Gap in rules around bar bouncers needs to be addressed, professor says
Previous 2010 bill to mandate bouncer training was never made into law
Nova Scotia's laws don't adequately cover the behaviour of bar bouncers, according to a legal expert.
Wayne MacKay, professor emeritus at Dalhousie University's Schulich School of Law in Halifax, says there is "a significant legislative gap" when it come to the rules around in-house security at bars in the province.
"There's so many unknowns in the area, and it's pretty clearly a gap that I think needs to be addressed."
The province should reconsider the current laws and whether they go far enough, he says.
To prevent unnecessarily violent behaviour between bouncers and patrons, MacKay says there needs to be effective regulation to make training mandatory for staff and to create significant penalties for violations.
Having a standard of practice for security staff at bars would be comforting to the public, he says, but it would also be reassuring to staff to know what the boundaries are.
"I think that's part of the advantage of regulating and having education, is to have everyone concerned clearer about where the limits are."
Halifax Regional Police continue to investigate the death of Ryan Sawyer, after officers found him unresponsive outside of the Halifax Alehouse in the early hours of Dec. 24.
The 31-year-old's death was ruled a homicide days later but Halifax Regional Police have not yet laid any charges.
A witness who was outside the Halifax Alehouse at the time told CBC News he saw an altercation in the moments before police arrived. The witness shot a short video at the scene and told CBC News he saw a bouncer put Sawyer into a choke hold.
Halifax Regional Police spokesperson Const. John MacLeod wouldn't comment on whether Halifax Alehouse staff were involved in an altercation with Sawyer before officers arrived.
CBC News has also contacted the owners of the Halifax Alehouse several times and has not received a response.
Previous attempt at legislation
It's not the first time a bar patron has died in Halifax. Stephen Cyril Giffin died on Christmas Day in 1999 after being beaten by bouncers at a former Halifax bar, Captain Eli's. Two men charged with manslaughter in his death were acquitted of the charge.
In 2010, the NDP government of the day introduced the Security and Investigative Services Act. It passed all three readings, but was never proclaimed into law. It would have required in-house security staff to be licensed and trained in a number of areas.
The Private Investigators and Private Guards Act has been in place since 1989, but in-house security staff such as bouncers are exempt.
Nova Scotia Justice Minister Brad Johns declined an interview request to discuss the issue. But a spokesperson for Johns said in a statement that he had directed staff to review the Security and Investigative Services Act after Sawyer's death.
The Department of Internal Services, which is responsible for the Alcohol, Gaming, Fuel and Tobacco division, also declined an interview request.
Lawrence Conrad, director of a regional security company, says the situation could be improved with better training.
Conrad says several bars in downtown Halifax asked his company, Independent Security Services Atlantic, to train their staff after the death of Giffin in 1999.
Conrad has been in the security industry for 30 years and provides armoured-vehicle and uniformed-security services, employing around 250 uniformed security guards. Staff also provide training about use of force and access control.
Staff working security at bars should be required to be licensed and trained to the same standards, Conrad says.
"This is a volatile environment," he told CBC News. "It's probably one of the worst situations you can have, to have someone untrained in."
There's no need for anyone to be injured, let alone killed, when bar staff try to remove them from an establishment, Conrad says.
"When things go sideways, it's the training that kicks in and if there is no training, then your basic emotion is going to take over."
The same legal mechanisms that regulate his business can be used to standardize the bar industry, he says.
"If this is not addressed, it will happen again. There's no doubt that it will happen again."
MORE TOP STORIES
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
