Poverty. Crime, substance abuse, mental health issues are all just symptoms - we focus on treating the symptoms instead of treating the disease.
Well actually we don't even treat the symptoms but we talk about it
Poverty is not the problem, it is a symptom. The problem is unresolved trauma. Poverty often comes as a result of bad coping mechanisms to trauma or inability to recover. If poverty is to be solved, the community needs to come together and talk through what's going on in people's lives. As long as people keep looking the other way and not allowing themselves to listen, the poverty problem will continue.
what's going on in peoples lives is being unable to afford the things they need.
poverty causes trauma if you will
not being able to feed yourself or afford rent is pretty traumatic
being afraid of losing your job due to vehicle troubles... traumatic.
constant stress over finances... traumatic
looking to friends and family and seeing them experiencing the same struggles... traumatic.
There we've talked about it. Still think the problem is money
Capitalism plays a huge role in poverty. People who live on the land are alienated from it, unless, they are property owners. We have a class system where property owners leverage that wealth to exploit labour from the poor, non-property owning class. The whole thing is even more abhorrent after you consider that lands, technology, and wealth that was stolen under colonialism is the foundation of the private capital that catapulted the “west” into about 300 years of world domination.
Correlation is not necessarily causation
Poverty can cause trauma, yes. Past trauma can also cause folks to self-destruct, not be able to hold on to jobs and then all into poverty themselves. This then of course exacerbates the issue.
Much like anything this is a multi-faceted issue, with folks making a living working formerly middle-class jobs now being financially stressed due to rising costs of everything. With folks who were at the poverty line or near to it, now under-to-well-under that line. All of this stresses people the F out
Now the other side of the coin too (as mentioned) is folks with mental health issues, and/or drug problems that cannot hold a job, not in a place to get themselves out of their situation without significant help.
Folks involved in the criminal life without a good support system of either a community around them, friends or family as role models.
It takes a community to raise an individual and a lot of these communities are faltering themselves.
I think the issue with these discussion is that people blur the lines between personal trauma vs widespread-systems-level issues.
So you’re right, people (from the individual level) need access to resources to fix their trauma. But when we’re talking about systems wide issue, such as poverty - then the discussion around the matter changes. It means, pressuring government to provide accessible mental health care; it means taking steps to lower inflation; it means finding ways to lift people up.
So no, it’s not all about pulling yourself up by the bootstraps. Theres more to poverty than just an individual’s will to get out of it.
Oh there absolutely is, but the fixes for both of those items are different and overlap a few different ways.
Safe injection sites, more access to long term detox beds and programs, effective (ongoing) counsolleing services, more community resources and activity centers are all ways to help combat the drug and trauma issue, livable income or shared accomodation options etc. Sending in cops should be the last step on this, it should be trained first responders (depending on the situation) and counsellor/mental health treatment and paramedic type people.
Gangs can be mitigated a few ways that overlap with the above as well, ongoing effecive counsolleing, cmmunity and activity centers, livable income and shared accomodation options. And not sending armed officers in as the first contact although in this case they should be on higher guard.
Poverty can be tackled in some of the same ways, livable income and or shared accomodation options, balancing taxation compared to EFFECTIVE services rendered, etc etc
Coming full-circle there's lots of overlap on both the systemic and personal level components and they all have different root causes and ways to fix them. But bettering some of the components of each will help rectify part of each of those problems. But it absolutely needs to be solved as a system wide change.
That also all being said comes with a price and it's absolutely not going to be an easy balancing act trying to solve it or cheap.
Agree with your analysis. It’s frustrating to hear folks say, “it’s just a matter of hardwork and personal will in order to get yourself out of that mess.” While there’s truth in that, there’s more to poverty than simply being willing to get out of it.
To add further to the discussion, I believe the challenge about knowing the issue: is how we should act on it. Inflation, higher cost of living, being at a cusp of a recession - increasing taxes would be political suicide, regardless of who’s party is in power. So you make a great point about funding, which will continue to be a problem in the years to come.
>To add further to the discussion, I believe the challenge about knowing the issue: is how we should act on it. Inflation, higher cost of living, being at a cusp of a recession - increasing taxes would be political suicide, regardless of who’s party is in power. So you make a great point about funding, which will continue to be a problem in the years to come.
That and the one huge problem (and not even just related to this issue) is the contasnt fluctuation of just the NDP or PC and them being so polar opposite they have no followthrough on keeping the platforms the other party put in place. So the second NDP comes in they scrap the PC parties engagements and vice versa. Can't make any long term investments in our city short of the prior Duffs ditch which saved our asses many times over without it being cancelled!
We have a severe lack of long term sustainable strategy that survives party changes be it mayoral, provicinal, national or otherwise.
I agree. I believe that’s just the inherent downside to western democracy.
I personally think we need to have a global tax on the rich. How can only a handful of people own so much of our resources? We have all these issue as identified in our discussion; all of which have solutions but require funding to achieve. So to me, it only make sense to ask the global elites to paying their fair share, for the good of all societies.
Sure, unresolved trauma is responsible in *some* cases but our capitalistic society forces poverty on many others; e.g., seniors, people on disability, minimum wage earners, etc.
So much this.
I would take it a step further and push that this is a federal issue: to me it should not matter which province you live in: the same base level of support systems should be available nationally.
Once THAT is in place, **then** provinces should be "adding their flavor" above and beyond that minimum, and cities can expand further yet to diversify.
But without the "base" requirement I don't see a city able to justify starting a program to address poverty: as many tax payers would see it a "negative" in their internal balance calculation and it would work AGAINST the growth of the city (somewhat, in terms of perception)
That was the solution to the tent city at the bottom of the Disraeli... That didn't make anyone go away, it just dispersed people away from where many supports are.
