In Episode 35 you’ll hear the story of our big scoop in the Winnipeg Sun, getting word out of the location of the NDP’s planned “Safe Consumption Site”.
It ruined their attempt to stage-manage the public consultation process and divide the Point Douglas community. The controversy continued to play out today but with the cat out of the bag, Premier Wab Kinew is desperate to maintain control of public opinion and squelch opposition.
Part 1- Readers and Listeners across Manitoba continue to voice enthusiastic support for the style and content of our efforts to get right down ta’ business and tell it like it is at City Hall and at the Legislature. You’ll hear some comments and insights into the issues we are covering for the community.
There’s also a brief review of our Sun analysis last Sunday after we discovered the City of Winnipeg has no data about how many free needles are given out in Winnipeg, and how many dirty rigs are tossed onto our streets and parks, spreading danger and disease.
How can Mayor Scott Gillingham stand up to the WRHA and make sure they make it right?
Thanks to our supporters, funding for Season 5 has exceeded 80%. We have only $935 to go to meet the target. Please go to the Donate page on ActionLine.ca to contribute today and support public affairs coverage in Winnipeg!
16.00 Part 2- Marty Gold explains how the Kinew government couldn’t keep the location a secret, and why they wanted their “harm reduction” den address kept from Point Douglas residents and property owners as long as possible.
The Sun website has the scoop-
Safe Consumption Site location not-so-secret any more
Learn about the far-left ideology that demotes public safety and the role of affected residents in the consultation process, and bestows special status on strung-out drug addicts. That’s one big reason why there’s almost no restaurants open for late night customers, affecting the quality of life for all Winnipeggers.
The Point Douglas Residents Association has voiced not only concerns about the possible consequences of a magnet for drug users in their neighborhood, but say that this situation reveals a weakness in the representation available by their MLA and on City Council.
31.00- Hear how the rest of the Winnipeg media scrambled to cover the story, with none of them crediting that the Sun broke the news; then you’ll hear the lie told by the Health Minister that resulted in our follow-up report today, proving there was serious pushback against her PR campaign.
‘Homelessness is a business’: Pushing back on NDP’s proposed drug user hub
One reader said, “As much I hate to say it, Audrey Gordon was a lot better health minister then Ozuma Asagwara”
37.35- Part 3— More about the relentless siege of 500 Waterfront, with details about the way CentreVenture misled the owner about how the street was going to be “the Tuxedo of downtown”; instead he’s had to spend $40,000 to keep his tenants and employees safe.
Stolen water, stolen electricity, and meth users staggering into the building and parking lot causing damage and disorder, all of which he’s told Gillingham, Kinew and dozens of city offiicals and non-profit managers about.
He says it started with Brian Bowman putting his career goals ahead of the public, lest he be accused of “racism” for having law and order imposed on the homeless criminals. He maintains that the “shooting gallery will turn Winnipeg into Vancouver.”
45.50- A Free Press columnist smeared the residents and property owners being concerned about more crime being caused near the planned drug site as spreading “misinformation.”
What is ignorant, is Tom Brodbeck ignoring the lived experience of people in Vancouver and Edmonton and of folks in Toronto, where a woman was shot and killed in a gun battle between drug dealers outside a user site.
What Brodbeck got wrong, is denying that “Harm Reduction” causes harm to the neighbourhoods; what he got right was, Kinew tried to skirt proper and transparent consultation, and may pay a political price for it.
See also: Profiling Opioid Addiction in Alberta & British Columbia