Marty Gold carries on the tradition of investigative journalism in Winnipeg
See it at ActionLine.ca & every Wednesday & Sunday in the Winnipeg Sun!
- Passion & Commitment bringing- Your Voice to the community
- City Hall and Provincial analysis, Crime and Courts updates, & exclusive newsmaker interviews with the details others ignore
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Sept 13 2026- Adam Dudek Brings Blue Collar Approach To Elmwood-EK Race
Season 7 · Episode 35
Monday, September 14, 2026 • Duration 01:15:17
He's got a lot of ideas to improve how City Hall spends taxpayer's money, and in Episode 35 Adam Dudek takes his case to the voters of Elmwood-East Kildonan.
Part 1- An update of the Season 7 Funding Drive and our latest columns in the Winnipeg Sun- the links are below at the end of the episode description.
5.57 Part 2- Adam Dudek was born and raised on Polson Avenue near Main Street and his father was head of Training and Development for the City of Winnipeg for almost 30 years. He explains how his upbringing instilled the values that guide his commitment to the EK ward where he's lived for about a decade.
A plumber by trade, "being able to visualize the problem and being able to explain it properly to the people that need to hear it" is key to earning the trust of his customers- and taxpayers. He has an insider's view of the deteriorating civic infrastructure - from seized and stripped water valves to the combined sewers that "we have to get rid of."
Getting City permits for construction can "be a headache" especially on the residential side which can be "incredibly slow"- citing staffing as an ongoing issue.
24.33 Part 3- Dudek addresses the theft of tools from trades workers - he was a victim himself. He says 98% of residents cite crime as the major issue locally, especially in Glen Elm.
"One resident told me he pays about a $1500-2000 'theft tax' annually" and the Redwood Bridge seems to be the path to the area for criminals.
Dudek wants a camera system set up on the bridge to coordinate with neighbourhood security footage to help track and arrest them. "This has to stop - nobody is really fighting for this neighborhood."
Dudek discusses how the incumbent council member, Emma Durand-Wood, instead pushes for bike lanes, reducing speed limits without consulting engineers, and "unpopular" traffic calming curbs costing $8000 apiece.
36.45- He is critical of school zones set up with minimal signage and predatory enforcement. If elected to Council, "I want those vehicles with blinking lights, I want them brightly lit... if there's any fight against making it blatantly safety first, then you know it's a cash grab."
The feedback he got in the area Facebook groups - "a perfect place to test out ideas" was largely negative towards the current practices, except for "the pro-bike lobby" who Dudek says also post regular statements favoring Durand-Wood.
43.32 Part 4- The Watt Street corridor continues to have problem properties, derelict buildings, arsons and drug dealing making life unsafe. "Some of these properties, the police have raided multiple times. The judicial system keeps letting people out."
Dudek mentions an assault victim who called the cops, and that night the perp tried to burn down her house - and was then released again. "City Hall should not be spending money on anything," pointing at the dubiously named Human Rights Committee, "until people are safe."
Dudek also discusses extending yellow and red light that he's seen in other cities to reduce collisions involving pedestrians, noting "you can never have zero accidents."
He favours the Chief Peguis extension and twinning Dugald Rd. and Panet - unlike Durand-Wood - to improve vehicle movement and safety.
59.57- Regarding homelessness and encampments, he supports transitional housing, managed encampments - "Halifax has proven that it works"- and insists the danger facing transit users and employees is unacceptable: "Why are these people on the bus in the first place... safety on buses has to be addressed."
Dudek discusses the need for BIZ zones in the ward, too. His campaign website is Adamdudek.ca .
Sept 3 2026- Kym Kaufmann Explains Why Opioid ODs Need New Approach
Season 7 · Episode 34
Friday, September 4, 2026 • Duration 38:39
A study by an Alberta Crown Corporation could shift the way opioid overdose cases are handled after data linked those medical events to a higher risk of irreversible brain damageand early death, with teenagers particularly vulnerable. This interview for Episode 34 with the CEO of the organization CoRE, Kym Kaufmann, was the basis of our report on the study in The Winnipeg Sun this week.