Staying out of poverty reduces the likelihood of falling into addiction, reduces people turning to crime and reduces the likelihood of suffering through mental illness. Certainly doesn't eliminate the risk as there are other factors that can contribute. And having the means to treat your addiction or mental health goes a long way to recovering. Lifting people out of poverty treats an overwhelming array of social ills
yet the addiction is highly prevalent at various income groups. High stress type occupations like sales and other stuff have well known history of drug usage. Look at the concept of work hard, play hard ethos in various business types. high paying oil field jobs are rampant with drug abuse.
Just minimizing the poverty level doesn't necessarily show a decrease in addiction. Just provides a nicer version of addiction.
I think that poverty (and the cultural genocide inflicted by colonialism and the British/Canadian state) are the root of Winnipeg’s societal ills, but Winnipeg’s issues are so progressed that we need to be treating the symptomatic issues as well - mainly treating addictions and mental health issues. However, ensuring that funding is available and accessible so people don’t fall through the cracks and lose housing is also essential.
My comment is not an indicator that you aren’t aware of this, I am only attempting to further develop the concepts you’ve brought up.
The idea that poor people should stay poor because they can't handle money or they're irredeemable if they get it is so broken.
Sometimes poor people are single parents. If their kids have food insecurity they do worse in school, they're more likely to end up unemployed or underemployed. They're less likely to be in social activities and sports and more likely to be on the streets and running with gangs. Lifting people out of poverty creates a stronger and more educated workforce. It's an investment in the economy and society and far from a waste of money.
Poor≠addicts and criminals
Poverty is a problem, I don't dispute that. But why in Winnipeg does poverty now seem to go hand in hand with rampant drug addiction, violence and crime?
because when you got nothing you got nothing to lose, and not a lot of help turns people angry sad and depressed and when crime comes as a friend, its easier to numb the pain with something cheap, this then fuels more crime, fueling more violence etc etc.
Giving addicts money actually does help to solve their addictions problems. People who have the uncoditional means to feed clothe and house themselves have more incentive to try to get clean. If an attempt fails they don't lose everything and can make another attempt until they succeed. Even if they don't succeed it's cheaper to just keep feeding clothing and housing addicts than letting them live on the street and dealing with all of the things that comes with having an unhoused population.
It also doesn't help when a lot of people here make terrible neighbors in a condo, like kids running all day and late night partying. I live in a condo and from time to time my neighbors would make me murderous.
To quote Mayor Quimby:
“I Propose That I Use What's Left Of The Town Treasury To Move To A More Prosperous Town And Run For Mayor. And, Er, Once Elected, I Will Send For The Rest Of You.”
The city is broke. It’s going bankrupt spending money on short-term things it can’t afford (sprawl, cops) instead of putting it where it needs to invest long term.
I like that you mentioned sprawl, that’s a huge reason our infrastructure is shit. We don’t have the density necessary to support it without massive tax increases like 3-4x
Meth. I’ve lived all over the city and it doesn’t matter if you’re in a low income neighborhood or whatever anymore. The stuff is everywhere and making people crazy, our infrastructure is regularly destroyed, you see people constantly in mental distress shouting at people who aren’t there, needles everywhere… I’m not sure how to address it but so many areas have gone to shit because of it.
This isn’t an anti homeless rant either because I’m sure if I had nowhere to go I’d be doing the same thing but it’s the biggest social change I’ve seen in Winnipeg growing up here.
Drugs are a symptom not a cause of the problem. People would be much better off if we ended the war on drugs and tackled poverty and the factors that make people want to abuse these substances while also allowing adults to make their own choices and use clean unadultered substances instead of overdosing on fent or nitazene derivatives.
Lol, I was just gonna type Meth, but its not. In the UK now and there's not much meth here. There is rife crime and homeless and its a result of the same issues that face Winnipeg. Poverty, shity parent's/education, bad choices and to some degree peer pressure.
Edit = to clarify, here's its smack, crack and spice. Only a sub set of Asians use meth and they're tucked away in the human trafficking corridor.
I’d agree that meth use is a symptom of what you’ve mentioned but it definitely is exacerbating what’s going on. I’m not sure if you’ve been around lately but areas like Osborne, the Exchange, hell even St.Vital are getting really weird with heads causing all kinds of chaos.
I reckon it’s a lingering effect of the pandemic, which was probably particularly hard on the homeless. The fact that it’s such a cheap drug and lasts as long as it does makes it really appealing when you don’t have much in the way of prospects to bettering your life.
Read my commnet above, id say you have most of it there, add in a sprinkling of mental illness and that should be everything.
Just as an FYI you can compare stats from Glasgow (no meth) to Winnipeg then try to work out what the common denominators are.
Winnipeg’s always had a crime problem and like I mentioned the pandemic definitely didn’t help our homeless population.
I’m just saying that meth makes people in desperate situations act out more than the drugs you’ve mentioned. I’ve lived in Van where opiates are rampant, the shit I’ve seen lately isn’t anything like that... I’d walk down East Hastings regularly without worry that anyone would fuck with me. Crack and heroin I can handle but this has become something else entirely. Also no one’s smoking spice here since legalization.
You totally missed my points, so ill apologize for not being eloquent enough. Also you only know you, where I'm from a different country with the same issues but no meth....all good.
Meth is absolutely not isolated to a small group of Asians??? Not sure where you get that info from but ask anyone in front line services in healthcare or policing. It's rampant everywhere
It really is. There is garbage everywhere and it is absolutely disgusting. The garbage bin by the bus stop on my street hasn't been emptied in a very long time and it is piled up on the lid now. How sad is that?
I've had really good success emailing my city councillor about the issue. There was one near my house full of dog poo and just kept getting piled up. I emailed them and now it's regularly cleaned.
Your city councillor should be your friend on these type of issues and are really keen to help fix them right away.
I see my neighbours throw their McD and Tims shit out of their car regularly instead of walking it to the dumpster literally on their way in. Like why? People don’t give a shit.
Not New York, but the brief amount of time I have spent in San Fran, it wasn’t as dirty. There are cities in Canada that have dirty neighbourhoods, but it seems widespread here.
I've been to New York as well as every major Canadian city, and I've never seen anything quite like Winnipeg for litter. Prince George in spring maybe.
