Liquor Mart security rollout details under wraps

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This article was published 16/01/2020 (1553 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries continues to be tightlipped about the timing and cost of its Winnipeg store security renovations.

Efforts this week by the Free Press to learn when more stores will be retrofitted with new security entrances and when the entire project is to completed were met with resistance from corporation spokespersons.

Crown Services Minister Jeff Wharton assured reporters in November that the store renovations were “being fast-tracked.”

Liquor and Lotteries has promised to install the security measures at all 30 of its city liquor marts and liquor mart express outlets.

So far, it appears only two city stores have been equipped with new controlled entrances in which security staff bar entry until they’ve had the opportunity to scan a customer’s ID.

The Tyndall Market store at Keewatin Street and Burrows Avenue — site of an unprovoked attack last fall in which three employees were assaulted and one transported to hospital — was equipped with the new security system on Nov. 27.

The liquor mart at Portage Avenue and Burnell Street was equipped last month.

The union that represents MLL store workers says the renovations have been well received by staff at the two locations.

“Our members feel a lot more confident going into work and they feel like they are safer,” Michelle Gawronsky, president of the Manitoba Government and General Employees Union, said on Friday.

She said it appears the new system has deterred thefts at the two stores.

Gawronsky said workers at the other city liquor marts are keen to see the renovations done at their outlets, too.

(She said employees who work at government-owned liquor stores in Selkirk, Carman, Portage la Prairie and Steinbach have also expressed the hope that their stores will be similarly equipped, although neither the corporation nor the government has yet committed to extending the renovation program outside the Perimeter.)

The MGEU has been told two more city stores will likely receive new controlled entrances within the next month, but the sites were not disclosed.

Gawronsky has asked MLL officials when all city stores will be equipped, but “they don’t have an answer for me on that one,” she said.

A spokeswoman for the corporation said contracts have been awarded for equipment relating to the operation and installation of the controlled entrances. The tender for general contracting services closed on Wednesday.

“As we have previously stated… we are not sharing any other information regarding the controlled entrance rollout or its timeline for completion,” the spokeswoman said in an email. “The controlled entrances are in place for the safety and security of our staff and customers, and we will not compromise their effectiveness by sharing details for publication by the media.”

While MLL once promised to provide an estimated cost for the renovations, it now says that it won’t release any cost information “until all projects are completed.”

larry.kusch@freepress.mb.ca