Part 1- Marty provides an update on the surge in donations tothe Season 7 Funding Drive- now over $3600 – and a recap of his most recent newspaper columns:
9.02 Part 2- Officials from the Canadian Centre for Recovery Excellence (CoRE) sent a Letter to the Editor published in the journal Addiction, entitled ‘The silent consequence of overdose: The case for brain injury-informed opioidtreatment’, after their study of patient data from British Columbia.
As Kym Kaufmann, a co-signer of the letter explains, theydetermined opioid overdoses can cause immediate brain damage, especially in teens- and this information is not considered in current treatment guidelines.
Aug 25 2026- Nathine Dagdick Touts City Experience, Transcona Roots To Voters
Season 7 · Episode 33
Wednesday, August 26, 2026 • Duration 55:41
When Nathine Dagdick asked to be part of our 2026 Civic Election series, it was easy to see why. The city employee says he's watched Transcona taxpayers, transit users and drivers pay the price for bad planning and poor service delivery.
Episode 33 opens with a brief review of our Season 7 Funding Drive (and Facebook group membership) and how you can help us get to the month-end goal of $3000, plus the reactions to his latest Winnipeg Sun columns:
8.40 Part 2- This observation from Transcona candidate Nathine Dagdick on his campaign website struck us as something we would have reported:
"Every Transcona resident has a story about calling or emailing 311 to report a pothole, a damaged park bench, or a missed snow plow, only to receive a generic tracking number and absolutely zero follow-up. Our current 311 system operates like a black hole where resident complaints go to die. As a municipal operator, I know our front-line crews want to fix these issues, but the internal tracking system disconnects the resident from the worker on the ground."
A City infrastructure equipment operator, Dagdick's central theme is that Winnipeggers are not getting value for dollar because of insider resistence to reforming wasteful policies.
Aug 16 2026- Osborne Village Speaks Out About Harm From 'Harm Reduction' Hub
Season 7 · Episode 32
Sunday, August 16, 2026 • Duration 01:00:21
An extraordinary community meeting was held at the Gas Station Theatre on Wednesday to discuss the spiraling decay of public safety in Osborne Village and the dismissive responses of area social service agencies.
Their uncontrollable clients - who have a propensity for violence, theft, disorder, starting fires, and using public and private property as bathrooms - are ruining what was only 15 years ago considered Canada's greatest neighborhood.
In Part 1 of Episode 32, Marty explains his own extensive past background with safety and security in the Village as a resident of 9 years, as a producer and event coordinator of Canada Day festivities, and as an employee of the local hotel over the course of 22 years before it was sold.
12.25 Part 1- Mike Green organized the event and explains his dealings with and findings about the Augustine Church, a board invented to lease the church's attached halls, and the social agencies operating poverty reduction and homeless and addiction services at River Ave. and Pulford, Oak Table and 1JustCity.
Green recounts the dismissive attitudes of the landlord and agencies despite his videos of meth users on the lawn 2 feet from kids outside the daycare, and describes tactics of 'harm reduction' advocates to deflect their responsibility while pocketing paycheques and peddling influence on policy makers.
Aug 9 2026- Giesbrecht Claims Edge in Transcona Ward Race
Season 7 · Episode 31
Sunday, August 9, 2026 • Duration 01:00:46
Our series of civic election interviews continues in Episode 31 with Chris Giesbrecht, one of the four declared candidates in Transcona ward.
Part 1- A 31 year old with a year of work as an assistant to the area MP, Chris Giesbrecht is well-versed in aiding residents. "Customer service is a universal language in my opinion."
One of the big issues he's hearing at the doorstep is how the botched Winnipeg Transit revamp has delivered criminally minded fare-jumpers directly to the Regent Avenue residential area, with one frightened voter describing "people camping out", going through yards while making finger-gun gestures at the homeowner.
He said that instead of backing bus operators who try to enforce fare payment, Transit management issue disciplinary notices to the employees, and union members told him they feel like getaway drivers as shoplifters abscond from local malls. He discusses why Council should be reviewing KPI- Key Performance Indicators - on Transit's senior management.