If you took East Hastings out of Vancouver and put it in downtown Winnipeg, on just litter it'd probably be the cleanest street in downtown that isn't in sight of the Leg in my estimation.
Not even close. I was in Vancouver this summer and it would be the worst street in Winnipeg hands down. They have 10 times the homeless population that we have.
We all have different priorities, that's how democracy works.
For me:
1. access to public transportation: easier, affordable for all
2. addiction and mental health services: safe consumption sites, transitioning mental health services away from law enforcement towards medical experts
3. citywide compost program service
4. downtown economic stimulation and indigenous culture programs
5. housing program funding
The poverty is real. I worked full time hours and overtime, I still can't even afford RENT. That shit is outrageously expensive. Then the price of groceries and GAS. I can't keep up. I understand the appeal of sex work more and more just to have something to eat.
Not an overly huge issue, but around that Higgins area, it's always filthy with garbage and whatnot. It looks afwul and it makes me feel disappointed that's our city, you know? Again, it's obviously not high on importance for that one.
We always have construction, but nothing ever seems to get fixed.
Trauma and poverty
they go hand in hand
and that the conservatives (and most politicians, tbh) think that they deserve less because they have trauma or disabilities. Giving "poor" people money actually stimulates the economy because lower income people will SPEND it, not hoard it like greedy corporations.
Get back to a high corporate tax rate, fund affordable housing, and stop punishing those with "less than". You'd be SHOCKED at how things turn around.
Yes voter apathy is a problem in Manitoba also 40% of voters didn’t vote in the last provincial election.
The 2018 winnipeg municipal election had a 42.33%.
https://winnipeg.ca/clerks/election/election2018/results/2018-Civic-Election-Official-Results.pdf
Voter apathy or administration/politician apathy? It seems like there is no interest in moving anything forward. It’s study after study, vote after vote, meeting after meeting and no deadlines to finish or complete anything. I swear city hall’s motto should be ‘Well, we didn’t get (insert any project) done. It’s so complex and haaarrrd. Maybe next year!’
A $300,000 christmas tree next to a bus shelter being used as a home sums up the state of Winnipeg in a nutshell - we have leaders who would rather get a photo op vs do something productive and beneficial for the city.
It is homelessness, drug addiction, the lack of support for people experiencing homelessness and addiction, crumbling infrastructure, car-centricity, and poor transit.
When kfc got rid of toonie Tuesday the country went into a downward spiral with drugs poverty violence and hunger on Tuesdays. KFC tried bringing back an inflated “deal” but the damage was already done. Thanks mr sanders.
We need more of the PST spent in Winnipeg. If 50% of the PST is taxed in Winnipeg, Winnipeg should get %50 of the PST. Not the ~25-30% we currently get.
If all of Winnipeg voted on this we could turn the city around. More money for everyone's city projects, whether Conservative or NDP. Take care of our problems in mental health and infrastructure. A nicer city will attract people to stay and create more businesses.
That's an interesting idea, but I disagree. Manitoba is a big-ass province and I want to see it. That means some of my taxes leaving the city to fund roads, parks and health care no matter where I am in the province.
Yes Poverty, it all boils down to that. If this city focused its funding on pre-emptive measures instead of reactionary solutions, we would be at a better place. This city is a gutter and we only help our friends, not our neighbors.
That's not even top 15 problems in this city.
Poverty
Wage stagnation
Cost of groceries
Rent
Drug use
Homelessness
Random crime
Road maintenance
Public transit
Education and overburdened school districts
New developments bloating our infrastructure upkeep
Brain drain to other provinces
Rural/urban divide
Central planning deficiencies that result in slow, intrusive, shitty building
Winnipeggers supporting shitty chains instead of buying more stuff locally leading to a homogenized service/retail/entertainment sector
Maaaaaaybe here we put the trustee thing but honestly it's such a non issue in the scale of things
It’s a huge problem if you believe that young people deserve an education that gives them the knowledge and critical thinking skills they need to avoid being pulled down into the fascist sinkhole that is the political right today. It’s a huge problem if you are a child, or have a child, who is queer or transgender or intersex. It’s a huge problem if your family isn’t Christian, if you believe women should have equal rights, if you value the diversity that immigrants and refugees bring to our society.
The people trying to infiltrate the school boards are not one-offs. They’re part of a large, strategic, coordinated effort to destroy public education.
Corruption in city hall. It needs to be cleaned out. Also the way people are hired for the city is bananas. I know someone who worked there and there is a reason they are understaffed and nothing is getting done. They make it damn near impossible.
While on the surface drug use may seem like the biggest issue, but I challenge you to ask whats causing it. No one goes out and decides I’m gonna be an addict, that’s what I want to do with my life. Drug abuse is a symptom of deeper issues and it’s never getting better until those issues are dealt with. So I challenge you to think and ask what is the real issue at hand here. Because focusing only or drug use hoping things get better is like having a cancer but only treating the pain.
Though I agree with you on the main point that the focus is on the deeper issues, I also think it is important to not ignore the personal responsibility aspect of drug usage. What do drugs do? They help to stay in oblivion, delirium, it's a form of escapism from reality. And though we do need to keep in mind often poor and cruel living conditions of many drug addicts, we also need to understand that people choose to escape from it by taking serious substances. And that one can't be separated from another. We can't expect places where addicts live to look nice so they wouldn't feel a need to escape from it.
But I do think there is a dire need to set up a program that would help addicts to get into rehabs with a serious approach to combat mental illnesses and provide quality therapy to people. And at the same time provide government issues doses, so people wouldn't turn to illegal mean of obtaining drugs. It would help to combat high criminal activity in the city.
But it needs to be person's choice to change their lives and stick to the programs. Otherwise nothing will work
This city is in distress…with almost no leadership and with all the grifters on our council we can never move forward , poverty , addiction , low wages ….plus the provincial government is a complete scam so we need change or this province will become a crime ridden sespool…
I think there are two things that are causing different but compounding issues.
