1. What would you do to make transit service in Winnipeg more functional, reliable and safe for its users? What plans do you have, if any, to reduce car dependency in the city?

Transit is a lifeline for Winnipeggers. If elected mayor, I intend to use public transit daily to stay connected with the real-world experiences of commuters. To make our system safer, I will declare transit security a city emergency. We will launch a two-tier transit police force using unarmed transit greeters to assist riders and handle de-escalation, alongside specialized transit constables for active threats. We will also fast-track full protective enclosures for bus drivers.

To fix reliability, I will review recent route changes to bring back critical bus stops in low-income neighborhoods and ensure stable funding for Winnipeg Transit Plus. To reduce car dependency, we have to make transit a competitive, high-quality choice that saves people money. We will aggressively lobby the province to restore 50-50 transit operating funding so we can get more buses on the roads and lower wait times.

2. What do you think the city should be doing to ease the housing and homelessness crisis? What specifically would you change about the city’s current approaches?

The current approach is broken because we treat a housing and humanitarian crisis as a criminal problem. I will shift our strategy from reactive policing to proactive, community-led support. We will create a 100% civilian, Indigenous-led crisis medic branch within our emergency services dispatch system. When someone reports an unhoused person in distress, these medics will deploy to offer healthcare and direct paths to housing instead of handcuffs.

We will also take derelict, tax-delinquent municipal properties and turn them over to Indigenous housing providers to be rehabilitated into supportive transitional housing. To pay for this without raising your taxes, we will redirect 10% of the police budget(about 37 million dollars) into these root-cause solutions. Finally, we need to build affordable spaces quickly, which is why I am pushing for modular housing to expand our supply fast.

3. Public disorder has become a major concern among surveyed voters. How should the city best deal with it? The police budget is a major expense for the city, are people getting value for money?

Winnipeggers are right to question if they are getting value for their money. The police budget is our single largest expense, yet people feel less safe because we force officers to act as social workers and addiction counselors. We cannot arrest our way out of public disorder. My plan shifts non-violent social calls away from police and over to our civilian crisis medic branch, freeing up officers to focus entirely on preventing and solving violent crime. We will also establish neighbourhood safety councils so local residents and business owners can directly decide how safety resources are used in their communities.

4. While poverty and addictions are largely another government’s responsibility, are there ways that you see that the City of Winnipeg could be doing more to solve these issues?

We cannot hide behind jurisdictional excuses while people are suffering on our doorsteps. Even though healthcare and social services are provincial responsibilities, Winnipeg feels the impact every day. The city can do more by using the tools we actually control. By building a civilian crisis medic branch directly into our emergency dispatch, the city can intervene with trauma-informed care the exact moment someone experiences an addiction or mental health crisis.

We can also partner with local community groups by offering underutilized city spaces and community centers for low-barrier drop-in sites, warming hubs, and harm-reduction services. As mayor, I will use my platform to demand the province fully fund long-term treatment facilities in our city so our crisis medics can hand people off to real, lasting healthcare.

5. Voters are concerned about the rising cost of living and affordability. What do you see are ways the City of Winnipeg could make life less expensive for residents?

City Hall must stop making decisions that stretch household budgets to the breaking point. We can make life less expensive through practical, smart municipal changes. First, by fixing public transit and making it safe and reliable, we give families a realistic option to downsize to one vehicle or drop car ownership entirely, saving thousands of dollars a year on gas, insurance, and parking. Second, we will lower housing costs by fast-tracking the supply of affordable rental options through my upcoming housing initiative, we will protect working families from steep property tax hikes by reallocating 10% of the police budget into lower-cost civilian teams, ensuring the city spends your tax dollars efficiently instead of just asking you for more.