19.58 Part 2- Giesbrecht outlines other top-of-mind concerns that voters in Transcona are raising with him.
Those included Mayor Gillingham's property tax increases, crumbling streets, and the City using accounting tricks to stall building a new East of the Red recreation centre.
31.10- Another sore point in the ward is that young families can't find affordable housing; at the same time new planned high-density developments could overpower the rural character of South Transcona and create traffic and dangerous emergency response snarls at Dugald and Lagimodiere Blvd.
"UFFW reached out to me and said these new developments will be unserviced unless you build a new fire station... we have to have the supporting infrastructure."
41.57 Part 3 - Giesbrecht took note of the way the city has fumbled the Arlington Bridge contract, and is at the same time facing a borrowing crunch.
"The city is broke, it needs new revenue streams, it needs to find savings where it can. I think we need to get creative and need to save some money."
Aug 2 2026- Voices of North Logan Speak Outside NDP’s Drug Site
Season 7 · Episode 30
Monday, August 3, 2026 • Duration 01:13:05
Last week the operators of the NDP government’s "Safe Consumption Site" (SCS) that is slated to open on August 11th at 366 Henry Avenue canceled a planned tour of the facilityfor neighborhood stakeholders. Aboriginal Health and Wellness Centre officials cited obviously fake reasons to duck the in-person scrutiny.
In Episode 30, you'll hear the press conference audio, including the presentations, the questions from the media, and a special interview with Progressive Conservative leader Obby Khan.
Unlike Premier Wab Kinew, he has met with North Logan stakeholders and has listened to their well-founded concerns about the potential worsening of neighborhood safety and public disorder.
Part 1- Marty provides background about the event and what led up to it, then introduces the segments with the speakers.
15.50- Joseph Fourre, press conference host.
19.17-Isidro Zapata, North Logan homeowner and community leader.
24.18-Joe Valentim, Four Seasons Auto Body owner.
31.10-Rob Firman, Tench Plumbing and Heating, who spotted a dirty used needle only feet away from the gathering.
38.44 Part 2-Marty introduces more audio from the press conference. Funeral director and mayoral candidate Mike Vogiatzakis noted, "your kids can't even play in their playgrounds anymore” because of used needles scattered in the park.
July 25 2026- Abel Gutierrez Takes Second Run At Elmwood-EK Seat
Season 7 · Episode 29
Sunday, July 26, 2026 • Duration 53:03
Episode 29 continues our tradition of giving civic election candidates a chance to make their pitch and answer a few questions, with Elmwood -EK hopeful Abel Gutierrez up at bat!
Part 1- He was eager to explain what he learned from his second-place finish in last fall's by-election. Hear why Abel Gutierrez was fast out of the gate this year and his ideas about how to address the "3 top issues" he's hearing at the door" - crime, transit, and value for tax dollars.
That last concern is driven by a chart he published on his Facebook campaign page showing residential property assessments increased 18% in East Kildonan - highest in the city - and by 13% in Elmwood.
11.30- He says the focus of Elmwood-EK taxpayers is on getting broken roadways and sidewalks fixed, and in his campaign, "not one person has said the city is doing a bang-up job on maintaining my street, picking up my garbage, picking up my snow."
In trying to unseat Emma Durand-Wood, Gutierrez believes she's fallen short thus far: "Eight months have gone by and the advocacy for East Kildonan has not come to fruition."
18.23 Part 2- With 5 candidates registered so far in the Elmwood-EK ward, competition will be fierce to garner voter support. One campaign plank Gutierrez is counting on is getting all civic employees back into the office, and implementing some productivity metrics to identify and eliminate waste inside City Hall. Another example is the Human Rights Committee, which diverts civic resources away from addressing "our backyard and being accountable for money being spent here."
He's been floating the idea of expanding working hours for city road projects to positive feedback, citing the Concordia overpass repairs as a prime candidate. Instead, it's used as a "construction zone" radar trap.
Gutierrez discusses finding efficiencies in infrastructure contracts- and says the cost of the NDP's Jobs Agreement is raiding taxpayer's wallets without improving the end product one iota.
