Drunks Force Downtown Winnipeg Business to Close

About 330/2780 (12%) of applicants are aboriginal according to this report. I believe I've showed this to you twice before, hun.

http://winnipeg.ca/police/PDFs/Winnipeg_Police_Service_CALEA_Report.pdf

Not every one who claims to be aboriginal looks it. One of my closest friends is aboriginal but you would never kow it by looking at him, he has blonde hair and blue eyes.

Are you saying they must be visibly aboriginal???

Do you think it would be a good idea to split the different Aboriginal groups for statistical purposes?

Pavolo wrote:I give up you people are too narrow minded to see the it that we are all part of the problem .

Sorry Pav, but I think in this case, you might be the one who is narrow minded to see the truth of the matter. Aboriginals are people just like you and me, and should not be treated any differently when it comes to Canadian society. More and more people are waking up to this fact. And less and less people are playing the "it's everyones fault" card nowadays. Why? Because people are now expecting more out of Aboriginals, just like any other race or culture in this country. Why? Because this is the 21st Century, and equality for everyone runs amuck, and where for the most part, every individual is responsible for his/her own actions. No more blamming other people for your problems; that just doesn't cut it in our society for the most part today.
Aboriginals are people, and people are responsible for their own actions. If they can't get their sh1t together, like anyone else, they will suffer as will the rest of our society indirectly through social services and taxes.

JTF wrote:Downtownbiz.

Just how much of your promotional budget is given over to purchasing lipstick for this pig. Seriously.

Portage Avenue is now our slum area and all your little red shirted wannabee cops are only chasing their tails.

I haven't heard one single idea come from you for fixing up our slop pit. How about it?

JTF - since you asked.
Marketing is our 3rd priority in regards to spending. Safety and Litter programs are our top two area of spending.
Our Watch are reducing crime, and more. We help over 3200 intoxicated people off the street every year, in 10 minutes or less. Some we hire for our cleaning programs.

What is the BIZ doing?



As a small player, we are doing a few things by working with others:



Outreach Program.

http://www.downtownwinnipegbiz.com/home/programs/community_outreach/



Hiring those with social challenged willing and able to work, through MOST. http://www.downtownwinnipegbiz.com/home/programs/most_program/



The Cadet program is a result of our Advocacy (and others too)

http://www.winnipeg.ca/policerecruiting/cadet/index.aspx



The BIZ advocates for more supportive housing

http://uniter.ca/view/1253/

http://blog.uwinnipeg.ca/ChristopherLeo/DwntwnRvtlzGrande.pdf

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/bell-to-become-homeless-haven-91892699.html



We advocate for more dense development, and new taxation tools that will get us there quicker, especially housing.

http://www.downtownwinnipegbiz.com/blog/index.cfm/2010/4/6/Vibrant-downtown-housing-is-just-the-start



http://www.downtownwinnipegbiz.com/blog/index.cfm/2010/2/16/New-highrise-not-in-the-cards--but-it-should-be





Freeman and others who think no one comes downtown, well that’s a myth. 75 percent of Winnipeggers come downtown once or more, every month.

http://www.downtownwinnipegbiz.com/resource/file/DBIZ_Trends_2010.pdf



Do we promote the positives? Of Course. Is the BIZ satisfied? NOPE.


There is much positive to promote. Many people would agree. But we do a lot behind the scenes with our partners too, to improve our Downtown. We do a lot for a small business led organization, and we will do more.

death128 wrote:Do you think it would be a good idea to split the different Aboriginal groups for statistical purposes?

Nope. My point is you may have come across quite a few aboriginal cops but never knew it.

Downtown Biz says: Freeman and others who think no one comes downtown, well that’s a myth. 75 percent of Winnipeggers come downtown once or more, every month.

The only time I go downtown is to attend a concert at the MTS Centre. None of my family or friends go downtown for any other reason except concerts.

Goth_chic wrote:

death128 wrote:Do you think it would be a good idea to split the different Aboriginal groups for statistical purposes?

Nope. My point is you may have come across quite a few aboriginal cops but never knew it.

We have the same point. :p

I work downtown, so maybe I have a thicker skin for what goes on Downtown than those who don't go downtown much.

We were downtown on Friday for an event. The regular drunks/sniffers abounded, but easy enough just to ignore them.

