It’s a tradition here at The Uniter for us to release a special themed issue as our last weekly edition of the publishing year. The Urban Issue, as we call it, is an opportunity for us to look at social, political and street-level issues that are impacting Winnipeg as a whole: as a city, as a community, as a place, as people.

Past themes have ranged from the light and interpretive (2018’s “Streams of thought” looked at the city’s relationship to water) to the serious and specific (2023’s “To police or not to police?” examined Winnipeg’s expensive love affair with security infrastructure.

But anyone who has regularly read or watched the news over the past year has likely already noticed a troubling theme emerging all on its own: violence. The rate of violent crime in Canada has increased in the 2020s, but the problem is especially pronounced here. In Manitoba, the homicide rate was nearly triple the national average in 2022. In 2023, there were 43 homicides in Winnipeg – the fifth year in a row to surpass 40.

Social media and some news outlets are happy to serve up post-apocalyptic visions of downtown Winnipeg as a lawless wasteland where it’s not safe to be outdoors after 8 p.m. These characterizations are overblown and irresponsible. But it’s still important to remember that victims of violent crime are people, community members who, like all of us, deserve to live lives free of violence. As a city, Winnipeg needs to do better to address violent crime at its roots.

The root causes of violent crime

The Crime Prevention Council, which aims to create “a safe, equitable, and just community” in the Waterloo, Ont. re- gion, identifies three primary root causes of crime. Acknowledging that the factors are “complex and interrelated,” they say the root causes of crime fall under one or more of the following categories: economic factors/poverty, social environment and family structures.

When looked at through these frame- works, it’s easy to see how we’ve gotten to the place we’re in. Our municipal and provincial governments have consistently failed to adequately address these issues, and many of the recent news stories about violent crime have them as clear underpinnings.

Alleged serial killer Jeremy Skibicki took advantage of the housing crisis to stalk homeless shelters for victims. CSIS is warning of a threat of “extreme violence”, social environment and family structures.

When looked at through these frameworks, it’s easy to see how we’ve gotten to the place we’re in. Our municipal and provincial governments have consistently failed to adequately address these issues, and many of the recent news stories about violent crime have them as clear underpinnings.

Alleged serial killer Jeremy Skibicki took advantage of the housing crisis to stalk homeless shelters for victims. CSIS is warning of a threat of “extreme violence” from the “anti-gender movement” following years of anti-queer hate whipped up by fringe and mainstream right-wing elements alike – including the PCs in the last provincial election. The recent mass murder of a family in Carman, Man. has laid bare the failings of the province’s child-welfare system.

Funding efforts to improve these conditions should seem like a no-brainer. Even putting aside their role in increasing crime and violence, these are basic quality-of-life matters. But the release of the City of Winnipeg’s preliminary budget in February shows just how little interest our leadership has in tackling the root causes of crime.

Not talking about cops

Certain readers may find it puzzling to pick up an issue themed around addressing violent crime and see such little dis- ==cussion of police. But there’s a reason we aren’t talking about police as a solution to violent crime (and it’s not just that policing was our Urban Issue theme last year).

The reason that we aren’t presenting policing as a solution to violent crime is that, frankly, it isn’t one. It’s not an accident that the Crime Prevention Council doesn’t list “lack of police” as one of the root causes of crime.

Winnipeg might be the perfect illustration of this. Every year, Winnipeg spends more on police, at the expense of virtually every community service or social safety net that could address the root causes of crime. Every year, violent crime gets worse. And every year, we’re told that the only way to address it is by throwing more money behind the police.

In 2024, Winnipeg will spend $332.5 million on the Winnipeg Police Service. The only bigger expense, at $356.3 million, is on streets, street lighting and parks. On community services, the city will spend a comparatively tiny $109.6 million. On organizational supports, $148.7 million.

You’d be hard pressed to find two expenses with less return on investment than roads and cops. Roads are a necessity (though maybe they’d see less wear and tear if we carved out some of that budget to beef up the paltry $115 million transit subsidy and reduce the number of cars).

But when it comes to police, what are we getting for our nearly one-third-of-a-billion dollars? It’s certainly not a reduction in crime. They aren’t doing a particularly good job. Look to one of the stories mentioned above. When Winnipeg police learned in June 2022 that Skibicki’s victims’ remains were in the Prairie Green Landfill, rather than doing their jobs and searching it, they simply chose not to – a fact they concealed from the public for six months.

Now, a years-delayed search is expected to cost $90 million. $40 million of that will come from the federal and provincial governments. None will come from the Winnipeg police budget. Now, justice for Marcedes Myran, Morgan Beatrice Harris and Mashkode Bizhiki’ikwe may finally come. But we’re all still footing the astronomical bill for Winnipeg Police Service’s staggering incompetence.

So that’s why, for most of this issue, we’re not going to talk about policing. Because, if we’re going to talk seriously about addressing the root causes of crime, we need to talk about serious solutions. To include the police among those solutions would be inaccurate. It would be disingenuous. It simply wouldn’t be serious.

However, they are noteworthy in one regard: when you wonder, “Why aren’t we adequately funding solutions to our social, economic and family crises? Where is that money going?” That money is going to police.

Published in Volume 78, Number 24 of The Uniter (April 4, 2024)