July 15 2026- Gilroy Talks Encampments & Drug Use Crackdown, Need For More Democratic City Hall
Season 7 · Episode 28
Thursday, July 16, 2026 • Duration 01:05:56
She's been in the news more often in the last year than at any other time of her 12 year stint on Winnipeg city council, and in Episode 28 you'll hear directly from Councillor Cindy Gilroy about the key issues heading into her re-election campaign.
In Part 1, Gilroy reviews initiatives undertaken to preserve infrastructure and restore parks and trees in her Daniel McIntyre ward.
11.00- Marty Gold compares her success in saving amenities for the West End with the destruction of Happyland Pool in the St. Boniface neighborhood.
"You're raising a very big challenge that all inner-city wards have ... we don't really balance it out," saying she is "always terrified of what could happen to Sherbrook Pool."
17.25 Part 2- Gilroy describes her fight to ensure Sherbrook Pool is properly staffed and that the area is made safer for users, including adding cameras and staff. She advocates hiring locals as they 'get' the community, and wants to help establish programming to train kids to become lifeguards.
As to homelessness and addictions, "that is something that has impacted residents and businesses in my ward," and she explains why she supports a managed encampment that city leaders refused to consider.
"I cannot understand the rationale for leaving things the way they are... You are correct marty, we would see a reduction in the (emergency) services required... I do think there is room for the province to be part of the discussion."
If services were delivered there and "not in neighborhoods where it’s affecting families (it would be) much safer than wehave it now." Gilroy also believes overdose deaths would be reduced.
25.30 - Gilroy is asked about the NDP provincial government refusing to provide space on provincial property for homeless women and addicts at risk of exploitation in encampments. She called for law enforcement to arrest the perps.
“They need to be in jail. If you are exploiting somebody, if you’re raping somebody, they’re not in an encampment- I want them in jail, that’s the reality… if you’re doing something so blatantly violent towards other people, you need to be in jail and kept in jail.”
July 7 2026- Top Episodes In ’26 Are Forecasting Key Election Issues
Season 7 · Episode 27
Tuesday, July 7, 2026 • Duration 43:21
Not even Spotify's 'new and improved' analytics could stop us from the annual half-year in review listing the top episodes. Episode 27 tells you the trends revealed by the choices of our listeners!
Part 1- A brief of Marty's travels meeting families and fans around Southern Manitoba hosting the cards of Canadian Wrestling's Elite - on Canada Day in West St. Paul, stormy skies threatened but stayed away from the ring until right after the show.
Then, the emerging importance of our last podcast about potential Arlington Bridge liability costs. The unusual way the demolition process has unfolded, and City rules that seem to prevent whistleblowers like Terry Wachniak from sounding an on-the-record alarm, has amplified the concerns of many voters that City Hall is failing basic accountability expectations despite "following the rules" - an example of a self-inflicted election issue by the Mayor and Councillors.
15.30 Part 2- A rundown of the most streamed and downloaded episodes for each month of 2026 thus far.
“It wasn’t misinformation – you were providing accurate information… they did not consult. I’m thankful you were on top of this from Day One... I will not vote for anything that allows the City of Winnipeg to have veto power.”
- That exclusive interview demonstrated how ahead of the curve we have been on the entire subject of regional planning and the collapse of the Winnipeg Metropolitan Region. While CRTC-approved newsrooms ignored the story, we continued to dig in, and tracked the decaying orbit of the group since the uproar about the since-shelved Plan20-50.
- Now that it has shrunk to only eight member municipalities from 18 - which likely increased the burden on Winnipeg taxpayers - and continues to be unable to hold proper public information sessions, the justification for the City holding a WMR membership without holding a council vote to do so will inevitably emerge as another accountability issue before October.
June 24 2026- Wachniak Warns Of “Potentially Crippling” City Liability After Lowball Arlington Bridge Settlement
Season 7 · Episode 24
Thursday, June 25, 2026 • Duration 37:16
While the bureaucrats and politicians at Winnipeg City Hall may be “following the rules” in their plan to demolish the Arlington Bridge, former city councillor Terry Wachniak says multi-million dollar risks to taxpayers are being hidden from the public.
