My "Safe Streets, Real Pathways Home Plan" to address homelessness and public safety

My “Safe Streets, Real Pathways Home Plan” to address homelessness and public safety

I am unveiling a comprehensive plan to address homelessness, addiction, public disorder and neighbourhood safety. Winnipeg needs an approach that brings compassion, public safety and accountability together.

That’s why I am committing to stronger municipal leadership and coordination between the City, Province, Indigenous governments and organizations, police and emergency services, outreach organizations, businesses, housing providers and residents.

Winnipeg is a caring city, but caring cannot mean accepting the conditions we see today. A child should be able to use a playground safely. A senior should be able to wait for a bus without fear. A downtown worker should feel comfortable walking to their car. A small-business owner should not be left alone to deal with violence, open drug use and repeated property damage.

And a person living outside should not be abandoned to an unsafe encampment, an overdose, exploitation or another winter without a real path forward.

My plan recognizes that homelessness, addiction, mental-health crises, public disorder and neighbourhood safety are interconnected challenges. While housing, health care and addictions treatment are primarily provincial responsibilities, the consequences are experienced throughout Winnipeg and require municipal leadership.

As mayor, I will establish a Mayor’s Office of Community Safety and Housing Outcomes within my first 30 days. The office will bring together the municipal departments and community partners responsible for public safety, outreach, housing and neighbourhood services, with clearly assigned responsibilities and publicly reported outcomes.

I am also proposing a time-limited, professionally operated managed-community pilot for people who cannot immediately access appropriate housing, treatment or shelter. The pilot would provide basic services, professional 24-hour management, safety protocols, individual assessments and direct pathways toward transitional, supportive or permanent housing.

This is not a permanent tent city, and it is not a substitute for housing. It is a safer, more organized bridge between the street and long-term stability. We cannot simply move people from one block to another and call that a solution.

The plan would also establish consistent responses to violence, trafficking, intimidation, weapons and serious property crime, while maintaining a clear distinction between homelessness and criminal behavior. People experiencing homelessness should not be criminalized for their housing status, while public safety standards must be consistently enforced.

Neighbourhoods experiencing significant impacts from homelessness, addiction and public disorder would receive targeted safety and stabilization plans that bring together enforcement, outreach, sanitation, lighting, fire and overdose prevention, support for residents and businesses, and connections to shelter, treatment and housing.

I also intend to make public accountability a central part of the approach. My proposed office would publicly track measures including housing placements and retention, 311 response times, emergency-service demand, crime trends, connections to addictions treatment and the remediation of public spaces.

Enforcement alone will not resolve this crisis, and outreach without consequences for violence, trafficking and exploitation will not keep people safe. Winnipeg requires both.

The objective is not simply to reduce the visibility of homelessness, but to achieve measurable and lasting improvements in safety, housing stability and quality of life across Winnipeg.

Winnipeg does not have to choose between compassion and safety. We can restore our public spaces without abandoning the people living in them. We need leadership, coordination and a plan that is measured by results — not announcements.

Kevin Klein