Manitoba’s NDP opposition leader has said he will not cut police funding if his party wins the next provincial election.
Wab Kinew rejects accusations from the ruling Progressive Conservatives that he is soft on crime and in favor of defunding the police.
Premier Heather Stefanson made the accusation during a recent state of the province address to the Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce, while promoting her party as being tough on crime.
Stefanson has also beefed up his public safety messaging in recent months and announced new measures, including a police unit to focus on apprehending violent offenders.
Kinew, in an end-of-year interview with The Canadian Press, said he would maintain funding for police departments
He says a New Democrat government would also add funding for mental health supports so that some calls currently handled by police can be handled by others.
“I think 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 comes in for a mental health call, a mental health worker social worker showing up for a social work call,” Kinew said.
“And that would free up law enforcement resources to respond to law enforcement calls.”
Crime has become a major topic of provincial politics in recent months. Winnipeg has seen a record number of homicides this year, including the deaths of four Indigenous women, allegedly at the hands of a serial killer.
At the same time, calls to cut police funding have grown. In Winnipeg’s recent mayoral election, some candidates promised to freeze or cut police funding and redirect money to social programs that could address some of the root causes of crime, such as poverty and homelessness.
Kinew said he understands concerns about public safety and accused the Progressive Conservatives of making the problem worse by cutting some social programs
“Certainly law enforcement has an important role to play when we talk about community safety,” Kinew said.
“And I think one of the things that’s really been overlooked by the PCs is that this is all happening under their watch.”
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