Part 1- Wachniak reviews his attempts to get key questions answered at two city committee meetings, including "what's the emergency" and who is going to be left holding the bag if there's a structural failure over the CPKCR rail yard.
None of the councillors on the Public Works committee were aware of a derailment damaging the bridge in 2018.
"I was the unique guy in the room that actually knew what the councillors should have known and what the administration was deliberately not telling them, because have I read the engineering report."
Hear about the collision that put the Arlington Bridgeout of plane and his concern about the corrective spring loaded tension failing with the south-side trestles now being removed.
Wachniak maintains the bridge is stable because there's been no vibrations from vehicular traffic since its closure in 2023 - otherwise the rail yards beneath would not be operating. Instead, it's the actions undertaken by the City that are creating potential risk.
16.50 Part 2- Wachniak shares more information in Episode 26 of the structural issues, including expansion joints that seized and rusted due to bad drainage, and were then damaged by the derailment, which was never reported to Council at any time.
19.00 Marty Gold beings to review a letter that Wachniak sent the railroad, and our guest jumps in with the scoop-
"What you don't know Marty and I'm sure the city councillors don't know either, is the railroad settled out of court with the City of Winnipeg."
The letter summarizes that "within 1 year of a first overdose, adults have a 6% risk of diagnosed brain injury, whilethose under 19 years of age face a greater risk (10%).”
She discusses why the Canadian Centre for Recovery Excellence study should lead to an increased emphasis on helping addicts get off drugs in the first place. That’s because reviving addicts from overdoses may save them from death, but can also result in accumulating repeated brain injuries that affect mental health, heighten dysfunction and can result in public disorder and safety emergencies.
In Alberta, "we ‘re rethinking how we respond to over dose events. Over dose events lead to brain injury. Multiple overdoses result in cumulative brain injury, so we think about preventing the next overdose - and not just reversing it.”
23.48 Part 3 - Marty asks about the downstream effect of current guidelines not recognizing that brain injury treatment should be part of addictions medicine.
"it's a growing epidemic... we can also help alleviate the burden on the health system by helping to intervene sooner."
30.45- Kaufmann, a former Deputy Minister of Health in Manitoba, explains the origins of controversial government "harm reduction" policies and cautions that moving forward, policies must be focused on "Truly reducing harms for individuals and for society".
Hear about how needle exchange programs abandoned the'return' part in favour of becoming a needle distribution program.
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In the Sun on Sunday- the story of a Grade 6 boy's work this summer in Transcona to raise money to expand his small neighborhood business, with the help of his younger brotherand grandmother.
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Coming in September- more civic election candidate interviews; the results of a Freedom of Information filing (or two); and a Crime, Courts, and Public Safety update episode.
HAVE A GREAT LONG WEEKEND!
"I have seen the orders that have been given to us (by) City Hall and the department heads and as the person doing them, we constantly see it's not working. We know other ways... that can save taxpayers money at every avenue- but because we're the worker ants our say just goes out the window."
Citing the spiraling North End water treatment plant costs and the rejected housing plan for South Transcona, Dagdick says "The City to me has no foresight." He speaks about how pie-in-the sky development proposals are based on off-loading extraordinary costs onto longtime property owners.
He attended the 12 hour committee meeting about the plan and notes one woman estimated adding sewer and water lines would "cost them almost $1.4 M. That is not a benefit, that's an eviction notice... that's not OK to me."
Dagdick also blasted the "private-public walkway" development concept where "they want the homeowners to maintain the trail that would cut through their land."
28.03 Part 3 - Dagdick pitches "the 1-10 Rule" to guide City road maintenance on streets rated "Good" where proactive low-cost cleaning and sealing of potholes can save expensive reconstruction later.
"What we do is not a solution, it's a band-aid" and as a result, taxes are spent "patching the same holes every spring."
37.00- Dagdick says at the door voters say the Transit rehaul has failed the ward- fares keep going up while service goes down. He lauds Coun. Cindy Gilroy posting videos of her own experiences with late buses, missed connections and long walks to stops.
Dagdick proposes daily users and drivers - "the people who rely on it every single day" should steer the Transit Advisory Committee:
"I've had three people now tell me they've had to quit their job because they could not make it to work on time or get home because buses stopped running."