What bothers me the most is the panhandlers/drunks hanging out at my bus stop. And the bus shelter there functions more as a space for dunks/panhandlers than as an actual bus shelter. Very few people use it as such. Perhaps it's the stench.

DowntownBIZ wrote:Freeman and others who think no one comes downtown,.

Well, since I never said that, did you just make up the other stuff in that post as well?

@Bizguy, how do you justify taking an imposed levy from the DT businesses and then spending it on residential housing, which is a provincial responsibility?

Does CFIB pay the BIZ levy on their downtown office, becuase if they do, thats really funny.

The point is being missed, its not about what the government or funded agencies do or don't do, its just not working, because if it was working, then the problems would be solved and business in the downtown would be booming, yes?

There has to be some way to get this ball rolling. Sooner or later, there will be a point where people are fed up with the way the city is handling (or lack thereof) the crime issues that go hand in hand with the aboriginal issues. As the problem continues to spread into new areas of the city, people are going to demand and protest that something will be done asap to deal with it. I think there will be a breaking point in the city soon, and both provincial and civic leaders will have no choice but to pull their heads out of their asses, quit pretending like everything is hunky dory, and face this problem head on. How much longer can this possibly go on for?

death128 wrote:About 330/2780 (12%) of applicants are aboriginal according to this report. I believe I've showed this to you twice before, hun.

http://winnipeg.ca/police/PDFs/Winnipeg_Police_Service_CALEA_Report.pdf

I believe we've had this debate before in the sandbox. Based upon my recollection while there are some applications from the Aboriginal community too many are rejected during the preliminary stages of the process. I don't recall the reasons, but it filters out so many the city struggles trying to fill their quotas.

CitizenSourpuss wrote:So, when y'all refer to "downtown" --> specifically what part of Winnipeg constitutes "downtown" ? When my newbie mind envisions d/t Winnipeg, I'm thinking of the Exchange District, and I'm getting the impression that this isn't the area. Is it the environs just beyond it?

Your patience with the newcomer is greatly appreciated. It aides in my assimilation process.

Sorry for missing this. The topic at hand tends to get involved.

Winnipeg has a TOO LARGE downtown. Which is one of the problems anyhoo. But it basically runs from the river at the forks north to Higgins and Main, then west to around the University of Winnipeg and back south to the river at Osborne and Assiniboine Avenue.

I don't know if I have this entirely correct but it is roughly right.

grumpy old man wrote:

CitizenSourpuss wrote:So, when y'all refer to "downtown" --> specifically what part of Winnipeg constitutes "downtown" ? When my newbie mind envisions d/t Winnipeg, I'm thinking of the Exchange District, and I'm getting the impression that this isn't the area. Is it the environs just beyond it?

Your patience with the newcomer is greatly appreciated. It aides in my assimilation process.

Sorry for missing this. The topic at hand tends to get involved.

Winnipeg has a TOO LARGE downtown. Which is one of the problems anyhoo. But it basically runs from the river at the forks north to Higgins and Main, then west to around the University of Winnipeg and back south to the river at Osborne and Assiniboine Avenue.

I don't know if I have this entirely correct but it is roughly right.

Holy ass. That is too large! No wonder I was moderately confused.

Thanks for clarifications, yo.

Our downtown is so big that we haven't made a dent in the 'revitalization' of it in the last 40 years.

But it has been getting bigger with time. It used to be the area between Eaton's and The Bay.

Goth_chic wrote:Not every one who claims to be aboriginal looks it. One of my closest friends is aboriginal but you would never kow it by looking at him, he has blonde hair and blue eyes.

Are you saying they must be visibly aboriginal???

Maybe your friend is a Pleiadian E.T.

Is he tall?

http://soulutions.wespenre.com/images/PleiadianBeings040410.jpg

http://www.angelfire.com/il2/pleiadians/

Is he circumsized?

DowntownBIZ wrote:Tonight the BIZ with the support of the police also had to deal with a dozen intoxicated people. People with no hope, causing problems.

The BIZ will be the first to promote the downtown, but we are also out there on the front lines dealing with most of the issues. And we also champion for progress, as much as we can.

The publics voice needs to be fair, but also much louder when expressing a desire for quicker progress.
We hear you.

