Sheriffs classes postponed by government financial review

A training program for new sheriffs has been postponed as the Progressive Conservative government continues its financial review of government services.

Some trainees had quit their jobs or spent hundreds of dollars getting ready for the classes. The trainees were issued uniforms and handcuffs and haven't been asked to return them, but Manitoba Justice doesn't view this as a security threat.

Sheriffs transport people in custody between courts, maintain security at courthouses and do other tasks such as court-ordered property seizures.

CBC News spoke to one person who was accepted into the training program. The person still wants a job as sheriff and has asked not to be named for this story.

The recruit was accepted into the training class after passing a test and background interviews and passed screening checks for adult and child abuse. The recruit upgraded his driver's licence and took enhanced first aid training. Altogether the recruit figures he spent $300 to $400 preparing to attend the program.

He also quit his job in anticipation of the training, though he was able to find other work after the class was postponed.

"It makes you lose faith in the government. It makes it look like it's unimportant to them," the recruit said.

The recruit was also issued a Manitoba sheriff's uniform and other equipment such as handcuffs. No one from the Department of Justice has asked the recruit to return the gear.

"We are pretty much dead to them, I guess," the recruit told CBC News.

The Assistant Deputy Minister responsible for the court system for Manitoba Justice says a decision to postpone the training was made by the PC government.

Shauna Curtin says a review of government services is happening across the system and the training has been "delayed while the government completes its analysis."

"What is happening right now is government is working very hard to understand their financial position and they are looking at recruitment in terms of the department and at government at large."

Differing views on security risk

Curtin says while there is no safety risk to the public or to sheriffs already working in the system, she acknowledges postponing the training class puts more pressure on an already busy part of the justice system.

"There are times when we have to work very hard to manage given the resources we have. Right now we are a little bit short, the turnover is high and what we do is some tasks would be a little lower on the priority list," Curtin said.

Curtin says neither the change in government nor the financial review was anticipated when the department was putting together the training class. She admits the move may have caught some of the recruits by surprise.

But a source inside the sheriffs department of Manitoba Justice disagrees.

That person says the department should have immediately retrieved the uniforms the recruits were issued and keep close control over such equipment.

"That's a huge security risk," the source said. "The threat level [in our work] is high."

The source says most sheriffs have been on high alert since ISIS sympathizer Aaron Driver shot and killed by police in Ontario last summer.

Driver had been in and out of the Manitoba Courts complex in Winnipeg several times in the previous year.

"That brought it home for every single officer. Here was a person who had the means and the attitude to do it," the source said.

The risk to sheriffs was also front and centre in August when a small package exploded outside the Manitoba Courts complex in Winnipeg.

Curtin says the recruits all went through enhanced security screening and Manitoba Justice is not concerned they still have the uniforms.

"We feel confident we are actually going to bring these recruits on at the conclusion of the appropriate financial analysis and so we are not concerned if they have uniforms," Curtin said. "If we decide not, for any reason, decide not to go through with the recruitment, we'll get those back."

Sheriffs are a frontline service: MGEU

The class delays are also a concern to the Manitoba Government and General Employees' Union, says MGEU president Michelle Gawronsky.

"These are folks that might have quit other jobs to go into this service for Manitobans; for keeping Manitobans safe and suddenly out of the blue it's stopped. Even an explanation [is lacking] — we are still trying to figure out what happened," Gawronsky said.

Gawronsky says postponing the class affects current sheriffs, in terms of their hours of work, scheduling vacation time and sick leave.

"If you get up in the morning and you are not feeling well, do you call in sick and force your colleagues to work short or do you go in sick and maybe make your colleagues sick?" Gawronsky asked.

Gawronsky says not adding staff to departments that need them is essentially a cut. She believes sheriffs are a front-line service that Premier Brian Pallister has promised to protect.

Shauna Curtin agrees that sheriffs provide a front-line service but says the department will prioritise staff until the government makes a decision on the recruitment class. She expects that decision imminently.

Justice Minister Heather Stefanson was not available for comment.