provided to Winnipeg to participate in the Gun Buyback Program.

City council agreed to accept that funding. In fact, Winnipeg was the only city in Canada to do so under that arrangement. Yet sources tell the Winnipeg Sun that some of the money may not have gone exactly where the federal program intended.

If that is true, taxpayers deserve answers.

Public safety is the first responsibility of government. Not managing the next election. Not protecting political messaging.

Keeping people safe.

When families begin leaving neighbourhoods because they no longer feel secure, leaders should pay attention. When workers feel unsafe downtown, governments should respond with action, not talking points.

Sooner or later, the spin stops working.

And the danger we ignore today becomes tomorrow’s tragedy.

If illegal firearms continue to circulate through Winnipeg’s gangs, it will not be long before we open the newspaper and read about a teenager killed by one of them or an innocent bystander.

That headline will not care about crime statistics or political messaging.

It will simply ask why more was not done sooner.

The mayor should stop trying to convince people that everything is improving or telling us it’s the same everywhere. He should start acknowledging the seriousness of the problem. Put more resources into gang enforcement and illegal gun investigations. Demand transparency on how crime funding is being used.

And focus on the one responsibility every politician shares.

Keeping people safe.

Before a young life is lost on the streets of Winnipeg.