Provide trailers for Winnipeg homeless, mayoral candidate Kevin Klein says

The City of Winnipeg must act to provide shelter for homeless people before winter sets in, mayoral candidate Kevin Klein said on Tuesday.

Klein wants the city to purchase trailers that would be placed on city-owned land to offer temporary shelter. 

If elected mayor on Oct. 26, the current councillor for Charleswood-Tuxedo-Westwood said he would ask the federal government to provide funding through the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation to pay for the trailers. He would also ask the Manitoba government to provide social services staff to help people find permanent housing.

"People need our help," Klein said during a news conference at his Stafford Street office.

"They need to be connected with services. It sounds easy, for you and I, but it's not that easy when you have nowhere to go … We have to make it easy to help our residents that are in need right now."

Klein also wants to expand the alternative response to citizens in crisis program, which pairs Winnipeg police officers with mental health workers.

Fellow mayoral candidate Scott Gillingham also proposed using federal funding to transform six city-owned vacant lots into modular housing units.

In the long-term, Klein said he would prioritize building and occupancy permits for affordable and rent-geared-to-income housing projects. 

He promised to cut property taxes for these projects by offering grants to qualifying organizations equal to the amount they would have paid in taxes. 

Gillingham's plan also calls for the city to waive permit costs and property taxes 

Klein didn't know how many trailers the city might need to purchase. 

Earlier in the campaign, he proposed bringing together non-profits to form a homelessness advisory council. He would consult this group to determine the number of trailers needed and find a suitable location.

Klein spoke about his personal experience when he was briefly homeless as a young adult. He spent two nights in a Salvation Army shelter in Calgary, shortly after his mother was murdered in a domestic violence incident, he said.

"I was very fortunate, but I still remember thinking that no one cared. Thinking that you're alone. And that's what this is about."

A Probe Research poll indicated that a majority of Winnipeggers placed homelessness and poverty reduction among their top issues in the civic election, tied with crime and safety at 64 per cent.

Fix Thunderbird House: Murray

Glen Murray promised to meet with Indigenous leaders to come up with a plan to restore the iconic Thunderbird House within 100 days if he is elected mayor. 

The Indigenous cultural centre on Main Street was built during Murray's first term as mayor, but has faced funding challenges since then and needs major repairs.

Murray would seek provincial and federal help to fund the centre, which he compared to other major cultural institutions like the Canadian Museum for Human Rights.

"It is in that league ... and I can't imagine that we would tolerate, if we walked by the Museum for Human Rights ... and that if it looked in the condition that this building is [in] ... we would be humiliated and we should be concerned that we take this on," Murray said at a news conference outside the building.

Fencing surrounds Thunderbird House and plywood covers the windows. Parts of the copper roof have been ripped off and garbage covers the ground.

Homeless people have camped out on the property, near where an Indigenous-run tiny home project, dubbed Astum Api Niikinaahk, is under construction, and a new public washroom facility opened earlier this year.

Jason Whitford, executive director of End Homelessness Winnipeg, spoke at Murray's announcement, although he said he is not endorsing anyone for mayor.

"There is a passion among our people to heal our community," Whitford said.

"There's a need for that, and I think it starts here ... It should start within a place such as Thunderbird House, the creation of Astum Api Niikinaahk, Amoowigamig — the public bathroom. Those are starts."

Murray did not have an estimate of how much it would cost to restore the building.

Make transit safer, more reliable: Ouellette

Robert-Falcon Ouellette released a plan that he says would make Winnipeg Transit safer and more reliable.

His plan includes a proposal to hire security guards to ride on bus routes that have frequent incidents of violence as a short-term measure, while the city trains transit supervisors as peace officers to respond in emergency situations, he said in a news release.

He would also equip buses with full safety shields for drivers — a long-standing request of the Amalgamated Transit Union — and an emergency button connected to transit security and the Winnipeg police.

Ouellette also wants to increase the frequency of bus service, bring back the free Downtown Sprit routes, reduce fares to $1 per ride, cap bus monthly bus passes at $53, and introduce debit and credit payment options on buses.

Earlier in the campaign, Ouellette proposed making transit free for everyone under 18 years old.

Increase transit frequency: Shone

Rick Shone also made a pledge to make transit more frequent as part of plan to reduce the city's carbon emissions.

He said he would accelerate the city's transit master plan, with a focus on increasing the frequency of service and number of stops.

His plan also calls for city to double the active transportation budget — currently $9.6 million, according to budget documents.

He also wants to transition the city's vehicle fleet to low or zero-emission vehicles, install 100 electric vehicle charging stations, and eliminate parking subsidies for Winnipeg employees.

Restore arts council funding: Motkaluk

Also on Tuesday, Jenny Motkaluk pledged to restore a 10 per cent cut the city made to the Winnipeg Arts Council budget.

This would add another $500,000 to the council's current $4.2 million budget.

• Read more from the CBC on the 2022 Winnipeg election

Klein, Gillingham, Murray, Ouellette, Shone and Motkaluk are among 11 candidates running for mayor. Idris Adelakun, Rana Bokhari, Chris Clacio, Shaun Loney and Don Woodstock are also running.

Advance voting starts on Oct. 3 and election day is Oct. 26.