Winnipeg - Of Interest

[bomberjet]

They flew right over my house. Nice little treat while slogging away.

[Biff]

It was actually kind of creepy seeing the majority of the people on my street wander out of their houses at 9:30. Dressed in sweats and robes they were all looking up and pointing....sort of like an apocalyptic end of the world alien invasion kind of thing.

[Riverman]

Originally Posted by drew

^ that is amazing. Uncomfortably close flying - wow.

Practice practice practice.

[joshlemer]

Saw this documentary about methamphetamine use in Winnipeg, posted to Reddit. I found it pretty informative https://youtu.be/AAwXK49-Z24 (Methamphetamine: Community Under Siege)

[buzzg]

I’ve been going to my office downtown throughout this whole pandemic (no one else in building) and it’s equally crazy and sad how much new graffiti and broken windows there’s been since March. South Main, QEW/Norwood bridge, and UFG are covered in graffiti now, and it’s the shitty awful tags, not nicer stuff on blank alley walls.

[GreyGarden]

I was pretty bummed to see that the "SMILE" mural on the Westminster side of the FoodFare had been vandalized and tagged.

[Jammon]

Originally Posted by joshlemer

Saw this documentary about methamphetamine use in Winnipeg, posted to Reddit. I found it pretty informative https://youtu.be/AAwXK49-Z24 (Methamphetamine: Community Under Siege)

Crime rates are never going to change until the province and city come up with a comprehensive plan to address the Meth issue. This is what you get with a PC premier- denial of its existence.

[NewIreland]

Originally Posted by Jammon

Crime rates are never going to change until the province and city come up with a comprehensive plan to address the Meth issue. This is what you get with a PC premier- denial of its existence.

It's getting very bad. Just went for a walk in the East Exchange and there were about 15 addicts stumbling around. A few in Juba park, a few more around north waterfront and a bunch more around the museum/centenial including a young Asian man who was so out of it that I had to call EMS.

[Jammon]

Originally Posted by NewIreland

It's getting very bad. Just went for a walk in the East Exchange and there were about 15 addicts stumbling around. A few in Juba park, a few more around north waterfront and a bunch more around the museum/centenial including a young Asian man who was so out of it that I had to call EMS.

Well, this is what you get when you have a mayor and premier that fight over trivial things about the city budget. No one sits down with the experts to say "what is it that we need to address this problem?"

We are the only major city not to have a safe injection site. Blame the premier for that. Abstinence model linear thinking. Add in a provincial authority (AFM) that still preaches abstinence over harm reduction. No dedicated treatment beds in city of 800,000 for street drug use outside of GB2 at HSC which primarily deals with alcohol withdrawal and some opiates.

And you wonder why crime is out of control?

The good will and charity towards the people who struggle with addiction are primarily driven by volunteer organizations like the Bear Clan and Main Street Project and Siloam Mission, but the city and province have a lacklustre response. Street Connections is great, but what happens when someone is ready to detox? No where for them to go.

I am so frustrated with how we are handling this crisis. Government at all levels just bury their head in the sand. There is this small part of me that wishes either the Mayor or Premier were the victim of some drug related crime so they could begin to understand how deep this problem runs in Winnipeg.

Sorry, rant over. I will get off my soapbox now.

[GreyGarden]

I obviously agree that our different levels of government can be doing so much more to address the meth crisis here and should. It's a pressing problem in our city.

I do think the perception is extra bad here tho, and I'm not trying to dismiss the very real issues surrounding the meth crisis. But when I walk around cool neighbourhoods of Toronto, I pass plenty of people who are high, stumbling around and passed out on the street (maybe not from meth, they seem to be struggling with opioids more out east), but it feels so much less in your face. Mainly I think because you're surrounded by a bunch of people with good disposable incomes. As a result, the people struggling just kind of blend into the background and you don't notice them as much. That has a sad element to it obviously, but from a purely perception standpoint its not nearly as bad.

[drew]

^ the visual is especially bad right now.

Downtown, the majority of the people on the streets are homeless or otherwise obviously struggling with addictions or metal issues.

I have worked continuously thru COVID, and walk to work and back - right now the streets are unquestionably more unpredictable right now. Inmates ruling the asylum kind of thing.

This morning there was a substance fueled domestic in the middle of Main Street. Yesterday is was shirtless dude being aggressive and wandering the sidewalk...

good times.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by drew

^ the visual is especially bad right now.

Downtown, the majority of the people on the streets are homeless or otherwise obviously struggling with addictions or metal issues.

I have worked continuously thru COVID, and walk to work and back - right now the streets are unquestionably more unpredictable right now. Inmates ruling the asylum kind of thing.

This morning there was a substance fueled domestic in the middle of Main Street. Yesterday is was shirtless dude being aggressive and wandering the sidewalk...

good times.

It's been over two months since I've been downtown so I'm out of the loop, but my wife occasionally goes to her office and what she says echoes exactly what you said. She said that there is just a menacing vibe out there.

This hasn't happened overnight... it felt like crime and misbehaviour generally were escalating over the last few years, but now with covid it has hit overdrive. It was interesting to read a recent column in the Freep where Janine LeGal commented on her move out of Lord Roberts after six years of living there... she said she liked the neighbourhood, but that drug-fueled violence was unquestionably on the upswing. That was telling.

[buzzg]

Yeah it's very bad right now, people on the street definitely outnumbering others.

If you want to get a sense of the space the Portage Place food court normally provides... go by Air Canada Park during the day right now. It's crazy.

[drew]

Originally Posted by buzzg

Yeah it's very bad right now, people on the street definitely outnumbering others.

If you want to get a sense of the space the Portage Place food court normally provides... go by Air Canada Park during the day right now. It's crazy.

Yep- my daily walk takes me up and down Portage from Wolseley to the Exchange, and I do not walk along the north side of Portage Ave until I cross over just before P&M.

I am not a small dude or obvious target by any means, but So-po all the way.

[OTA in Winnipeg]

Global News reporting right now that there's a major incident at McDermot Ave and King St.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by OTA in Winnipeg

Global News reporting right now that there's a major incident at McDermot Ave and King St.

Police said it was a 'firearms related investigation'... it seems that the matter was resolved without incident.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manit...rict-1.5587624

[cllew]

The police PR people were not happy that Austin Grabish from the CBC reported they had their "tank" out as part of the response to that incident. They tweeted that they would prefer if the CBC would refer to it as an armored rescue vehicle which Austin then did in corrected report.

[bomberjet]

http://clkapps.winnipeg.ca/DMIS/perm...200603(RM)AC-4

Tuxedo problems.

[drew]

^ holy moly.

7 cars. 4 trailers. 3 snowmobiles. 4 ATVs and a 40-foot RV on the way.

I wonder why Liam gets stuck with the minivan...

[buzzg]

So are they hoping to store their 40' RV in their front driveway along with 7 cars? I'd be annoyed if I was the neighbour.