43.38- Dagdick addresses how wasteful spending led Mayor Gillingham and City Council to wrongly demolish Happyland Pool, noting the community had raised the operating funds to keep it open.
While encampments are not a visible issue in the ward, Dagdick agreed council should consider the "Gatineau model" which "insulates the commercial and cultural core to spur private investment, while concentrating and managing street-level vulnerability in designated, controlled zones.”
Part of the trend of younger Winnipeg residents going on the ballot, Dagdick maintains "a 100% generational shift is coming... the winds of change are a-howling."
While working people, women, seniors and businesses in the area gathered to try to find solutions without asking for added police foot patrols, none of the listed entities came to the meeting and only one sent an email advising they would not attend.
You'll hear Green read out loud to the audience the shocking smears against him and neighborhood stakeholders sent to Augustine Centre board members by chairman Tim Sale.
Sale, a failed NDP cabinet minister under Gary Doer and Greg Selinger, neglected to delete the internal discussion thread from his email declining to participate, which drew howls of laughter from the crowd. Hear his contempt for the Fort Rouge community being afflicted by his radical 'vision' of "justice and peace."
34.12 Part 2 - You will want to listen to the comments of Mridul Vohra, owner of the Freshslice Pizza restaurant at the southeast corner of River and Osborne - and then send them to Mayor Gillingham and every city councillor.
It's heartbreaking- and outrageous.
He's trying to make a living and keep his staff safe. Instead he's on the verge of closing his business because the damage, intimidation of his young staff, harassment by the homeless wandering in, and the ongoing expenses for broken windows and other repairs are eroding his mental health.
Meanwhile his neighbours- the church and their tenants- are doing nothing to help, and the City is failing to enforce bylaws that would be invoked in a heartbeat if the violators weren't a church and government-funded NGO's.
Every government-funded newsroom in Winnipeg could have recorded the Osborne Village safety meeting and let Winnipeg hear for themselves how the encampment and homeless policies are failing.
They didn't.
We think it's important to get what taxpayers and productive members of society are saying about the erosion of their quality of life.
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Keep us on the beat and ensure elected officials, bureaucrats and even the harm reduction industry get held accountable.
Hear Giesbrecht's views on bike lanes, drug and addictions policing and treatment, and the costs for taxpayers of the new Water Treatment Plant. He says his public spending focus is on "how can we do it better" and there is support for that approach- "I think there's a general sense that people want change in this election."
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44.25- Joseph Fourre again speaks, stating "We've seen what happens, you just go to Main Street next to Red Road Lodge and Edge Gallery, and you'll see what (the SunshineHouse mobile van) consumption site has done to that little area."
51.12- The North Logan speakers fielded questions from the media. Norman Alegria, who is the liaison for the community with AHWC, added important details of the bad faith tactics of the NDP's chosen drug site operator .
"The one voice that wasn't being listened to was the community members," said Fourre.
1.04.30- Obby Khan, leader of the PC Party, provided exclusive comments for the Great Canadian Talk Show audience.
"This government refuses to listen to them... if their safety is a concern now, what happens when there are hundreds of drug users coming here and then being let out on the streets?"
How many broadcast newsrooms in Winnipeg rake in thousands of dollars in federal government subsidies?
Plenty.
How many of them bring the community extensive audio from community events about the Safe Consumption Site?
None.
When you contribute to our Season Seven funding campaign, you know that in return, you'll get Public Affairs investigations, analysis and interviews unlike any other media platform in Winnipeg.
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30.45- Marty raises the costly curb extensions installed on Talbot Avenue that are so visually ineffective the City put a sawhorse in front so drivers will notice. Gutierrez says the neighborhood wasn't asked and got no notice - another failure of the bureaucracy to treat taxpayers with basic respect.
He's not in favour of blanket road speed reductions demanded by the anti-car lobby, and cites NK Councillor Jeff Browaty getting common-sense traffic calming design on Springfield Road.
38.38 - One issue that has certainly not been resolved since the by-election has been the public disorder caused by homeless encampments and addictions. "We need to do a better job with encampments," says Gutierrez, "our streets are not a safe place for anybody experiencing homelessness."
