Of the City; for the City

Bev and I are blessed to count Devon & Pearlene Clunis as friends. They are both published authors and Devon is recognized as the first Black Police Chief in Canada. We are delighted that Devon has given his blessing for us to publish his monthly newsletter. .

Photo by Jawad on Unsplash

The last several weeks have been tense in Winnipeg as mayoral and council candidates dueled in the public arena. Elections seem to bring out the worst in some of us. I’ve struggled to understand why. To buck the partisan trend, I intentionally met one-on-one with as many candidates as I could. I attended several mayoral debates in person and listened on the radio and watched on television. The passion for our city was evident. Many candidates had good ideas. In fact, I would say most candidates had ideas that should be implemented to help our city. Whenever I could, I made a point of thanking candidates for their willingness to step up and serve in public office. So here we are, post-election. Our Mayor and Council have been elected. Now what?

I want to suggest something radical. Can we set aside the partisan divides and recognize that, in the end, we are all Winnipeggers, and our only real hope of healing our city is coming together as one, regardless of who we voted for? Unity is power. Division is weakness. I am weary of the status quo born of our ability to hold grudges and allowing them to fester. The adage that a house divided will fall has been our calling card. It’s time we realize we don’t have to agree, and we don’t even have to like one another, to work together for our mutual benefit and that of every citizen. The fact is, when any part of our city fails, we all fail. What we are seeing is a serious failure in the social decay of our city that will cost us all if we don’t come together to address it. I love Winnipeg. It’s been home for more than half a century. It’s given my family and me so much, and though I have had many opportunities to leave, something keeps calling me back. I’m determined to do what I can to help us move beyond our partisan divide and see our shared future as Winnipeggers.

We have everything we need to fix the social ills that ail us. The real problem is a lack of meaningful cooperation, organizations and institutions so focused on self preservation, that they can’t see their way to better outcomes, and a lack of courage to do what must be done. When I served as Chief of Police, I would tell our members that I wanted us to work ourselves out of a job. Obviously, we knew that wasn’t going to happen. Wherever you have human beings, there will always be a need for effective policing. But we did limit the need for more police by focusing on the well-being of our community beyond, law enforcement. We became agents of social change and for a time, our city was a leader across the country in community policing.

The principles of community policing, which focused on finding innovative ways to meet community needs over a decade ago in our city are still relevant. At that time, we led a radical shift in policing methodology resulting in significant crime reduction and enhanced community safety and well-being. What we are witnessing in our city today, relative to the squalor many live in, is an indictment on the status quo and our inability to work together to find transformative, cooperative ways of meeting the present crises. This isn’t about a lack of financial resources. There is enough money in our systems. It’s about a lack of collective will to act in the best interest of those who truly need us. We are better than this. The election is over. Let’s stop the fighting and come together as one, with a sincere determination to eradicate homelessness and poverty.

There is no reason why we can’t accomplish this. Let’s set aside the political divide and come together as one for the hope of our city.

Devon Clunis, Former Winnipeg Chief of Police, Inspector General of Policing – Province of Ontario, leader in the Compassionate Winnipeg Initiative, Founder of the Clunis Institute for Leadership