Winnipeg police officer seeks to arrest Brian Bowman's reign as mayor
Tim Diack, a 30-year member of the Winnipeg Police Service, is poised to run for mayor
A 30-year member of the Winnipeg Police Service is poised to run for mayor in a campaign that would be an attempt to replace his ultimate boss.
Const. Tim Diack, 52, says he plans to sign his mayoral-campaign registration papers on Tuesday. That would make him the fifth candidate to begin fundraising for a mayoral campaign in advance of the election day this fall.
Since joining the police service in 1988, Diack has worked as a general patrol officer, a division detective and in the street-crime unit. He currently serves as a beat officer in Point Douglas.
"It would be fair to say I am a law-and-order candidate," he said Monday in an interview, pledging to reduce the prevalence of violent crime in Winnipeg and make the city more efficient if he's elected mayor.
"A lot of police officers, firefighters, paramedics are moving out of the city. They live outside the city. I think that's telling," Diack said.
"Overall, I just want efficiency and I want people who are going to be able to say, 'We can do this better and this place can be safer.'"
Diack claims his years of experience as a police officer — as well as prior work in construction — provide him with the know-how to cut through bureaucracy.
As an example, he said the police service could save money by spending one-time money on additional taser holsters instead of continually paying for the labour costs of transferring tasers between officers.
The constable said he does not believe incumbent mayoral candidate Brian Bowman has a comparable understanding of city processes.
"I think Brian Bowman is doing exactly what a person who hasn't had hands-on experience in this city would do. He operates with a different type of philosophy," he said. "I'm not saying he's a bad guy. He's a very photogenic guy."
Bowman re-election campaign spokesperson Kelly McCrae said the incumbent mayor expects people to challenge him.
Diack has run for public office before. He sought the Progressive Conservative nomination for the provincial Point Douglas constituency in 2017, but lost to electrician Jodi Moskal, who in turn lost the Point Douglas byelection to the NDP's Bernadette Smith.
Diack describes himself as "a Red Tory" who hopes to count on support from Winnipeggers from a variety of political perspectives.
"I don't care what colour T-shirt you are. I've got a lot of green T-shirts. I got blue T-shirts. I have got some orange. I belong to three unions," he said.
Point Douglas community activist Sel Burrows, who knows Diack as a beat cop, said he's considering supporting the police officer's mayoral run.
"I think very highly of him. He's a big, huge guy who can be tough with bad guys, and he can be very gentle with an immigrant woman who needs help," Burrows said in an interview.
As of Monday, five candidates have registered to run for mayor: Incumbent mayor Bowman, plus entrepreneur Umar Hayat, business-development consultant Jenny Motkaluk, former Morden mayor Doug Wilson and former Winnipeg Transit operator Don Woodstock.
To appear on the ballot, candidates must complete the nomination process in September. The election takes place Oct. 24.
