Manitoba opposition leader rejects accusation he would defund police | 24CA News
Manitoba’s opposition NDP chief says he wouldn’t cut back funding for police if his social gathering wins the upcoming provincial election.
Wab Kinew is rejecting accusations from the governing progressive conservatives that he’s comfortable on crime and in favour of defunding police.
Premier Heather Stefanson made the accusation in a current state of the province speech to the Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce, whereas selling her social gathering as being robust on crime.
Stefanson has additionally bolstered her messaging on public security in current months and has introduced new measures together with a police unit to give attention to apprehending violent offenders.
Kinew, in a year-end interview with The Canadian Press, mentioned he would preserve funding for police providers.
He says an NDP authorities would additionally add funding for psychological well being helps in order that some calls at present being dealt with by police will be dealt with by others.
“I do think that we need to invest in mental health supports, we need to invest in social programs so that we can have a future in Manitoba where we have a mental health worker who shows up for a mental health call, a social worker who shows up for a social work call,” Kinew mentioned.
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“And that would free up law enforcement resources to respond to the law enforcement calls.”
Crime has turn into a serious subject in provincial politics in current months. Winnipeg has seen a document variety of homicides this yr, together with the deaths of 4 Indigenous girls, allegedly by the hands of a serial killer.
At the identical time, calls to chop police funding have grown. In the current Winnipeg mayoral election, some candidates promised they might freeze or cut back police funding and redirect cash to social applications that would tackle a number of the root causes of crime, similar to poverty and homelessness.
Kinew mentioned he understands considerations about public security and accused the Progressive Conservatives of including to the issue by slicing some social applications.
“Certainly there is an important role for law enforcement to play when we’re talking about safety in the community,” Kinew mentioned. “And I think one of the things that’s really been overlooked under the PCs is this is all happening under their watch.”
© 2022 The Canadian Press
