The center of Winnipeg became the focus of discussion at Winnipeg downtown mayoral forum.
Eight candidates for Winnipeg mayor gathered together to discuss problems that occur in the city center and to offer their solutions. A big debate has unfolded around the issue of the opening of Portage and Main to pedestrians.
Mayor Bowman was one of those who liked the idea of reopening this area for pedestrians. However, he did not get enough support. Tim Diack announced that in his opinion it is not the time for doing such a step.
He said that is it very critical, but at the moment they have much bigger problems to solve. For example, crime in the streets of the city.
Diack expressed the opinion that it is necessary to increase the number of officers for patrolling the streets, provide more security and add additional cameras.
Jenny Motkaluk said that she has a plan according to which on the street there will be more police officers without adding money to the police budget.
The next question for discussion was the meth problem. Mayor Bowman told that if he becomes a new mayor, he will begin work on creating a safe injection site in the city.
Candidate Don Woodstock asked a lot of questions about meth crisis and what measures the mayor took to change or improve the situation.
Also, the discussion touched Winnipeg Transit. Motkaluk expressed her opinion that in other cities public transport operates faster, better and more reliable.
The forum will last a few more days.
MORE NEWS: The president of the Métis Federation wants to hear an apology from Pallister