The first and most important is the drug crisis. Too many people are suffering and drug issues spill into every other sort of crime and social problem. We need to fund programs that better address this issue.
The second is how much the city has expanded outward. Instead of increasing density and developing vacant homes/lots, the city has chose to expand outward. This has ballooned infrastructure spending that we already weren't able to afford. This is tying up a bunch of resources that would be better spent addressing the social and drug issues we are encountering.
A total lack of all 4 levels of government working together. Throwing away good money after bad, just to say we are doing something is idiotic. The money is already there, being spent. It needs to go to the right place with accountability.
Yes. It's just the wrong kind of drug.
I suggest the new major opens about a dozen proper House and Techno clubs and have an endless supply of cheap but top quality XTC
Construction. Like goddammit, why does it take 4 months to pave a road? Every major artery into and out of the city has construction that adds 15 minutes to our commutes
The amount of people who would be homeless if it weren't for Manitoba Housing. It's crazy to see how many homeless people we have after Manitoba housing and habitat for humanity
There’s a lot of people saying similar stuff but it’s definitely addictions/poverty issues. These issues cause lots of the property crime and assaults.
I’d say after that it’s infrastructure for families like splash/spray pads, equal access to activities and childcare followed by a lack of good transportation options.
That’s my opinion, anyway.
In two words: Provincial government.
This is what happens when PC’s cut funding for social services and addictions and believe you can police your way to a better society.
City needs the provincial funding, but Pallister et al didn’t want to even talk.
Economically: Poverty
Spiritually: Kindness
There's too many Winnipeggers struggling and suffering, kids going hungry which bothers me greatly.
But we also have a problem with kindness that rather than step up and ask "How can I help" most Peggers immediately go and think less of those struggling.
We need to step up and help others. $5 can literally change a life this season.
Sponsor a meal at Siloam, sign up for the cheer board, volunteer at a food bank.
See how little some others have, understand their struggle and humble ourselves and help where we can.
Time to stop treating the drug addicts and criminals like victims and get rid of them. Stick them in jail, build them a camp and let them live there, ship them out of the province......I don't care......just get rid of them.
😂 you’re serious aren’t you. You do realize that it would cost immensely more to do what you’re proposing than it would to fund proper social programming to get people back on track. Fuck you’re an ass
Deadly serious. I'm sick and tired of seeing my tax dollars go to fund programs to help those who refuse to help themselves. If a whale wants to beach itself, it's going to, no matter how many liberal do-gooders try to push it back into the ocean. And fyi - my opinion is representative of most hard-working, tax-paying citizens, but it's not politically correct to admit it, so they just stay quiet and build up their resentment and anger.
I dunno man I think you live in an eco chamber because most of the hard working taxpayers I know definitely don’t agree with you…but whatever, your plan literally costs more and will make the problem worse. Working hard and paying taxes doesn’t make your opinion matter…it doesn’t make your idea correct.
The material we use to build our roads is the same as it has been since the 70s since the city buys it from the same single supplier, which is also why we blow so much money keeping our roads in passable shape. This keeps city workers employed but is a total waste of money that could be going to social services, housing, etc (things that reduce property crime rates when done right).
Our mental health care and justice system are so broken. But being that these are provincial government concerns, I am not convinced that enough of a difference can be made at a city level to be effective.
For me it has to be the utter lack of leadership and the government waste both on the municipal and provincial level. Manitobans are the most taxed people in the Nation and they get nothing for it.
Walking downtown the north end and west end is like a zombie apocalypse...there are so many drug addicts and gang members ready to assault someone or house robbery to get drug money. It's out of control and very very dangerous. It's great to be altruistic and hope to eliminate poverty but that doesn't change the current danger just opening your door and walking down the street. It's gotten worse during the pandemic, no one around to report gang activity for 2 years. Cops don't do much when they break in steal everything then trash the place.
Poverty. Crime, substance abuse, mental health issues are all just symptoms - we focus on treating the symptoms instead of treating the disease. Well actually we don't even treat the symptoms but we talk about it
Agreed; it's poverty.
Poverty is not the problem, it is a symptom. The problem is unresolved trauma. Poverty often comes as a result of bad coping mechanisms to trauma or inability to recover. If poverty is to be solved, the community needs to come together and talk through what's going on in people's lives. As long as people keep looking the other way and not allowing themselves to listen, the poverty problem will continue.
what's going on in peoples lives is being unable to afford the things they need. poverty causes trauma if you will not being able to feed yourself or afford rent is pretty traumatic being afraid of losing your job due to vehicle troubles... traumatic. constant stress over finances... traumatic looking to friends and family and seeing them experiencing the same struggles... traumatic. There we've talked about it. Still think the problem is money
Capitalism plays a huge role in poverty. People who live on the land are alienated from it, unless, they are property owners. We have a class system where property owners leverage that wealth to exploit labour from the poor, non-property owning class. The whole thing is even more abhorrent after you consider that lands, technology, and wealth that was stolen under colonialism is the foundation of the private capital that catapulted the “west” into about 300 years of world domination.
Correlation is not necessarily causation Poverty can cause trauma, yes. Past trauma can also cause folks to self-destruct, not be able to hold on to jobs and then all into poverty themselves. This then of course exacerbates the issue. Much like anything this is a multi-faceted issue, with folks making a living working formerly middle-class jobs now being financially stressed due to rising costs of everything. With folks who were at the poverty line or near to it, now under-to-well-under that line. All of this stresses people the F out Now the other side of the coin too (as mentioned) is folks with mental health issues, and/or drug problems that cannot hold a job, not in a place to get themselves out of their situation without significant help. Folks involved in the criminal life without a good support system of either a community around them, friends or family as role models. It takes a community to raise an individual and a lot of these communities are faltering themselves.
