Pubdate: Wed, 28 Jun 2006
Source: Province, The (CN BC)
Copyright: 2006 The Province
Contact:  http://www.canada.com/theprovince/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/476
Author: Elaine O'Connor
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/youth.htm (Youth)

WINNIPEG'S WEST END: DRUG WARS CATCH INNER-CITY KIDS IN THE CROSSFIRE

Vancouver's not the only city fighting street crime. We can learn 
from other Canadian cities:

Winnipeg's West End is a modern-day Wild West. The inner-city area's 
struggled with drugs and gangs, while the city itself is the murder 
and gang capital of Canada, with the highest per-capita homicide rate 
(nearly five per 100,000) of nine major cities, 2004 Statistics 
Canada data shows.

In October 2005, a tragic death shocked citizens into demanding 
change. A 17-year-old bystander was caught in a shoot-out between the 
Mad Cowz and African Mafia gangs fighting for crack territory. In 
response, police launched Operation Clean Sweep and from November 
2005 to March 2006, made 658 arrests, seized 68 weapons and mounds of 
drugs. The effort got the University of Winnipeg thinking.

"If your university's in an inner-city that has gangs, kids dropping 
out and single parents, you'd better darn well embrace that 
neighbourhood and try to make it a better place," says former mayor 
and U of W Foundation president Susan Thompson.

So they opened the Wii Chiiwaakanak Learning Centre near campus to 
help kids with homework clubs, arts, sports camps, native crafts, 
elders circles and ESL, with university students as mentors. Hundreds 
of kids have discovered the centre, and themselves.

"If those kids see an aboriginal university student or another 
inner-city university student," says the university's Jennifer 
Rattray, "they begin to believe that they can do it too, what seems 
so impossible."
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