(continued from page 77)
Front-line organizations say restrictions on temporary encampments resulted in dispersing people into other areas of the city. (MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS)
He identifies Willis as someone he would approach for the position, which he says would be funded through the mayor's existing staffing budget. Willis has not committed to such a role.
However, Klein acknowledges he has not examined the municipal budget closely enough to identify existing homelessness expenditures that could be redirected toward his proposals. He also declines to commit to specific first-year targets, saying those would be established after the office was created. He promises quarterly public reporting on the strategy's progress and says unsuccessful programs would be changed.
Rattray also wants the next council to substantially increase its investment in community organizations, particularly Indigenous-led agencies providing front-line services in Winnipeg.
She points to a proposal in the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives' alternative municipal budget calling for an initial investment equivalent to one per cent of the city's budget in new funding for urban Indigenous organizations.
While she stops short of endorsing that specific figure, Rattray says the proposal offers a starting point for addressing what she considers inadequate municipal support.
"I think all orders of government have a responsibility to do so, including municipal governments," she says.
Gillingham says he remains open to discussions about outreach funding but points to investments his administration has already made, including the creation of a dedicated homelessness and addictions adviser in the mayor's office.
He did not commit to a needs-based funding increase or the proposed allocation of one per cent of the municipal budget to Indigenous-led organizations.
Instead, he points to existing housing partnerships with First Nations and said Indigenous-led outreach agencies could play a role in his proposed fourth emergency response service, which would connect people in crisis with appropriate community supports.
Cefali says there are smaller, less costly ways to reduce barriers for people experiencing homelessness, including installing hundreds of "dignity lockers" where people could safely store their belongings while attending appointments, seeking employment or accessing services.
"If we can't give everyone a house today, because there's not enough inventory, could we provide them the dignity of having a place where they don't have to worry about their stuff?" she says.
'It's an all-of-us issue,' says End Homelessness Winnipeg executive director Jennifer Rattray. (MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS)
FINAL THOUGHTS:
Despite differing priorities, the front-line leaders agree the next council needs to work more closely with organizations serving people experiencing homelessness.
Mahmood calls for an action-oriented table involving all levels of government and service providers, while Willis wants an independent, inclusive process that begins with an honest assessment of the scale of homelessness in Winnipeg.
"We need to get the politics out of this. We need to figure out what the real, truthful picture and portrait of homelessness looks like," Willis says.
Mahmood says his central question for every candidate is how they would remove the politics and stigma surrounding homelessness, mental health and addiction, and prioritize the needs of vulnerable people.
Rattray says responsibility for addressing homelessness extends beyond any one level of government or organization, but elected officials have an obligation to take the crisis seriously.
"It's an all-of-us issue. When people in our community are suffering, when people in our community do not have homes and safe places to live, that should hurt all of us," she says.
For Willis, the next council's priorities will ultimately be reflected in where it chooses to spend its money.
"Governments fund what they value," she says. "It'll be interesting to see what this new government actually does value."