Capitalizing on crime

Multiple shootings in Winnipeg’s North End - that veritable no-go zone for many Winnipeggers - quickly became incorporated into the campaigns of both main mayoral contenders Monday.

Yesterday morning, Sam Katz released a statement expressing his anger regarding the murders of two men and the critical injury sustained by a teenage girl.

Overcoming his rage enough to remind us why to vote for him, however, Katz also managed go onto explain (and I use “explain” loosely) how as mayor his political platform will crackdown on the proliferation of violent crime; implying that the levels of violence which occurred Saturday could have been solved by his campaign promise to up the number of cops on the streets.

This statement was coupled on Monday with the pronouncement by Winnipeg Police Chief Keith McCaskill that Katz’s pet project - the police helicopter - would have helped in the 45-minute shooting spree.

Somehow, and again anything verging on explanation or justification is severely lacking here, if only the cops already had a helicopter (presumably because it would be patrolling poverty-ridden areas like the North End at all times) something could have been done to prevent some of the violence from occurring.

To be fair, McCaskill was answering a hypothetical question asked to him regarding how a helicopter could have played a role in the evening’s violence. Nonetheless, he wasted no time in taking advantage of the fear and indignation many Winnipeggers are feeling by linking a Katz’s ‘copter to the shootings.

It is much too early to postulate the hows and whys about this so-called rampage. Clearly, from this morning’s Winnipeg Free Press, the cops know next to nothing about what actually happened.

But it is highly suspect for a politician and those who support them to capitalize upon the fresh deaths of two people and the injury of another in order to pontificate upon “solutions” contained in that politician’s political platform.

Speaking of which, the other main contender - Judy Wasylycia-Leis - managed to upset some North End community members at a rally she organized to show support for the area.

Understandably, the upset residents were opposed to her utilizing the occasion to peddle her political platform.

Formal politics is a sleazy game, and in a crime-centric campaign it is a no-brainer that both main mayoral hopefuls would utilize the opportunity of multiple and seemingly random shootings mere days prior to voting day in order to bolster their positions in the minds of voters.

Yet, both Katz and Wasylycia-Leis had the chance to transcend the temptation and neither of them did.