Mayoral hopeful Ouellette pledges to freeze police budget

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This article was published 25/08/2022 (853 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Robert-Falcon Ouellette would freeze the annual Winnipeg Police Service operating budget at $310.6 million for four years and invest in new community-based safety projects with the savings if he’s elected mayor this fall.

However, some fear the changes would force the service to lay off police officers, which would lengthen police response times.

Change is needed because increased police spending has not made the community safer, Ouellette said.

“Ever (increasing) police funding has had little impact on the crime Winnipeggers face day to day… Police also find themselves stretched very thin, reacting to an increasing number of 911 calls. They are treated as the Swiss army knife for the city’s problems” but lack the training and tools to address some crises directed their way, said Ouellette, during a campaign announcement Friday.

The candidate estimates the freeze would spare the city about $21 million in police budget increases over the four years, based on the average annual increase to the department’s operating spending from 2017 to 2022.

Community groups could apply to use the savings to fund proactive safety and crime-prevention programs with measurable outcomes, he said.

When asked if freezing the police budget could result in layoffs or service cuts, the candidate stressed his changes don’t dictate police staffing decisions.

“We’re not cutting staff… I think it’s up to police how they deploy their resources,” he said.

Imelda Adao, whose son Jaime Adao Jr. was stabbed to death during a home invasion in 2019, stood alongside Ouellette during the announcement. Adao said she supports the platform and hopes a greater focus on crime prevention could connect people with addictions to supports that help prevent them from committing crimes.

“When we saw the person who did (this) to our son, we (felt) so sad, so sorry about him. He (didn’t) know what he was doing probably because he (was) under the influence of drugs. So how (do) we help this kind of people?” said Adao.

Change is needed to prevent others from losing their loved ones “in one blink of an eye,” she said.

Ouellette also wants to revise police officer training to ensure it shifts away from what he deems a “paramilitary format.” Instead, more lessons should focus on combating racism, bias training and education about how colonization has affected Indigenous peoples, he said.

He promises to conduct a broad review of the Winnipeg Police Board, with the goal of strengthening its power.

The police board changes would require provincial legislative amendments, for which Ouellette promised to lobby the senior government. For example, he would like the board, which has the power to hire the police chief, to gain the authority to hire additional police executive members, such as deputy chiefs and superintendents.

But the chairman of the Winnipeg Police Board said he fears freezing the police budget would force the service to lay off officers, especially as high inflation raises the cost of gas, maintaining police buildings and other non-salary items.

“The only way to make up the difference would be complement reduction,” said Markus Chambers.

Chambers said he expects that would threaten public safety by lengthening response times for police emergencies.

“If there’s less dollars for policing, you’re going to see response times increase, which I don’t think anybody in the public wants to see, especially as we’re seeing a rise of violent crime in our city and across Canada,” he said.

While he expects “there’s always room for improvement” at the police board, provincial legislation is correct to prevent its members from directing police operations because they are not trained to do so, he said.

The Winnipeg Police Service declined to comment, stating it will not respond to mayoral announcements.

Ouellette is one of 14 candidates registered to run for mayor. The other candidates include Don Woodstock, Jenny Motkaluk, Chris Clacio, Rick Shone, Scott Gillingham, Shaun Loney, Idris Adelakun, Rana Bokhari, Desmond Thomas, Glen Murray, Jessica Peebles, Kevin Klein and Govind Thawani.

Winnipeggers will elect their next mayor and council on Oct. 26.

Joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @joyanne_pursaga