'A step in the right direction': City develops decade long-term poverty reduction plan

WINNIPEG -

A new poverty reduction document is up for consideration in Winnipeg.

The city developed the first ever plan, which features 80 strategies to be implemented between now and 2023.

"I think it's a step in the right direction. It's the first one we've ever had in the city which is way, way long overdue," said homeless advocate Al Wiebe.

The 10-year plan has eight overarching goals with a priority focus on Indigenous children and families, and affordable housing.

"We can't take people off the streets because we have nowhere to put them," Wiebe said. 

The report said more than 90,000 Winnipeggers are experiencing poverty, including 28 per cent of Indigenous residents and 27 per cent of newcomers.

The report also notes that 66 per cent of all people experiencing homelessness are Indigenous.

"If we don't think about what action we can take as a city to address that, I worry there is a gap there taking action on reconciliation," said Michael Barkman, chair of Make Poverty History Manitoba.

To combat this out of the gate, the strategy has 80 action items for the city to implement over the next 18 months, with help from community organizations.

Some of the strategies include:

• Making surplus land available for affordable housing at low or no cost;

• Hiring people facing employment barriers;

• Providing a living wage for all employees;

• Free transit for youth aging out of care and tokens for those unsheltered;

• Supporting a safe drug consumption site;

• Building drinking fountains in parks in low income areas; and

• Adding police board members from Indigenous and racialized groups.

Mayor Brian Bowman said he plans on voting for the strategy.

"We've been doing a lot of work to deal with some of the underlying issues that are contained in the report," Bowman said last week.

Anti-poverty advocates are urging council to vote for the strategy, but they also want a financial commitment attached, which they feel is lacking.

"Who is going to implement it is sort of the question that we worry about in terms of money," said Barkman.

Bowman added the plan is intended to work within existing resources.

"These are primarily matters of provincial jurisdiction, but there is still a role for the municipal government to play and we're trying to do what we can within a balanced budget," said Bowman.

The executive policy committee is set to vote on the plan Wednesday and then council will vote later this month.

If the plan is approved, city staff will come back with a status update on the implementation plan and new actions to be considered for the four-year budget process starting in 2024.