Mayor walks the city’s West End to speak with business owners on Safe Winnipeg Initiative

The Safe Winnipeg initiative, first announced in March, is the City’s latest effort to tackle crime through stronger coordination between police foot patrols, community safety officers, and local support agencies. As part of this push, the Mayor joined leaders from the West End BIZ for a public safety tour of area retail stores on Monday.

“They need to be safe, so their employees, customers, and community members have confidence to come into their stores or restaurants,” said Mayor Scott Gillingham.

“Especially in these areas, the residents and business owners deserve a safe community.”

The Mayor’s first stop was Flowers in Bloom, a local shop that’s been part of the West End community for over a decade.

Owner Angela Hyland says frequent minor thefts and acts of vandalism prompted her to install three security cameras. Still, she’s hopeful that increased patrols and new safety initiatives will make a difference.

“They came in, so I thought no more on this fence, that’s why everything is on this side, graffiti on the gates, I have unbreakable windows, but still they marred it,” said Hyland.

“I want him to understand, as a business owner, I want to fix this going forward. Let’s not let this get any worse.”

Just a few doors down at Cobra Collectibles, owner Michael Paille has installed over 60 cameras to deter theft, and staff are equipped with naloxone and eyewash kits to assist people in need.

“As long as you can get through to someone, it’s easy, but it’s the ones you can’t that’s the problem,” said Paille.

Paille also recently hosted a crime prevention conference and compiled four years of local crime data and business stories into a report, which he since presented to the Mayor.

“You can have 100 people in the room, but then there’s 3 per cent that cause problems, and it makes it hard because people see it on the news and think it’s everyone, but we have amazing people in this area,” Paille explained.

Both business owners echoed the Mayor’s belief that collaboration is essential and said they hope these efforts lead to lasting and visible improvements in safety.

Businesses in the area looking to get involved can call 211 for non-urgent support, or 911 in the case of serious incidents