Problem, reaction, solution --

http://www.google.ca/search?q=police+state+problem+reaction+solution&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a

The problem is with our perception that being out and about and drunk is somehow bad!
Who are we to judge that? I think there is nothing wrong with being drunk, and out and about!

@ St. Norb – We know the bus shelters are awful. That’s why last year we decided to work with the City. Now all downtown bus shelters are washed and deodorized every second day (except the Exchange Area) and on weekends. Which one are you referring to, I’ll keep an extra eye on it.
When it comes to the downtown, I think what people are saying is that we need more downtown destinations for people to just hang out, say like Corydon. Millions visit the downtown annually, for hundreds of reasons, but the hanging out part is where the downtown needs to evolve. Chinatown is cool place for dim sum, but hanging out and walking around is not happening. Same with U of W, Graham, Portage and other areas. Our districts need to be further developed. More density, more housing, more shops, and less social issues. This takes time, and planning and everyone working together.
@Freeman - The BIZ does not spend money on developing housing. Not sure where you got that from. We work with all the partners in promoting all the places for sale / rent, e.g . our Downtown Living Tour, and we advocate for the right tools and policies to create more housing. Residents spend a lot of their disposable income in our downtown, and more residents = increased safety and vibrancy. Which benefits downtown businesses, and more.http://www.downtownwinnipegbiz.com/home/downtown_livin/downtown_living_tours/

@BIZ: One of your most important campaigns is the "anti-cigarette litter" program, and picking up 50,000 butts a year sounds impressive but really has not made a dent as I still see the ground covered with filthy butts each day. I am also finding that pretty much ALL of the drunks, bums, addicts, criminals etc. that we associate with downtown problems are smokers. If we prohibited smoking downtown this would make the area very unattractive for this population, and I think that BIZ should step up efforts toward such a goal. Only picking up butts just don't cut it.

I don't understand why people litter, cigarette butts and other garbage. It makes the downtown look awful, just like any other area in our City. And its almost everyone that smokes, not just the down and out.

No one knows this better than the BIZ.

We are only one player though. Our role is to enhance the City services. The City cleans the downtown too.

Six years ago we decided to do something about this issue.

With the support of the City, we now run two mechanized sidewalk sweepers. To put things in perspective, the City has one, for the entire city.

These machine run on Portage Avenue 2 times per day. And Portage is hand picked for litter another 2-4 times per day. 4-6 runs per day in total . Same thing for Graham Avenue. We hit all the streets almost every day, picking litter.

http://www.downtownwinnipegbiz.com/home/programs/clean_team/

And we have just added a weekend crew of 4, and an evening crew of 2.

Litter is a massive issue. But based on recent public surveys the cleanliness of our downtown is improving. Over 70 percent of Winnipeggers feel the downtown is cleaner then last year. And two years ago, over 60 percent felt it was cleaner then the year before that.

Imagine what the downtown would look like if we did not do what we do!

I would love to double my staff. We will, slowly, as funds permit. And we are always asking the City and Property owners to do more as well. We are pushing for more city garbage cans, and encouraging business owners to install cigarettes butt receptacles as well, which we will cost share. There are a number of them out already.

If you see litter, just call us, we can get to it pretty quick. 958-4640

We are about to launch a new anti-litter campaign. So stay tuned.

I think the bottom line is that despite whatever organization/political leader/individual claim that they are currently doing to make things better in terms of the drunks/bums/gang member/aboriginal issue, clearly it isn't enough and it isn't working. Whoever is in charge of this needs to step up their game 1000% in order to even begin to make a dent in this area. Otherwise, it's all for not and this will only get worse.

DowntownBIZ wrote:. And its almost everyone that smokes, not just the down and out.

I asume that you mean that almost all smokers dispose of their biohazardous waste in an unsanitary matter, and NOT that almost everyone is a smoker. While littering is one issue, I was making the point that the percentage of smokers among criminals, bums, drunks is about 100%, whereas among the rest of the population it is lower than 20%. So if we had a strict non-smoking policy for places like parks, benches, bus shelters etc it would have a much larger impact on the "problem population" than on people conducting regular business in downtown, and may even encourage the odd regular smoker to curb the habit. Those who only come to downtown to cause trouble would be more inclined to stay away.