Mayoral candidate Jenny Motkaluk wants to replace police chief, board

Jenny Motkaluk says she wants the Winnipeg Police Board to get rid of the city's police chief.

Then shewants to get rid of the police board itself.

The mayoral candidate said Tuesday if she's elected mayor next month, she'll ask the police board which has the power to hire and fire chiefs of policeto dismiss Chief Danny Smyth over comments he made following attacks at The Forks in June and July.

Motkaluk said she has filed a complaint over Smyth's statement violence is not new to Winnipeg.

The Winnipeg Police Service said it will not comment on statements made by candidates in the municipal election. Earlier this month, mayoral candidate Rick Shone also called for Smyth to be dismissed.

Motkaluk also said she would lobby the province to dissolve the Winnipeg Police Board byamendingthe Police Services Act.

As it stands, the act provides city council with only indirect oversight of the police service.

"I will replace the police board with a public safety committee made up of city councillors. That will make sure that the WinnipegPolice Service is directly accountable to the people who pay them," Motkaluk said.

She also pledged to replace Winnipeg Transit supervisors with police officers, purchase new radios for transit drivers, create parking for police officers who work at the downtown police headquarters and restore joint police-RCMP co-ordination on organized crime and outstanding warrants.

In July, fellow candidate Scott Gillingham also promised to resume co-operation with the RCMP.

As the deadline to run for mayor approaches, Motkaluk said she stands out against a field of candidates that includes four current or former elected officials: Former Winnipeg mayor Glen Murray, former Winnipeg Centre MP Robert-Falcon Ouellette, and city councillors Kevin Klein and Scott Gillingham.

"Among the well-known names are four men who collectively represent the last 25 years of Winnipeg's leadership," she said.

"If everyone is very happy, if everybody thinks Winnipeg is a city of opportunity, we're making all kinds of money, and it's sunshine and rainbows, then you can choose any one of those four men who got us here today."

Motkaluk is one of 11 candidates eligible to be on the ballot on Oct. 26. Idris Adelakun, Rana Bokhari, Chris Clacio, Gillingham, Klein,Shaun Loney, Murray,Ouellette, Shone and Don Woodstockhave also completed the nominationprocess.

• Read more from the CBC on the 2022 Winnipeg election

As of Tuesday afternoon, four candidates were registered to run for mayor but had not completed the nomination process. Vincent Gabriele, Jessica Peebles, Govind Thawani and Desmond Thomas have until 4:30 p.m. to submit their nomination papers.

The ballot will be set on Sept. 21, following the deadline to withdraw from the race.