He mentions that even when housing is found, the system is failing those seeking rehabilitation - as residents have confirmed "there's drug dealers living in the transitional housing" on Cosmo Place, disrupting neighborhood safety.
"I believe in the model of rehabilitation... Lots of people suffer with addiction... but at the end of the day we have to take a firm stance on what we're willing to accept and what we're not willing to accept."
Gutierrez states, "Open air drug use has no place in our society. Scaring moms trying to leave a daycare with their kids because an individual is having a manic breakdown, we need to make sure we're addressing these things quickly and efficiently."
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31.00- In regards to the recent police blitz on open drug use, which included her ward, Gilroy supported it, stating “I have seen very blatant” outdoor drug dealing, and “my business owners are threatening to shut their doors because they feel unsafe.”
Importantly, she noted that “sometimes, it was because theywere arrested” that addicts sought treatment and recovered.
While Mayor Gillingham directed citizens to complain tothe Police Board after police chief Gene Bowers bowed to the demands of social service agencies to back off the crackdown, “I don’t feel as a councillor, I have a say… It’s a frustrating system in terms of what I can and can not do as an elected official.”
Gilroy explains how the NDP’s “Your Way Home” strategyprevents the city from removing encampments and move people along, and a lack of coordination between departments.
37.45 Part 3 - We went into overtime to get Cindy Gilroy’s views on issues like
- The Arlington Bridge controversy after former Councillor Terry Wachniak tried to blow the whistle on potential risks to the public purse -"he has concerns that are valid."
- The new restrictions on valuable public input to council, including that "5 minutes is not enough" and being denied the chance to respond to dubious 'verbal reports' by the bureaucrats.
- "Dealing with the 'Strong Mayor' model that is not equitable" is Gilroy's solution, as "people who are not on EPC do not have the access to information."
- (At 50.40) on the city nearing its borrowing limit: "I 100% think it's dire and we need to prioritize looking at these big massive projects when there's no need"
- The "unbearable" effects of the disastrous WinnipegTransit roll-out and routing buses onto narrow residential roads: "I've used the system, they aren't being whiners."
“Crime is running rampant in our city,” wrote West End business owner Michael Paille. “We should not have to put our staff through self-defense courses just to work in retail… Where is it safe? The city feels more like Gotham every day.“
That feeling has spread to even more neighborhoods since the snow has melted.
Listeners will hear about the other four monthly leaders and an assessment of those topics- police chief Gene Bowers and his handling of public safety and homeless encampments; the impact of a Safe Consumption site on public safety turning Councillor Vivian Santos against locating the SCS in North Logan; and an interview with an early challenger to a sitting member of Mayor Gillingham's Executive Policy Committee.
All our most listened-to episodes thus far have previewed key and serious subjects that will be top-of-mind for voters on October 28th.
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To contribute to the Season Seven Funding Drive, send story tips or comments,or for sponsorship inquiries and ticket requests for Marty's upcoming in-ring appearances with CWE - email Martygoldlive@gmail.com
He described it as "a cash settlement that eliminates them from being responsible for the damage done to the bridge by the railroad."
Wachniak tells of speaking with a councillor on the Public Works committee - who was unaware of the derailment causing damage to city property or of the settlement - who guessed the deal was in the range of $20-25 million.
Listen for the actual figure- unreported to Council -that's a fraction of that.
Wachniak goes on to question how the City will pay for the other 3 segments of the bridge removal when the entire budget of $17 million is being blown on the first- and easiest - phase, or how it will pay if the railyard is disrupted by the remaining bridge sections become unstable - as the charge for that runs into the millions.
He cites many pieces of information not given to Council at any point before awarding a $10 million consulting contract to demolish the bridge, with no liability on the contractor, and asserts taxpayers have been sucked into "outrageously, potentially financially crippling" liability if things go wrong with the project.
"Another $30-50 million won't be enough," he warns, "and it will come out of other city projects."
Wachniak reveals that only one city councillor has bothered to engage him on the subject of the failure of the administration to properly advise councillors of the engineering and financial risks.
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