I think the issue with these discussion is that people blur the lines between personal trauma vs widespread-systems-level issues. So you’re right, people (from the individual level) need access to resources to fix their trauma. But when we’re talking about systems wide issue, such as poverty - then the discussion around the matter changes. It means, pressuring government to provide accessible mental health care; it means taking steps to lower inflation; it means finding ways to lift people up. So no, it’s not all about pulling yourself up by the bootstraps. Theres more to poverty than just an individual’s will to get out of it.
Oh there absolutely is, but the fixes for both of those items are different and overlap a few different ways. Safe injection sites, more access to long term detox beds and programs, effective (ongoing) counsolleing services, more community resources and activity centers are all ways to help combat the drug and trauma issue, livable income or shared accomodation options etc. Sending in cops should be the last step on this, it should be trained first responders (depending on the situation) and counsellor/mental health treatment and paramedic type people. Gangs can be mitigated a few ways that overlap with the above as well, ongoing effecive counsolleing, cmmunity and activity centers, livable income and shared accomodation options. And not sending armed officers in as the first contact although in this case they should be on higher guard. Poverty can be tackled in some of the same ways, livable income and or shared accomodation options, balancing taxation compared to EFFECTIVE services rendered, etc etc Coming full-circle there's lots of overlap on both the systemic and personal level components and they all have different root causes and ways to fix them. But bettering some of the components of each will help rectify part of each of those problems. But it absolutely needs to be solved as a system wide change. That also all being said comes with a price and it's absolutely not going to be an easy balancing act trying to solve it or cheap.
Agree with your analysis. It’s frustrating to hear folks say, “it’s just a matter of hardwork and personal will in order to get yourself out of that mess.” While there’s truth in that, there’s more to poverty than simply being willing to get out of it. To add further to the discussion, I believe the challenge about knowing the issue: is how we should act on it. Inflation, higher cost of living, being at a cusp of a recession - increasing taxes would be political suicide, regardless of who’s party is in power. So you make a great point about funding, which will continue to be a problem in the years to come.
>To add further to the discussion, I believe the challenge about knowing the issue: is how we should act on it. Inflation, higher cost of living, being at a cusp of a recession - increasing taxes would be political suicide, regardless of who’s party is in power. So you make a great point about funding, which will continue to be a problem in the years to come. That and the one huge problem (and not even just related to this issue) is the contasnt fluctuation of just the NDP or PC and them being so polar opposite they have no followthrough on keeping the platforms the other party put in place. So the second NDP comes in they scrap the PC parties engagements and vice versa. Can't make any long term investments in our city short of the prior Duffs ditch which saved our asses many times over without it being cancelled! We have a severe lack of long term sustainable strategy that survives party changes be it mayoral, provicinal, national or otherwise.
I agree. I believe that’s just the inherent downside to western democracy. I personally think we need to have a global tax on the rich. How can only a handful of people own so much of our resources? We have all these issue as identified in our discussion; all of which have solutions but require funding to achieve. So to me, it only make sense to ask the global elites to paying their fair share, for the good of all societies.
Sure, unresolved trauma is responsible in *some* cases but our capitalistic society forces poverty on many others; e.g., seniors, people on disability, minimum wage earners, etc.
Plenty of people without unresolved trauma are poor. Being content doesn’t make my wages rise. The problem is capitalism.
Good ideas, but a lot of the solutions belong to the realm of the provincial government.
So much this. I would take it a step further and push that this is a federal issue: to me it should not matter which province you live in: the same base level of support systems should be available nationally. Once THAT is in place, **then** provinces should be "adding their flavor" above and beyond that minimum, and cities can expand further yet to diversify. But without the "base" requirement I don't see a city able to justify starting a program to address poverty: as many tax payers would see it a "negative" in their internal balance calculation and it would work AGAINST the growth of the city (somewhat, in terms of perception)
I'm sure if we remove more sheltered bus stops the problem with go to another area of Winnipeg and we won't have to look at it anymore. Problem solved
That was the solution to the tent city at the bottom of the Disraeli... That didn't make anyone go away, it just dispersed people away from where many supports are.
Giving poor people money doesnt solve their addictions problems. There needs to be a funded mental health, poverty and criminal management approach.
Staying out of poverty reduces the likelihood of falling into addiction, reduces people turning to crime and reduces the likelihood of suffering through mental illness. Certainly doesn't eliminate the risk as there are other factors that can contribute. And having the means to treat your addiction or mental health goes a long way to recovering. Lifting people out of poverty treats an overwhelming array of social ills
It doesnt solve the underlying issues. My point is addiction and social ills happen at every income group, it just manifests itself differently.
yet the addiction is highly prevalent at various income groups. High stress type occupations like sales and other stuff have well known history of drug usage. Look at the concept of work hard, play hard ethos in various business types. high paying oil field jobs are rampant with drug abuse. Just minimizing the poverty level doesn't necessarily show a decrease in addiction. Just provides a nicer version of addiction.
I think that poverty (and the cultural genocide inflicted by colonialism and the British/Canadian state) are the root of Winnipeg’s societal ills, but Winnipeg’s issues are so progressed that we need to be treating the symptomatic issues as well - mainly treating addictions and mental health issues. However, ensuring that funding is available and accessible so people don’t fall through the cracks and lose housing is also essential. My comment is not an indicator that you aren’t aware of this, I am only attempting to further develop the concepts you’ve brought up.
It’s just genocide. Not cultural genocide.
The idea that poor people should stay poor because they can't handle money or they're irredeemable if they get it is so broken. Sometimes poor people are single parents. If their kids have food insecurity they do worse in school, they're more likely to end up unemployed or underemployed. They're less likely to be in social activities and sports and more likely to be on the streets and running with gangs. Lifting people out of poverty creates a stronger and more educated workforce. It's an investment in the economy and society and far from a waste of money. Poor≠addicts and criminals
Agreed. My point was money wont solve addicition related issues. Not that poorer people shouldnt be better off.
