As Winnipeg celebrates 150 years as a city, Mayor Scott Gillingham weighs in on different celebrations taking place as well as his vision for the city.
For 20 years, Gillingham was a pastor in Winnipeg. Their family still attends the church as part of the congregation.
"At the heart of faith leadership is service," says Gillingham. "The heart of the Christian faith for all of us is being servants wherever we are or whatever we do. That's what elected office is or should be, public service. That attitude and focus of trying to serve others, to improve lives, to make the community better, really is what continues to drive me. It's an absolute honour and privilege to be in this role."
Crime in Winnipeg
Over the past few years, the violent crime rate has increased in the city of Winnipeg.
"There is too much violent crime in Winnipeg. Violent crime is measured by what's called the Crime Severity Index and unfortunately Winnipeg is near the top of that index. We are working very hard as a city. Our police service is working on prevention of crime but we also have many agencies within Winnipeg. Like the downtown community safety partnership, we have business zones that have ambassadors, such as the Bear Clan. One of the campaign commitments I have and we've now enacted is community safety officers on transit buses and around transit stops. All these agencies are starting to work together."
Gillingham shares that he also has a good working relationship with the provincial government, which means working alongside Manitoba's Premier, Wab Kinew. Unifying together to address the issue of violent crime is the way to combat it, according to the mayor.
"One of the things we've focused on recently is retail crime. I'm grateful the provincial government is funding an initiative to address retail crime so that business owners and customers and employees can feel safer and we can reduce the crime in and around businesses."
Ups and Downs as Mayor
With a vision for the city of Winnipeg, Gillingham shares some of the hardships that come from being in a position of authority.
"One of the hardest parts of being mayor is the speed at which government moves, which is not fast. It takes longer than I want to see something accomplished. That's inevitable. We know the things we need to do to improve the city of Winnipeg, to make a safer, healthier, more equitable community, but it just takes some time to implement the initiatives we want to see happen."
The best part of being mayor of Winnipeg for Gillingham is the people.
"There's so many people that I get to meet across Winnipeg in diverse communities. There's a richness to that. There's people from all across the city from all walks of life who are committed to Winnipeg, to its health and future, and that encourages me."
Collaborating with individuals, even when they have differing opinions, is part of the job as mayor. However, Gillingham has an approach when it comes to people criticizing his decisions.
"To be honest, you kind of ignore it. Leadership in any organization, you're not going to please everybody. My goal is to work with others and serve others, to do the best that we can to make improvements. There's constructive criticism, that I'll listen to because you know that there's people who want the best for the city. But when there are people that are chasing wild conspiracies that are critics, then you have to ignore it."
Vision for Winnipeg
"My vision for Winnipeg is that we become a city that's safer, healthier, more equitable and that we address big challenges like homelessness, addiction, and mental health challenges. We're working very hard to get more housing built."
Winnipeg has grown incredibly in the past few years and now sits at a population of roughly 850,000 people.
"We hope young people that grow up in and around our community want to stay here and plant roots here. Those are the goals we're working at."
As a mayor of the Christian faith, Gillingham shares he appreciates prayers for his continued leadership role.
"As James says, if you need wisdom, ask. All of us that are in any roles, whether it's faith leadership roles, or politics, we need wisdom."
Winnipeg Celebrates 150 Years
Gillingham shares that there are multiple upcoming events happening to celebrate Winnipeg's 150 years.
"The first election in Winnipeg was in 1874 and we were formed as a city in early 1874. In the first election, there were just under 400 people that were eligible to vote. You had to own property, be a male, and be a British citizen to vote. We've come a long way, thankfully."
According to Gillingham, while celebrating Winnipeg's presence, it's also vital to acknowledge the people here before and collectively moving in a direction of reconciliation and unity.
"Long before Winnipeg was formed as a city 150 years ago, Winnipeg and the area around the Forks specifically, has been a centre for Indigenous people. It's been the heart of the economy. Throughout the year we've been attaching the celebration to established events and festivals. The theme of Winnipeg 150 is 'Our Shared Stories, Our Shared Future.' Everyone has a story of being in Winnipeg. We share our stories but we share our future together as well."
The logo for Winnipeg 150 was specially designed by Jordan Stranger of Peguis First Nation.
"There are the rivers, the Red and the Assiniboine. There are footprints on here representing the journey of reconciliation that we're all on and the Manitoba Crocus. It's a beautiful logo."
One event celebrating Winnipeg 150 is the Mayor's Ball, which is happening at the RBC Convention Centre on October 5 with all proceeds going towards the city's arts.