Monday’s City Council meeting saw the reading of the Public Safety Committee’s first quarter report.

The report details programs and services throughout the city that operate in public safety and the public interest, including the Cold Weather Policy, the intake process of the Addictions Foundation of Manitoba’s Non-Medical Withdrawal Unit, and open air burn permits.

The report also identifies fire and ambulance responses for the year to date compared to 2015, which show a 13% decrease in fire calls and a 7% increase for calls for ambulance.

Public Safety Committee Chair Blake Ellis says that what the numbers are showing compared to last year wouldn’t be the basis for changing the way the services are handled.

“When we look at these numbers, it’s important to look at whether this is a blip. Whether up or down, you just can’t take three months of data and say “Well we’re up, now we have to do something”. So I think we need to look at whether or not this is a trend.”

Ellis also explained why the report noted that the City will be asking Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries to take the $15,000 they typically give to support the Downtown Ambassador program and reallocate it to support the Community Safety Officer program.

"We were find last year, we had the Downtown Ambassador Program as well as our Community Safety Officers. And when we had By-Law Enforcement Officers, they didn't have as many powers as Community Safety Officers do. We noticed the number of calls and the activity of the Downtown Ambassadors last year was decreased, so what we're going to do is apply to have that money be put into our Community Safety Officer program. We're gonna use that money to strengthen the program. In terms of our downtown strategy, I think this is definitely a step forward."

The report also noted the provincial government’s decision to allow municipalities to handle their own parking tickets.