GOLD: How would Mayor Gillingham address a homeless camp in his backyard?

A response from Winnipeg 311 to an email from a tenant at 300 Assiniboine emphasizes the beleaguered state the riverbank residents and property owners are up against. On Oct. 10 a photo was sent with the request: “There is some garbage that should be cleaned up behind 300 Assiniboine from an abandoned camper.

Could someone come clean it up?” Seems straightforward, right? Not to the City of Winnipeg. The department will need “Location of garbage and camper or what it is near. The picture looks like it may be in a park, please provide more details.

” Saying “behind 300 Assiniboine” wasn’t specific enough. Verifying on a map to confirm it was in Bonnycastle Park was too much effort. Later that day, owner’s representative Heidi Spletzer forwarded the exchange to Mayor Scott Gillingham and other top officials, stating, “We have been communicating with the city 311 for a couple of weeks now, trying to get the park grounds around 300 Assiniboine cleaned up all at once.

” Another two weeks has gone by and it still hasn’t been done. In the email, she pointedly noted, “When we built this building, we signed a development agreement — nowhere in the contract does it state that Bonnycastle Park will be the next local landfill.” You’d think that keeping a taxpayer-funded dog park downtown clean of filth and fire hazards would be a high priority, but getting even the simplest problem caused by homeless encampments addressed is an ordeal.

Spletzer took me for a to.