Manitoba’s justice minister said the province is working to update the mandatory training curriculum for security guards after First Nations leaders raised concerns about an incident at a downtown Winnipeg dollar store where a security guard allegedly used brass knuckles on an alleged shoplifter on February 28.

The government is rewriting the 40-hour security guard training standard to include cultural awareness education, Justice Minister Matt Wiebe said at a public forum held at a Winnipeg hotel on Saturday. 

The event, which was organized by the Indigenous Peoples Alliance of Manitoba (IPAM), saw some Indigenous community members share their experiences with being profiled by guards with provincial leaders and security companies. 

Wiebe said stories like those shared at the forum will help revamp a curriculum that hasn’t been updated in more than two decades. 

“We need to make sure that we have, as a foundation, if you want to be a security guard here in Manitoba you need to have the kind of cultural awareness, the kind of training that allows you to deescalate and work with people,” he said. 

“It needs to be done on a foundation of respect for all people. It’s time to get that training fixed.” 

While Wiebe didn’t give a timeline for when the update would be complete, he said he’s “eager to get it done.”

“We’re listening to these voices, we’re listening to these concerns. By bringing people in and bringing them to the table, that’s how we’re going to get the education correct and get the training right to make sure that security guards are interacting with the public in a respectful way,” he said. 

Saturday’s event comes after Winnipeg police say a 23-year-old security guard used brass knuckles on an alleged shoplifter. 

The incident, which was filmed and shared to social media, shows a security guard straddling a man lying on the ground, punching him and kicking him at one point, before pulling him upward and slamming him down again.

The video sparked outcry from Indigenous leaders, who said the man shown lying on the ground is Indigenous. 

IPAM board member Eric Robinson said Saturday’s event was intended to bring community members who have had negative experiences with security staff together with security companies. 

“I hope that today we will be able to come up with a work plan that we can honour and adhere to in having respectful relations between Indigenous peoples and the security guard companies,” Robinson said. 

“Their training policies and how they deal with our people is something that we need to address together,” he said.

Hotel staff need cultural awareness training, chief says

Saturday’s event was held at a Canad Inns hotel near Polo Park mall, just days after an incident where staff at the hotel chain’s Health Sciences Centre location forced a 16-year-old Indigenous boy out of a room while he was recovering from leg surgery. 

On Tuesday, Nicholas Robinson of Pimicikamak Cree Nation was forced out by Canad Inns hotel staff while he was recovering and waiting for a follow-up appointment at the hospital, according to Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak. 

The teen had spent two nights at the hospital after undergoing a leg surgery on Friday, before the family moved over to a hotel room — booked through First Nations and Inuit Health Branch  supports. 

Nicholas’ mother Jodie Robinson said the family had been waiting for the branch to confirm a stay extension when they were kicked out.

A video provided by the family and posted to social media showed a man telling them they were past checkout time, at times raising his voice and yelling at them. People wearing security guard uniforms were seen standing by the hotel room’s doorway in another video. 

Canad Inns said one employee is no longer working with the company, issuing a formal apology to Nicholas and his family. 

Pimicikamak Chief David Monias said in a Friday news release that “new sensitivity and cultural awareness training is urgently needed for staff” at Canad Inns, especially those working with First Nations patients who have travelled for medical care.

Monias said he and Nicholas’ grandfather Raymond Robinson met with the hotel’s general manager John Saad, who shared an apology letter signed by the hotel chain’s senior vice-president Richard Burton.

Monias said the hotel’s management has committed to working with the union to start new training for all staff. 

He also said that members of the First Nation who are staying at the hotel for medical care must be given a full one-day grace period as travel claims are being processed. He said Pimicikamak will cover one day of hotel costs while members wait for the FNIHB to approve support.