Keeping the lights on: restaurants plan security upgrades in aftermath of arsons

A serial arson spree in Winnipeg could lead to security changes for MLAs and their constituency offices, while some business owners spend thousands to add surveillance cameras or brighter lights.

The offices of Families Minister Nahanni Fontaine and Housing, Addictions and Homelessness Minister Bernadette Smith, and several downtown restaurants and bars were set on fire — allegedly by the same suspect — between June and November.

“We convene a regular table here at the legislative assembly with regards to MLAs, ministers, the activities that happen within this building and the activities that happen at constituency offices,” Justice Minister Matt Wiebe said Thursday.

“We’re certainly going to be taking the information that we’re learning from this investigation and incorporating that into our protocols, but that’s an ongoing discussion that continues to happen.”

Premier Wab Kinew said last month security may be increased at constituency offices.

The Winnipeg School Division’s office on Wall Street and an addictions treatment centre in North Point Douglas were also targeted.

Some businesses are planning to upgrade security to help deter crime or identify suspects after a crime.

“We’re going to be adding a couple more cameras and lighting,” said Nikola Maharajh, owner of the Commonwealth Kitchen & Bar at Main Street and McDermot Avenue, which has been closed since a July arson.

Kishan Zalawadai, owner of La Roca, which reopened after being targeted Nov. 14, said he will improve lighting around the Smith Street restaurant and bar, about a block from police headquarters.

He looked into installing shatter-proof glass, which would cost him more than $60,000. The entrepreneur made significant investments in security cameras and lighting last summer.

Police reviewed his surveillance footage after the blaze. The suspect’s face was covered by a mask, said Zalawadai, who has at least 20 cameras at a cost of about $500 each, excluding installation.

“It’s cost thousands of dollars,” he said.

Jay Kilgour, chair of Manitoba Restaurant and Foodservices Association, is planning to improve lighting around his Grant Avenue restaurant and bar, Fionn MacCool’s, after conversations with police Chief Gene Bowers and senior officers this week.

“Arsons are a big deal, and there’s very little we can do about it,” he said. “In both meetings I’ve had this week, they’ve stressed there’s cameras everywhere, but there isn’t a lot of light everywhere.”

At a news conference Wednesday, police Insp. Jennifer McKinnon encouraged property owners to invest in security cameras and lighting, which allows for better footage of suspects.

Jesse Wheatland, 35, was charged with 22 arson, break-in and damage-related offences after he was arrested Tuesday, police said.

The province is launching a $2,500 security rebate for businesses next month.

“I’m encouraged that this will happen very soon,” Kilgour said. “You know, $2,500 doesn’t go a long way for security equipment, but maybe for a business owner that has nothing, that’s their entry-level step into protecting their business better.”

Wiebe said the total fund is $10 million.

“You know, $2,500 doesn’t go a long way for security equipment, but maybe for a business owner that has nothing, that’s their entry-level step.”

“It not only protects businesses, but it protects whole communities,” he said of security systems.

Progressive Conservative justice critic Wayne Balcaen said the rebate is “reactionary,” and the government’s focus should be paying for more police officers, cadets and Downtown Community Safety Partnership staff.

“Whatever it takes to have those actual boots on the ground,” the former Brandon police chief said.

One of the easiest solutions, he said, is increasing the amount of lighting in an area such as downtown Winnipeg.

As for MLA and office security, Balcaen said it’s not in Wiebe’s “wheelhouse,” nor his, to talk about possible changes. That should come from the assembly’s sergeant-at-arms, the Tory MLA said.

Firefighters were called to four fires at Smith’s office, at 804 Selkirk Ave., in August and September. Fontaine’s office at 1763 Main St. was set on fire twice in September.

Their staff have been working from home and at the legislature since then. Smith said Wednesday staff changed their routines, even driving home “other ways,” out of concern for their safety.

“We’ve had to do that, too. No one should have to do that,” she said.

Smith’s office will reopen in the new year. The owner of the building where Fontaine’s office was situated told her the space will be ready in six to nine months, should she choose to return.

“It certainly does make me consider if there are different spaces to having a constituency office. Maybe ones that are maybe not at the ground level,” Fontaine said Wednesday.

“Those are some of the conversations that myself and my team are having, whether or not we need to look at if it’s safe for us to be in the space that we were just a little while ago and that is currently being renovated.”

MLAs can claim up to $4,400 during a four-year session for the installation and operation of security systems at constituency offices, homes or regularly used temporary second homes, such as cottages. The allotment also applies to personal protective services when attending a public event.

Spending varied in 2024-25, with some MLAs spending the maximum amount and some claiming nothing, a report on their expenses showed. Fontaine, for example, claimed $4,400, and Smith claimed $227.81.

— with files from Nicole Buffie and Carol Sanders

fpcity@freepress.mb.ca