First Anita Neville got angry because Conservative MP Pierre Poilievre said Winnipeg streets "are ruled by guns, gangs and drugs". Neville was quick to demand an apology (link).

Now Councilor Harry Lazarenko, and NDP MP Judy Wasylycia-Leis (aka Judy Alphabet) are demanding an apology from Justice Donald Fraser for his comments about Winnipeg. At a sentencing in Kenora, Justice Fraser said "I am determined we are not going to allow Kenora to drift into the kind of thing we see in the North End of Winnipeg or in the downtown area of Regina."

Though the sentence is fair, the comments surrounding it aren't, said NDP MP Judy Wasylycia-Leis (Winnipeg North).

"We suffer from a mythology, usually by people who don't know better. This is by someone who should know better.

"It's very hurtful to the people living in the area," she said, adding the judge should apologize.

Veteran city Coun. Harry Lazarenko agrees, calling the comments "baloney" and unfair.

"It gives you a black eye. It's like you're condemned because you're living in the North End. To be lambasted, especially by a judge," said Lazarenko, who's lived in the area for over 50 years.

Well, here's a little FACTUAL information for anybody who's interested, courtesy of the City of Winnipeg's CrimeStat program.

From January 1, to February 20 this year, there had been two homicides in Winnipeg. Where? One in the North End, the other Downtown. Between these two districts, they makeup 100% of homicides in Winnipeg in the year 2007.

For the same time period, there have been 44 sexual assaults in Winnipeg's six districts. Of those 44, 9 were committed in the North End, and 16 Downtown, combining for 56% of sexual assaults in Winnipeg. The two districts also account for 55% of the robberies year-to-date in Winnipeg. Not to mention that Winnipeg is known as the murder capital of Canada (aka Killerpeg).

When two districts that make up approx. 33% of Winnipeg's population, but account for almost 60% of violent crime, it's time to acknowledge a problem exists.

What Anita Neville, Judy Alphabet, and Harry Lazarenko need to understand is that pointing out a problem, although it might be "hurtful to the people living in the area", it's still a fact. And the facts won't change just because you don't walk to talk about it. What's more "hurtful to the people living in the area" than saying mean things about their neighbourhood, is the violent crime that runs rampant in these neighborhoods.

People don't move out of these neighborhoods because some politician said bad things about it, they move because their sick of all the crime that they witness happening around them.

But Judy Alphabet and Anita Neville aren't able to acknowledge the crime problem exists, because they both voted against tough-on-crime measures proposed by the Conservative government. Which is a perfect example of why the NDP and Liberals are unfit to govern in this country. It's time to stop lying.

Labels: Anita Neville, Liberal Party, NDP, politics, Winnipeg Police