Tories accused of cancelling training for new sheriff’s officers

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This article was published 27/10/2016 (3342 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The NDP and the Manitoba Government and General Employees’ Union accused the Pallister government Wednesday of cancelling a training class of 16 new sheriff’s officers and leaving the recruits in the lurch.

Justice Minister Heather Stefanson told the legislature nothing has been cancelled. She said hiring has been held up while the province conducts its review of government spending.

“One training class was cancelled shortly after it started,” and another training class was cancelled just before it started, New Democrat Andrew Swan told the legislature Wednesday.

He demanded that Stefanson apologize to the trainees. The result will either be that overworked sheriff’s officers get paid overtime for protecting the courts and transporting prisoners, or, said Swan, “It’s going to result in delaying or cancelling court appearances.”

The MGEU said the government posted openings for training spots in June, when the Conservatives had been in office for several weeks, for eight recruits in Winnipeg, three in Portage la Praitie, two apiece in Dauphin and The Pas and one in Thompson.

“The sheriffs are a very important part of the court system,” Swan, a former justice minister, said.

He said the normal complement is 97 sheriff’s officers provincewide but was unaware how many of those spots are vacant.

“This government has been very reluctant to identify who front-line workers are,” he said.

Neither Swan nor the MGEU could identify the recruits or say when or where the training had started or how far along the training was before it was cancelled. Swan said he received information from a source he would not identify.

Stefanson insisted her department will soon add new sheriff’s officers.