Anmol Garg said machetes have not been sold at his Selkirk Avenue store for two weeks in anticipation of a new law, which is expected to receive royal assent this week.

The Long Blade Weapons Control Act (Bill 39) – which will not come into force until regulations are developed – will require buyers to be at least 18 years old and present a identity document that retailers must register and keep for at least two years.

This would pose a problem for most Garg customers.

The Bargains Galore store on Selkirk Avenue is no longer selling machetes in anticipation of new provincial legislation, says the business owner.

“They don’t have ID,” said the store owner who took over Bargains Galore a few months ago and renamed it Bargains and More.

“They lost it or someone stole it,” said Garg, whose store has a check-cashing service in addition to selling groceries and household items.

His store still sells what appear to be large hunting knives in a display case behind the counter. Garg said they are not long-bladed – the new law limits blades of 30cm and above – adding that he is aware of the $5,000 fine for violating the legislation when it will come into force.

“People need consequences,” a legislative committee reviewing the machete bill heard Wednesday. The only registered presenter, downtown attorney Sel Burrows, told the committee he has been dealing with machete violence for a decade.

Burrows, who coordinates the Point Powerline that helped rid North Point Douglas of gangs, drugs and abandoned houses, remembers receiving a knock on his door one day from a young man who had been hacked and who was “spitting blood”. He was accompanied by “another guy with a big smile” who was holding a machete.

“They were friends. They were both high on meth at the time,” Burrows said, noting that paramedics and police quickly arrived. Another incident he recounted involved a well-dressed young woman, “totally coated” in meth, who was standing in the middle of the street brandishing a machete.

Since then, the sale of machetes and bladed weapons in neighborhood stores, in stores and online has increased, along with violent incidents involving them, Burrows told the committee.

“Once the law is in force, could you please immediately prosecute (violators),” the Order of Manitoba recipient asked the committee, which includes Justice Minister Matt Wiebe, who presented the bill.

“No one should live in fear of random acts of violence,” Wiebe said in his opening remarks.

Bill 39 sets a precedent in Canada, the minister said, noting that it is inspired by a provincial law controlling the sale of bear spray that led to a 25 percent reduction in crime involving bear spray.

“Restricting access provides greater safety for Manitobans,” Wiebe said.

Burrows promised that elders and community members would report retailers who violate the new law.

Burrows warned that tackling the supply of machetes was not enough.

Most young people wouldn’t try to get their hands on such weapons if they had sports and recreational opportunities instead, he said.

“Recreation is one of the main ways to prevent juvenile delinquency. When we cut programs in inner cities, we create more problems.– Sel Burrows, downtown defender

“Leisure is one of the main ways to prevent juvenile delinquency,” said the activist, who called on all levels of government to step up their efforts. Burrows decried cuts to downtown programs and activities, joking that they have been replaced with “juggling machetes.”

“When we cut programs in inner cities, we create more problems,” he said.

The Boys and Girls Club of Winnipeg, which has been providing programs to children and youth in vulnerable neighborhoods for nearly 50 years, is trying to solve some problems.

“We cannot allow more children to be involved in bad things,” said President Ron Brown. “It doesn’t help anyone.”

Manitoba is witnessing the result of children “being left to their own devices” as public health concerns over COVID-19 have necessitated the closure of programs and activities, Brown said.

“Now kids are falling through some of the gaps that exist, and I think that manifests itself in some of the youth violence that we’re seeing,” the nonprofit leader said.

“Demand for what we do is at an all-time high right now and we have limited resources to be able to deliver these programs. »

“We cannot allow more children to be involved in bad things. This doesn’t help anyone.– Ron Brown, president of the Boys and Girls Club of Winnipeg

The organization has seen growing demand as well as rising costs, Brown said.

“We are currently pounding the pavement, talking to governments, talking to potential donors… to close our funding gap and get back to where we could afford to deliver programs at 100% capacity and involve even more children. That’s our No. 1 priority,” Brown said of the club that hosts organized team sports like basketball after school and on weekends.

“When children are bored, they turn to what interests them most. If it’s something bad, it’s not a good decision,” he said.

Back on Selkirk Avenue, Garg said his store would only sell regulation knives with blades less than 30 centimeters to adults. Young people who wanted to buy them offered to pay $20 more, but were refused, he said Friday.

The Indian immigrant, who arrived in Canada in 2019 as a student with a computer science degree, said he recently stopped selling cans of spray paint after city officials approached him about graffiti in the area.

Across the Red River at the Nairn Convenience store, similar knives with blades adorned with a colorful cannabis leaf pattern are on display behind the counter, along with cannabis-related paraphernalia such as bongs.

The knives sell for $35, said a representative for the store at Nairn Avenue and Kent Street. He does not carry machetes, he said.

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Carole Sanders
Legislative reporter

Carol Sanders is a journalist at Free press legislative office. The former general reporter and editor-in-chief joined the newspaper in 1997. Learn more about Carole.

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