Concerns about racial profiling raised after security guard incident in downtown Winnipeg

After an Indigenous man was beaten in a Winnipeg grocery store, community members gathered to share their experiences of violent treatment by security guards. The forum was hosted by Indigenous leaders and government officials.

“The province of Manitoba can’t do that alone; Indigenous peoples can’t do that alone. We have to do it collectively. And I think a joint working relationship is what’s required, and that’s what we are going to pursue today,” said Eric Robinson, a board member with the Indigenous Peoples Alliance of Manitoba.

Robinson says the goal of the meeting is to establish open dialogue and to form respectful relationships.

The meeting is an outcome of the security incident that occurred in Winnipeg late February, and resulted in the security guard of the downtown Dollarama store facing, among others, an assault with a weapon charge.

“We want to continue to show respect to them, we want to respect that uniform they wear. On the other hand, we would like them to afford us the same respect as well as the Indigenous peoples of the community,” said Robinson.

Over 50 people were present at the public meeting on Saturday afternoon, and many in the crowd shared stories of systemic racial profiling in Winnipeg’s public spaces.

“It’s stories like this that are going to inform how we make things better and how we improve them going forward,” said Matt Wiebe, Minister of Justice and Attorney General.

Wiebe says the province cannot mandate the culture-sensitive training, but is looking into reviewing the mandatory curriculum that, according to the minister, was not updated for the past 20 years, but the minister did not provide a timeline.

“It’s not right. We need to make sure that nobody feels that way, that people feel safe and protected when they are out in public spaces, and that we address the racism that people are feeling in a very real way,” said Minister Wiebe.

A ministerial spokesperson later told CityNews the Manitoba Private Investigators and Security Guards Program (PISG) is on track to be updated.

“It is anticipated that the updated training program, which will be rolled out later this year, will include a newly developed Code of Conduct, Indigenous Awareness units created in collaboration with our Indigenous Liaison team in the Department of Justice; and a train the trainer program for instructors to support consistent and high-quality training delivery across the province,” the spokesperson said.

“In addition to the core training program, a dedicated one-day Indigenous Awareness session for security guards will be introduced and offered in person three time per year. The content is being developed with out Indigenous liaison team in the Department of Justice to ensure cultural accuracy, relevance, and respect.”

Indigenous leaders are questioning the hiring and training practices within third-party security companies, calling for enhanced training on cultural awareness.

Half a dozen representatives of private security companies attended the meeting, flagging readiness to launch the dialogue.

“We need to be part of the talk, we want to be part of the solution. We want to bring everybody together as a community and try to break down some of the walls,” said Derek Jones, a sales security specialist with ACIS Security.

Jennifer Chartrand says she had an incident two years ago. The racial profiling still makes her avoid some of the retail spaces, as she says, she feels unsafe there.

“It just got really escalated, and the guy was asking my husband to come outside and told us to go back to our own country,” said Chartrand.

As Chartrand’s case remains unresolved, she is expressing hope that changes are about to happen.

“I hope we can do something about this and make changes,” said Chartrand. “And I think that we will.”