Winnipeg police officer seeks to arrest Brian Bowman's reign as mayor

A 30-year member of the Winnipeg Police Service is poised to run for mayor in a campaign that would be an attempt to replace his ultimate boss.

Const. Tim Diack, 52, says he plans to sign his mayoral-campaign registration papers on Tuesday. That would make him the fifth candidate to begin fundraising for a mayoral campaign in advance of the election day this fall.

• Winnipeg 2018: The mayoral race where no one campaigns

Since joining the police service in 1988,Diackhas worked as a general patrol officer, a division detective and inthe street-crime unit. He currently serves as a beat officer in Point Douglas.

"It would be fair to say I am a law-and-order candidate," he said Monday in an interview, pledging to reduce the prevalenceof violent crime in Winnipeg and make the city more efficient if he's elected mayor.

"A lot of police officers, firefighters, paramedics are moving out of the city. Theyliveoutside the city. Ithinkthat's telling," Diack said.

"Overall, I just want efficiency and I want people who are going to beableto say, 'We can do this better and this place can be safer.'"

• New faces, new wards, new voting tech: Winnipeg's municipal election season has sprung

Diackclaims his years of experience as a police officer as well as prior work in construction provide him with the know-how to cut through bureaucracy.

As an example, he said the police service could save money by spending one-time money on additional taser holsters instead of continually paying for the labour costs of transferring tasers between officers.

The constable said he does not believe incumbent mayoral candidate Brian Bowman has a comparable understanding of city processes.

"I think Brian Bowman is doing exactly what a person who hasn't had hands-on experience in this citywould do. He operates with a different type of philosophy," he said."I'm not saying he's a bad guy. He's a very photogenic guy."

Bowmanre-election campaignspokesperson Kelly McCraesaid the incumbent mayor expectspeople to challenge him.

Diack has run for public office before. He sought the Progressive Conservative nomination for the provincial Point Douglas constituencyin 2017, but lost to electrician Jodi Moskal, whoin turn lost the Point Douglasbyelectionto the NDP's Bernadette Smith.

• Electrician named PC candidate for Point Douglas riding

Diack describes himself as "a Red Tory" who hopes to count on support from Winnipeggers from a variety of political perspectives.

"I don't care what colour T-shirt you are. I've got a lot ofgreen T-shirts. I got blue T-shirts. I havegot some orange. I belong to three unions," he said.

Point Douglas community activist Sel Burrows, who knows Diackas a beat cop, said he's considering supporting the police officer's mayoral run.

"I think very highly of him. He's a big,huge guywho can be tough with bad guys, and he can be very gentle with an immigrant woman who needs help," Burrows said in an interview.

As ofMonday, five candidateshave registered to run for mayor: Incumbent mayor Bowman, plus entrepreneur UmarHayat, business-development consultant Jenny Motkaluk, former Morden mayor Doug Wilson and former Winnipeg Transit operator Don Woodstock.

To appear on the ballot, candidates must complete the nomination process in September. The election takes place Oct. 24.

Winnipeg police officer seeks to arrest Brian Bowman's reign as mayor

6 years ago

Duration 1:34

A 30-year member of the Winnipeg Police Service is poised to run for mayor in a campaign that would be an attempt to replace his ultimate boss.