A proposed overhaul of the security industry in Nova Scotia could
mean fewer in-house bouncer jobs. Justice minister Ross Landry
introduced a bill on November 5 that aims to require all bouncers be
licensed and professionally trained.
If the bill passes, the licence will cost about $60 and will require
about 40 hours of training, says Justice Department spokesperson Sherri
Aikenhead. Also, businesses that train bouncers are expected to pay
about $500. The goal of these new regulations is unclear, and the
proposed law is possibly a “money grab,” says Carl “Gooch” Comeau, who
has been working at The Lower Deck for 13 years and was voted the Best
Bouncer/Door Person of 2008 by Coast readers.
But his boss, Lower Deck manager Mike Condy, says the new
legislation will give him peace of mind as an employer. “If I had a guy
who I knew was trained properly, it would make me want to hire him,” he
says. “If someone has training under their belt, it’s a positive
thing.”
The bill will also likely prevent anyone with a criminal record from
getting a licence.
Jim Meade, a bouncer in Halifax with over 20 years experience in the
security industry, has at Gus’ Pub for four years and doesn’t think
this is fair. “If you’ve been clean for 20 years it shouldn’t come back
to haunt you.”
Meade says that new legislation will result in private security
companies like Source Security monopolizing the industry, yet those
companies lack the experience and commitment that in-house security
possess.
“Private security firms in the smaller bars is not going to work,
because in-house security is going to take more pride in what they do,”
says Meade. “They know the customers and how to deal with them.”
This article appears in Nov 19-25, 2009.
Requiring a license to bounce will insure that bouncers follow a specific protocol and act within set limits as designed by the province. It will help to prevent abuse of the power that is given to them. The excessive physical responses by bouncers can sometimes be criminal. Creating parameters and providing training, as well as the threat of losing their license, should keep bouncers in check.
I think current longtime bouncers should be able to apply their experience to the hours requirement for a license, or even, perhaps, undergo a test to review known skills. Obviously their current employers will pick up the tab on the expenses since they are work related. Regardless, 40hrs and $60 is not a big investment when it comes to gaining (or keeping) a career.
Since this is a new venture, it might be beneficial to recruit people like Carl “Gooch” Comeau as advisers/instructors.
Great idea. Now maybe bouncers can be held a little more accountable for their behaviour and we can weed out the thugs. Make sure there is a mechanism in place where abused customers can complain and the bouncers can get their licence revoked if they behave unprofessionally. The overly aggressive bouncers in Halifax are making a bad name for all of them. Implementing some minimum standard is a great idea.
Sorry Jim (Meade), I didn’t deliberately exclude you. Of course, twenty years of good behaviour and experience in the field should qualify you as a veteran which would make you an excellent candidate for a bouncer instructor. Maybe the bouncer veterans can actually see this as an opportunity. Together maybe you can develop a provincial-approved business which prepares bouncers and like security to gain their license by providing them with training and the required 40 hours.
You know what might be cheaper than a big licensing framework?
…cameras (where the recording lasts long enough for an overly roughed-up patron to potentially sleep and sober up before going to get a copy of it).
I suppose both wouldn’t hurt, but I’m not sure how much the word of someone drunk would count anyway.
“”I’m not sure how much the word of someone drunk would count anyway””
Hmm, how valuable is the word of someone coked up and on ‘roid-rage I wonder?