An extraordinary community meeting was held at the Gas Station Theatre on Wednesday to discuss the spiraling decay of public safety in Osborne Village and the dismissive responses of area social service agencies.
Their uncontrollable clients – who have a propensity for violence, theft, disorder, starting fires, and using public and private property as bathrooms – are ruining what was only 15 years ago considered Canada’s greatest neighborhood.
For more about the panel discussion, please read Marty Gold’s report in the Sun-Tribune, Augustine Centre snubs Osborne Village residents safety meeting
In Part 1 of Episode 32, Marty explains his own extensive past background with safety and security in the Village as a resident of 9 years, as a producer and event coordinator of Canada Day festivities, and as an employee of the local hotel over the course of 22 years before it was sold.
12.25 Part 1– Mike Green organized the event and explains his dealings with and findings about the Augustine Church, a board invented to lease the church’s attached halls, and the social agencies operating poverty reduction and homeless and addiction services at River Ave. and Pulford, Oak Table and 1JustCity.
Read Marty’s report about what led to Green calling a public session here – Gillingham Sends Homeless Advisor To Quell Osborne Village Uprising
Green recounts the dismissive attitudes of the landlord and agencies despite his videos showing children endangered by meth users on the lawn outside the daycare, and describes the tactics of ‘harm reduction’ advocates to deflect their responsibility while pocketing paycheques and peddling influence on policy makers.
While working people, women, seniors and businesses in the area gathered to try to find solutions without asking for added police foot patrols, none of the listed entities came to the meeting and only one sent an email advising they would not attend.
Then you’ll hear Green read out loud to the audience the shocking smears against him and neighborhood stakeholders sent to Augustine Centre board members by chairman Tim Sale.
Sale, a failed NDP cabinet minister under Gary Doer and Greg Selinger, neglected to delete the internal discussion thread from his email declining to participate, which drew howls of laughter from the crowd. Hear his contempt for the Fort Rouge community being afflicted by his radical ‘vision’ of “justice and peace.”
34.12 Part 2 – You will want to listen to the comments of Mridul Vohra, owner of the Freshslice Pizza restaurant at the southeast corner of River and Osborne – and then send them to Mayor Gillingham and every city councillor.
It’s heartbreaking- and outrageous.
He’s trying to make a living and keep his staff safe. Instead he’s on the verge of closing his business because the damage, intimidation of his young staff, harassment by the homeless wandering in, and the ongoing expenses for broken windows and other repairs are eroding his mental health.
Meanwhile his neighbours- the church and their tenants- are doing nothing to help, and the City is failing to enforce bylaws that would be invoked in a heartbeat if the violators weren’t a church and government-funded NGO’s.
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Read this week’s special report for the Winnipeg Sun-Tribune about a Safe Consumption Site client passing out on a lawn and being robbed after getting her fix-
Safe Consumption Site safety plan flunks within three days of opening
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Every government-funded newsroom in Winnipeg could have recorded the Osborne Village safety meeting and let Winnipeg hear for themselves how the encampment and homeless polices are failing.
They didn’t- because criticism of Winnipeg’s bloated homeless industry is forbidden.
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