At-risk youth should be put to work, says Winnipeg mayorality candidate Judy Wasylycia-Leis. (CBC) 

Young criminals should be put to work fixing back lanes and repairing derelict buildings, says Winnipeg mayoral candidate Judy Wasylycia-Leis.

The candidate said if elected she would introduce a work program to provide alternatives to the attraction of street gangs for at-risk Winnipeg youth.

Wasylycia-Leis said news a 47-year-old Winnipeg man was attacked and set on fire on the weekend is hard to comprehend. A 19-year-old is charged with aggravated assault.

But the former MP and MLA said Winnipeg won't break the cycle of violence until young people have an alternative to gang lifestyle. And simply locking up offenders won't make Winnipeg any safer.

"Sure you want to catch that person and you want to make the punishment fit the crime," she said. "But [what if] we don't do anything about what causes this to happen in this city, and why?"

Wasylycia-Leis called for a work program — to go hand-in-hand with the establishment of community hubs — that would put 120 at-risk youth in job training over three years. Such a program, expected to cost $3-million to $4-million, would help clear up the back-log of crumbling back lanes and derelict buildings, she said.