Mayor Scott Gillingham reflects on the past year in Winnipeg

Mayor Scott Gillingham is looking back on what 2022 brought to Winnipeg, including an alleged serial killer and a record number of homicides.

Gillingham was sworn in as the city’s mayor at the beginning of last month. He said there’s nothing that could have fully prepared him for the city’s most recent tragedies, including the revelation that four Indigenous women were killed by an alleged serial killer, and a fatal stabbing at the Millennium Library.

However, he said the fact that he was on city council for eight years has helped him deal with these incidents.

“You know that city council, and certainly the mayor’s office, deal with really difficult situations across the city, and so we are going to get through this,” he said, adding that he’s been impressed with the number of Winnipeggers who want to help.

Winnipeg also saw a record number of homicides in 2022, as well as people living, and sometimes dying in bus shelters.

Gillingham said he is less concerned about the city’s reputation across the country, and more concerned about addressing the challenges Winnipeg is facing.

“We have to focus on being strong as a city and healthier as a city,” the mayor said.

“Fifty-one murders in our city is just not acceptable. I never will say, ‘Oh that’s just the way it’s going to be.’ It’s not the way it’s going to be.”

Gillingham said the city has to address the severity of violent crimes in Winnipeg, and that he is committed to putting the measures in place to drive down the number of these crimes.

The mayor said one of the initiatives the city is working on is helping the homeless population by accessing Rapid Housing Initiative funding from the federal government.

You can watch the full interview here with Mayor Gillingham, and find out what he has to say about the last year in Winnipeg and what will happen moving forward.

- With files from CTV’s Jeff Keele.