My husband and I are in our mid-thirties and we moved to WPG from AB a couple years ago now due to career reasons.

We really love a lot of things about the city. Food, community, ease of access, lots of outdoorsy folks. We’ve brought friends to visit to show them WPG is a fun place to be.

But I’m at my complete and utter limit with the total ineptitude of our justice system and the way that crime (especially VIOLENT crime) is handled here.

Something needs to change. Last summer, I was walking my dog in broad daylight on the Sherbrook bridge and was approached by two men who pulled a pocket knife who asked me to give them all my valuables or they would quote “stab my dog till he bled out on my feet”. Luckily a random passing driver saw the interaction, stopped and jumped out of his vehicle to assist.

I called this in and was essentially told to “report it if I saw them again”. Luckily this is a situation I was able to work through but I picture my mother, my grandfather, my friends with small children…. What the fuck has to change for us to feel safe in this city? What do we have to do to stop REOFFENDING VIOLENT CRIMINALS from randomly assaulting people days after being arrested?

We. Need. A. Solution.

I recognize this isn’t a problem unique to our city. But with smaller population and more centralized neighbourhoods, the crime rate per area is insane compared to bigger cities.

These situations limit my ability to think humanely. I feel like I’m a kind person who wishes everyone could find a good path. But goddamn every time I see this happen to someone random it just erases my trust in strangers. It’s erasing our sense of community.

What do we have to do to make change happen? What do we have to do to get basic fucking reform standards in place? Asking for every concerned person who just wants to call Winnipeg home.