State of the City – Winnipeg mayor wants to see positive growth continue

Winnipeg mayor Brian Bowman gave his state of the city address today, identifying improvement of a variety of city services as a priority.

Speaking at the Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce Friday, Bowman said he is committed to overhauling the city’s online 311 services, which currently do not work well on mobile phones and tablets.

The mayor also said he’d like to see the city’s transit fleet switched to electric buses, but reiterated electrifying transit will take a combined effort.

“We’ve got the technology — there have been significant improvements since the four buses that are in fleet right now were first deployed,” Bowman said.

“I’m committed to it, but it is going to depend on how strong is that partnership with the provincial government and the federal government.”

The province froze its funding for transit last year but maintains it also wants to see the city swap to electric buses.

READ MORE: City should look to add 12-20 electric buses: report

Manitoba’s Minister of Municipal Relations Jeff Wharton said the province looks forward to helping the city in its efforts to reduce carbon emissions – including the switch to an electric transit fleet.

“Look – we’re transparent, we’re open, we’re creating great dialogue and the City of Winnipeg is one of our number one partners,” Wharton stated.

But he failed to explain when pressed exactly how the province would be working with the city on this change, and said the question was better directed toward Minister of Sustainable Development Rochelle Squires.

READ MORE: Brian Bowman to seek second term as Winnipeg’s mayor

The mayor also noted he wished to see a crackdown on aggressive panhandlers in the near future.

“I’ve heard from many Winnipeggers who feel there’s an uptick in the number of people at intersections in particular,” he said. “I just think we should be having a discussion. We’ll be talking to a number of stakeholders, including the police association.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "I've heard from many Winnipeggers who feel there's an uptick in the number of people at intersections in particular," he said. "I just think we should be having a discussion. We'll be talking to a number of stakeholders, including the police association."

Winnipeg Police Association president Maurice Sabourin said the initiative will be tough to implement.

Sabourin also said Winnipeg’s police officers are overly taxed and in need of more resources, particularly as they continue to deal with increasing numbers of calls involving meth.

“The citizens of Winnipeg right now are not getting effective service. When you have to wait 20 days for our members to show up to take a report of a break and enter,” Sabourin said. “Your home has been violated, and now you have to wait 20 days because our members are going from call to call to call.”

“We are one of the leanest budgets in Canada for the most violent and busiest jurisdiction in Canada,” he continued, and said he’d like to see increased funding to allow for more police resources.

Earlier this week, Bowman announced he will be running again for his second term as mayor, which will be decided in the municipal election Oct. 24.