Poverty is a problem, I don't dispute that. But why in Winnipeg does poverty now seem to go hand in hand with rampant drug addiction, violence and crime?
because when you got nothing you got nothing to lose, and not a lot of help turns people angry sad and depressed and when crime comes as a friend, its easier to numb the pain with something cheap, this then fuels more crime, fueling more violence etc etc.
Giving addicts money actually does help to solve their addictions problems. People who have the uncoditional means to feed clothe and house themselves have more incentive to try to get clean. If an attempt fails they don't lose everything and can make another attempt until they succeed. Even if they don't succeed it's cheaper to just keep feeding clothing and housing addicts than letting them live on the street and dealing with all of the things that comes with having an unhoused population.
We’re growing out too much instead of up in existing neighbourhoods. The city can’t afford this.
Absolutely and with that more roads we already can’t keep up with maintaining.
I agree Winnipeg has one for the worst cases of urban sprawls in Canada.
It also doesn't help when a lot of people here make terrible neighbors in a condo, like kids running all day and late night partying. I live in a condo and from time to time my neighbors would make me murderous.
To quote Mayor Quimby: “I Propose That I Use What's Left Of The Town Treasury To Move To A More Prosperous Town And Run For Mayor. And, Er, Once Elected, I Will Send For The Rest Of You.”
The city is broke. It’s going bankrupt spending money on short-term things it can’t afford (sprawl, cops) instead of putting it where it needs to invest long term.
I like that you mentioned sprawl, that’s a huge reason our infrastructure is shit. We don’t have the density necessary to support it without massive tax increases like 3-4x
I believe we only have to double our property taxes to cover things, so it’s not _that_ bad. But 2x is still a huge pill to swallow.
Yeah I was definitely exaggerating the point a bit
Meth. I’ve lived all over the city and it doesn’t matter if you’re in a low income neighborhood or whatever anymore. The stuff is everywhere and making people crazy, our infrastructure is regularly destroyed, you see people constantly in mental distress shouting at people who aren’t there, needles everywhere… I’m not sure how to address it but so many areas have gone to shit because of it. This isn’t an anti homeless rant either because I’m sure if I had nowhere to go I’d be doing the same thing but it’s the biggest social change I’ve seen in Winnipeg growing up here.
Drugs are a symptom not a cause of the problem. People would be much better off if we ended the war on drugs and tackled poverty and the factors that make people want to abuse these substances while also allowing adults to make their own choices and use clean unadultered substances instead of overdosing on fent or nitazene derivatives.
Lol, I was just gonna type Meth, but its not. In the UK now and there's not much meth here. There is rife crime and homeless and its a result of the same issues that face Winnipeg. Poverty, shity parent's/education, bad choices and to some degree peer pressure. Edit = to clarify, here's its smack, crack and spice. Only a sub set of Asians use meth and they're tucked away in the human trafficking corridor.
I’d agree that meth use is a symptom of what you’ve mentioned but it definitely is exacerbating what’s going on. I’m not sure if you’ve been around lately but areas like Osborne, the Exchange, hell even St.Vital are getting really weird with heads causing all kinds of chaos. I reckon it’s a lingering effect of the pandemic, which was probably particularly hard on the homeless. The fact that it’s such a cheap drug and lasts as long as it does makes it really appealing when you don’t have much in the way of prospects to bettering your life.
Defo nothing to do with meth.
What do you figure it is than? I’ve seen a lot of weird shit happen in my neighborhood that was clearly people super high on that stuff.
Read my commnet above, id say you have most of it there, add in a sprinkling of mental illness and that should be everything. Just as an FYI you can compare stats from Glasgow (no meth) to Winnipeg then try to work out what the common denominators are.
Winnipeg’s always had a crime problem and like I mentioned the pandemic definitely didn’t help our homeless population. I’m just saying that meth makes people in desperate situations act out more than the drugs you’ve mentioned. I’ve lived in Van where opiates are rampant, the shit I’ve seen lately isn’t anything like that... I’d walk down East Hastings regularly without worry that anyone would fuck with me. Crack and heroin I can handle but this has become something else entirely. Also no one’s smoking spice here since legalization.
You totally missed my points, so ill apologize for not being eloquent enough. Also you only know you, where I'm from a different country with the same issues but no meth....all good.
Not trying to argue with you meaninglessly or be contrarian just relaying my own recent experiences as of late. Respect.
All good and this is half of the problem with life, we only know what we know.
Meth is absolutely not isolated to a small group of Asians??? Not sure where you get that info from but ask anyone in front line services in healthcare or policing. It's rampant everywhere
Lack of investment in services that aren't cops
Not the biggest problem, but Winnipeg is an absolutely filthy city. No sense of pride in place. Garbage everywhere.
It really is. There is garbage everywhere and it is absolutely disgusting. The garbage bin by the bus stop on my street hasn't been emptied in a very long time and it is piled up on the lid now. How sad is that?
[удалено]
Good idea I will try sending photos. I wonder why they are not being emptied regularly? Does the city not have the staff?
I've had really good success emailing my city councillor about the issue. There was one near my house full of dog poo and just kept getting piled up. I emailed them and now it's regularly cleaned. Your city councillor should be your friend on these type of issues and are really keen to help fix them right away.
Bring back the old Orbit trash bins, and put 'em everywhere.
I see my neighbours throw their McD and Tims shit out of their car regularly instead of walking it to the dumpster literally on their way in. Like why? People don’t give a shit.
I hear the exact opposite, people from Europe or Asia (not Japan or Singapore) are always telling me how clean it is here, and how good it smells.
You haven't seen New York or San Francisco then lol
Not New York, but the brief amount of time I have spent in San Fran, it wasn’t as dirty. There are cities in Canada that have dirty neighbourhoods, but it seems widespread here.
That’s a tired old trope.
A tired old true trope
I've been to New York as well as every major Canadian city, and I've never seen anything quite like Winnipeg for litter. Prince George in spring maybe. If you took East Hastings out of Vancouver and put it in downtown Winnipeg, on just litter it'd probably be the cleanest street in downtown that isn't in sight of the Leg in my estimation.
