Main Street bar implements metal detectors

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This article was published 01/12/2023 (996 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The owner of the Northern Hotel has reached an agreement with the provincial liquor authority to bolster security at the Main Street bar and vendor without being required to install digital identification scanners.

The Liquor, Gaming and Cannabis Authority of Manitoba ordered Keith Horn to add security measures after separate incidents in August and September in which one man was stabbed and another man was shot in the building.

Horn, who was slated to contest the decision at a hearing Wednesday, withdrew his appeal after reaching a compromise with officials. As part of the agreement, he must outfit security personnel at the bar with metal-detecting wands by Dec. 15, to deter future acts of violence.

“They are still saying we need to have a wand in place to check people coming in, which is fine. We don’t want anybody with weapons inside the bar,” Horn said by phone. “If you have something to hide, then you shouldn’t be in here. If you have nothing to hide, then what’s the problem?”

Horn, however, will not have to introduce digital identification scanners — a measure that was originally recommended by the liquor authority.

The compromise strikes a balance between safety and business, he said, noting many of his patrons are elderly and do not carry ID.

“I thought it would just detract a lot of people from coming here,” he said. “(The LGCA) were very easy to work with. It wasn’t very adversarial, it was very give and take. I listened to their concerns, they listened to mine and we came with some common ground we are both happy with.”

LGCA spokesperson Lisa Hansen confirmed Horn had withdrawn his appeal, noting the authority “collaborates with licensees to find workable solutions that balance business needs with public safety.”

“However, the LGCA’s priority as a regulatory agency is public safety and we can require licensees to implement safety protocols. Some of the measures that the LGCA can require include CCTV monitoring and methods for weapons detection,” Hansen said in an email.

The Northern Hotel, at 826 Main St., has several such measures in place, including video surveillance and panic buttons. It also prevents patrons from entering with backpacks and bags.

Horn said he has been trying to hire additional security staff since Aug. 25, when a man was stabbed in the building.

The victim was taken to hospital in unstable condition and two people were later arrested, the Winnipeg Police Service said.

The incident prompted the LGCA’s initial safety inspection, which was then spurred-on by another incident on Sept. 28, when a man was shot in the face as he entered the lobby, Horn said.

The victim was sent to hospital in unstable condition.

Justin Hotomani was arrested in Brandon less than a week later and was charged with robbery and aggravated assault. The investigation is ongoing, but police believe the suspect and victim did not know each other, WPS Const. Dani McKinnon said Thursday.

“It’s disheartening when you put a lot of work into trying to keep things at bay, and then all of a sudden people are having a bad day — or who knows what — it can just change everything,” Horn said.

“There’s always going to be, unfortunately, something happening down here because of the area. But most things happen outside and you get to know the trouble-makers and you keep them outside.”

Horn, who has operated the hotel since 1997, urged the public not to paint the “whole North End all with one brush.”

“You find trouble no matter where you go. Maybe this area and downtown it’s more concentrated,” he said. “It’s not just the neighbourhood, it’s some people who make the area bad for others who live here.”

tyler.searle@freepress.mb.ca