Sept. 20, 2022 – For immediate release:

Today, Mayoral Candidate Rana Bokhari pledges to ensure that public servants have all the training, tools, and leadership necessary to support a vibrant and diverse city.

“It’s the public servants who work quietly behind the scenes who do the work of the city day in and day out,” says Rana. “But they’re also the ones who get blamed when things go wrong.”

Over the past few years, the priorities of the public service have been displaced by the realities of the pandemic. Pandemic adjustments have added to the workload, leading to strain across the system.

As with all sectors, the public service is also struggling to attract and retain talented employees – and this is having an impact on citizen experiences.

“We saw an example of this recently when the city’s IT system didn’t allow for families to register for leisure guide activities,” says Rana.

“This is the kind of experience that citizens have when public servants are overwhelmed and don’t have the training and tools they need to meet the needs of Winnipeggers.”

With more than 10,000 employees, the City of Winnipeg is one of Manitoba’s biggest employers. We have responsibilities to provide excellent services to Winnipeggers, but we also have an obligation to provide a respectful, psychologically safe, and engaging work environment to city employees.

Rana will invest an additional $1 million annually in enhanced development opportunities for public servants, focusing on leadership, digital and citizen-centric skills, and mental health training. 

• Leadership: In a time where the labour market is very competitive, it’s critical that we invest in leadership development across all of the public service – ensuring that communication, psychological safety, diversity, and respect are prioritized at all levels within the organization.
• Digital and citizen-centric skills: Within this area is a need to enhance opportunities for public servants to engage in reconciliation learning and activities, to enhance cultural competency, and ensure accessibility is built into everything the City does.
• Mental health: We need to equip public servants with more awareness and training in how to support their peers and also citizens who are struggling. By investing early in peer support and mental health basic training – just as we do for First Aid training – we can start to prevent mental health decline.

“As we build the Winnipeg that we all deserve, investing in the talent of our public service is one of the most impactful investments we can make in our future.”

-30-

For more information:

Elisha Dacey
204-290-8009
team@rana4wpg.ca