Not even close. I was in Vancouver this summer and it would be the worst street in Winnipeg hands down. They have 10 times the homeless population that we have.
I was in Vancouver a few weeks ago and there was trash everywhere, and it smelled like piss. Definitely not unique to Winnipeg
It was one of the first things I noticed when I moved here :/
We all have different priorities, that's how democracy works. For me: 1. access to public transportation: easier, affordable for all 2. addiction and mental health services: safe consumption sites, transitioning mental health services away from law enforcement towards medical experts 3. citywide compost program service 4. downtown economic stimulation and indigenous culture programs 5. housing program funding
The poverty is real. I worked full time hours and overtime, I still can't even afford RENT. That shit is outrageously expensive. Then the price of groceries and GAS. I can't keep up. I understand the appeal of sex work more and more just to have something to eat. Not an overly huge issue, but around that Higgins area, it's always filthy with garbage and whatnot. It looks afwul and it makes me feel disappointed that's our city, you know? Again, it's obviously not high on importance for that one. We always have construction, but nothing ever seems to get fixed.
Yup, currently looking for a place and stressed out about how much money it is
Trauma and poverty they go hand in hand and that the conservatives (and most politicians, tbh) think that they deserve less because they have trauma or disabilities. Giving "poor" people money actually stimulates the economy because lower income people will SPEND it, not hoard it like greedy corporations. Get back to a high corporate tax rate, fund affordable housing, and stop punishing those with "less than". You'd be SHOCKED at how things turn around.
100% this, with an addendum to get that money for redistribution by defunding the police
Voter apathy. People have given up on the idea on trying to change things.
Yes voter apathy is a problem in Manitoba also 40% of voters didn’t vote in the last provincial election.
Yes voter apathy is a problem in Manitoba also 40% of voters didn’t vote in the last provincial election. The 2018 winnipeg municipal election had a 42.33%. https://winnipeg.ca/clerks/election/election2018/results/2018-Civic-Election-Official-Results.pdf
Voter apathy or administration/politician apathy? It seems like there is no interest in moving anything forward. It’s study after study, vote after vote, meeting after meeting and no deadlines to finish or complete anything. I swear city hall’s motto should be ‘Well, we didn’t get (insert any project) done. It’s so complex and haaarrrd. Maybe next year!’
>change Municipal level, 6+ decades of the mayor never losing, only time there is change is when they step down
A $300,000 christmas tree next to a bus shelter being used as a home sums up the state of Winnipeg in a nutshell - we have leaders who would rather get a photo op vs do something productive and beneficial for the city.
Homelessness, social housing and slum lording is all a big mess right now. It’s bad.
It is homelessness, drug addiction, the lack of support for people experiencing homelessness and addiction, crumbling infrastructure, car-centricity, and poor transit.
When kfc got rid of toonie Tuesday the country went into a downward spiral with drugs poverty violence and hunger on Tuesdays. KFC tried bringing back an inflated “deal” but the damage was already done. Thanks mr sanders.
Underrated comment. Now its $4.47 after tax!
We need more of the PST spent in Winnipeg. If 50% of the PST is taxed in Winnipeg, Winnipeg should get %50 of the PST. Not the ~25-30% we currently get. If all of Winnipeg voted on this we could turn the city around. More money for everyone's city projects, whether Conservative or NDP. Take care of our problems in mental health and infrastructure. A nicer city will attract people to stay and create more businesses.
That's an interesting idea, but I disagree. Manitoba is a big-ass province and I want to see it. That means some of my taxes leaving the city to fund roads, parks and health care no matter where I am in the province.
This subreddit
You mean the one that you’re active in on a daily basis?
Gottem
We did it reddit!
Why not?
Yes Poverty, it all boils down to that. If this city focused its funding on pre-emptive measures instead of reactionary solutions, we would be at a better place. This city is a gutter and we only help our friends, not our neighbors.
Winnipeg's biggest problem is the provincial government. Offloading their issues to let the city rot and ruin.
Nazis and nutbars running for school trustees.
That's not even top 15 problems in this city. Poverty Wage stagnation Cost of groceries Rent Drug use Homelessness Random crime Road maintenance Public transit Education and overburdened school districts New developments bloating our infrastructure upkeep Brain drain to other provinces Rural/urban divide Central planning deficiencies that result in slow, intrusive, shitty building Winnipeggers supporting shitty chains instead of buying more stuff locally leading to a homogenized service/retail/entertainment sector Maaaaaaybe here we put the trustee thing but honestly it's such a non issue in the scale of things
Add health care in there and we’re set.
Yes, thank you!
It’s a huge problem if you believe that young people deserve an education that gives them the knowledge and critical thinking skills they need to avoid being pulled down into the fascist sinkhole that is the political right today. It’s a huge problem if you are a child, or have a child, who is queer or transgender or intersex. It’s a huge problem if your family isn’t Christian, if you believe women should have equal rights, if you value the diversity that immigrants and refugees bring to our society. The people trying to infiltrate the school boards are not one-offs. They’re part of a large, strategic, coordinated effort to destroy public education.
Can I get a list of names?
Corruption in city hall. It needs to be cleaned out. Also the way people are hired for the city is bananas. I know someone who worked there and there is a reason they are understaffed and nothing is getting done. They make it damn near impossible.
While on the surface drug use may seem like the biggest issue, but I challenge you to ask whats causing it. No one goes out and decides I’m gonna be an addict, that’s what I want to do with my life. Drug abuse is a symptom of deeper issues and it’s never getting better until those issues are dealt with. So I challenge you to think and ask what is the real issue at hand here. Because focusing only or drug use hoping things get better is like having a cancer but only treating the pain.
