Kevin Klein says if elected mayor, he would establish a 24/7 managed space for homeless people in Winnipeg. “I will pursue a time-limited, professionally managed community as a bridge to housing and treatment, not a permanent tent city,” Klein said Thursday. Klein says right now, tents are being moved from one park to another. In his first 30 days, if elected mayor, Klein says he’ll create an Office of Community Safety and Outcomes. Along with that, Klien says he’d open a temporary facility, which could be inside a building or on a piece of land for homeless people. Klein says supports would be on-site, including garbage collection and helping people get identification, with the goal of getting them into housing and treatment. “What we’re trying to do is have one safe place for people that are homeless where they can go. We’re trying to have a place where we’re going to have systems and people there to help them,” Klein said. Klein hopes he can convince St. Boniface Street Links founder Marion Willis to run the program. While Willis is not sure if she is willing to do it, she has been pushing for a managed encampment site to deal with the problem in one place. “Are we going to allow encampments to continue to build in parking lots? Last week, we were taking a huge encampment out of somebody’s front yard,” Willis said. The city has said in partnership with the province’s Your Way Home Strategy, 270 people have been housed. The incumbent in the mayoral race, Scott Gillingham, says he’s had the debate several times at city hall about a managed encampment. “It would require the province to participate, to fund, and to partner,” Gillingham said. “They have indicated clearly they don’t intend to.” Mayoral candidate Mike Vogiatzakis questioned where Klein would put a managed space. “To me this is just another short-term plan, that’s going to go into some neighbourhood and stir up all kinds of trouble,” Vogiatzakis said. Klein says they have to find the right space and the right location so people don’t have to walk far to access the services. “If elected as your mayor, we will have that facility and the location and everything ready to go and online so people know what we’re doing within 30 days,” he said. Klein estimates the site would be open for a year.