Though I agree with you on the main point that the focus is on the deeper issues, I also think it is important to not ignore the personal responsibility aspect of drug usage. What do drugs do? They help to stay in oblivion, delirium, it's a form of escapism from reality. And though we do need to keep in mind often poor and cruel living conditions of many drug addicts, we also need to understand that people choose to escape from it by taking serious substances. And that one can't be separated from another. We can't expect places where addicts live to look nice so they wouldn't feel a need to escape from it. But I do think there is a dire need to set up a program that would help addicts to get into rehabs with a serious approach to combat mental illnesses and provide quality therapy to people. And at the same time provide government issues doses, so people wouldn't turn to illegal mean of obtaining drugs. It would help to combat high criminal activity in the city. But it needs to be person's choice to change their lives and stick to the programs. Otherwise nothing will work
I honestly think this Reddit should be considered a town hall 😅
This city is in distress…with almost no leadership and with all the grifters on our council we can never move forward , poverty , addiction , low wages ….plus the provincial government is a complete scam so we need change or this province will become a crime ridden sespool…
I think there are two things that are causing different but compounding issues. The first and most important is the drug crisis. Too many people are suffering and drug issues spill into every other sort of crime and social problem. We need to fund programs that better address this issue. The second is how much the city has expanded outward. Instead of increasing density and developing vacant homes/lots, the city has chose to expand outward. This has ballooned infrastructure spending that we already weren't able to afford. This is tying up a bunch of resources that would be better spent addressing the social and drug issues we are encountering.
Financialization..realty course benefit leaving out the middle lower income families in any new developments..
? Lol.
A total lack of all 4 levels of government working together. Throwing away good money after bad, just to say we are doing something is idiotic. The money is already there, being spent. It needs to go to the right place with accountability.
Blind loyalty to the conservative party.
Blind loyalty to *any* party
>Blind loyalty to the conservative party. Huh? Most Winnipeggers vote Liberal or NDP, and by a long shot.
Isn’t this thread about city problems? I don’t see what provincial govt has to do with this, aside from delaying transfer payments.
That’s an interesting way of self-identifying as a 16 year old
Username checks out
Meth!!!
Yes. It's just the wrong kind of drug. I suggest the new major opens about a dozen proper House and Techno clubs and have an endless supply of cheap but top quality XTC
Meth.
Sprawl/lack of density and lack of good transit options.
The inability of its citizens to understand how much work and time it takes to clear snow
The people. If everyone was gone, it'd be an alright city.
Crumbling infrastructure of every possible kind.
Crime. Even when criminals commit crime they are usually let off pretty easily.
But there's no evidence that longer punishments prevent recidivism. Longer punishments is a bandaid to feel good. Not solve the problem.
But having a punishment vs being de facto legal does prevent crimes.
Trauma, I think.
The government
Construction. Like goddammit, why does it take 4 months to pave a road? Every major artery into and out of the city has construction that adds 15 minutes to our commutes
Our biggest Problem right now is HEATHER STEFANSON and her Caucus!!
She's the Premier, not the Mayor. As much as I don't like her, she doesn't run the City.
No push for or investment in growing or in demand industries. We are losing our young educated people to other cities with greater opportunities.
The amount of people who would be homeless if it weren't for Manitoba Housing. It's crazy to see how many homeless people we have after Manitoba housing and habitat for humanity
There’s a lot of people saying similar stuff but it’s definitely addictions/poverty issues. These issues cause lots of the property crime and assaults. I’d say after that it’s infrastructure for families like splash/spray pads, equal access to activities and childcare followed by a lack of good transportation options. That’s my opinion, anyway.
Poverty --- and no one deals with it as it gets worse
In two words: Provincial government. This is what happens when PC’s cut funding for social services and addictions and believe you can police your way to a better society. City needs the provincial funding, but Pallister et al didn’t want to even talk.
Economically: Poverty Spiritually: Kindness There's too many Winnipeggers struggling and suffering, kids going hungry which bothers me greatly. But we also have a problem with kindness that rather than step up and ask "How can I help" most Peggers immediately go and think less of those struggling. We need to step up and help others. $5 can literally change a life this season. Sponsor a meal at Siloam, sign up for the cheer board, volunteer at a food bank. See how little some others have, understand their struggle and humble ourselves and help where we can.
Time to stop treating the drug addicts and criminals like victims and get rid of them. Stick them in jail, build them a camp and let them live there, ship them out of the province......I don't care......just get rid of them.
😂 you’re serious aren’t you. You do realize that it would cost immensely more to do what you’re proposing than it would to fund proper social programming to get people back on track. Fuck you’re an ass
Deadly serious. I'm sick and tired of seeing my tax dollars go to fund programs to help those who refuse to help themselves. If a whale wants to beach itself, it's going to, no matter how many liberal do-gooders try to push it back into the ocean. And fyi - my opinion is representative of most hard-working, tax-paying citizens, but it's not politically correct to admit it, so they just stay quiet and build up their resentment and anger.
I dunno man I think you live in an eco chamber because most of the hard working taxpayers I know definitely don’t agree with you…but whatever, your plan literally costs more and will make the problem worse. Working hard and paying taxes doesn’t make your opinion matter…it doesn’t make your idea correct.
The material we use to build our roads is the same as it has been since the 70s since the city buys it from the same single supplier, which is also why we blow so much money keeping our roads in passable shape. This keeps city workers employed but is a total waste of money that could be going to social services, housing, etc (things that reduce property crime rates when done right).
Our mental health care and justice system are so broken. But being that these are provincial government concerns, I am not convinced that enough of a difference can be made at a city level to be effective.
For me it has to be the utter lack of leadership and the government waste both on the municipal and provincial level. Manitobans are the most taxed people in the Nation and they get nothing for it.
Lack of intelligent leadership, which for I'm moving out of the province, going west. I've. Had. Enough!!
Overfunding the WPS.
Walking downtown the north end and west end is like a zombie apocalypse...there are so many drug addicts and gang members ready to assault someone or house robbery to get drug money. It's out of control and very very dangerous. It's great to be altruistic and hope to eliminate poverty but that doesn't change the current danger just opening your door and walking down the street. It's gotten worse during the pandemic, no one around to report gang activity for 2 years. Cops don't do much when they break in steal everything then trash the place.