Businesses, province tight-lipped about takeaways from retail crime roundtable discussion

Retailers, law enforcement, and unions were among the people represented at a roundtable discussion Friday morning to identify ways to curb violent retail thefts in Manitoba.

But what they talked about won't be public until a final report on the meeting is released in the coming weeks.

"We're really encouraged by the discussion that took place today," said John Graham, a spokesperson for the Retail Council of Canada, which helped organize the event.

Graham told reporters on Friday afternoon it would be "premature" to give any examples of suggestions made in the meeting.

Graham did say it seemed like the approximately 90 participants came away from the roundtable event with a positive outlook.

"From my sense and from those that I spoke to in the meeting, I think there was a real sense of pride in the community coming together like we do in times of flood, or other areas when the community needs to respond," he said.

"Manitoba is so fantastic for wanting to work collaboratively and address problems, and we're looking for a way to go forward together."

Graham said in the next few weeks, the notes from the discussions will be compiled into a final report that will identify common themes and suggestions.

He said while thefts at Manitoba's Liquor Marts played a role in the demand for an event like the one on Friday, those robberies are far from the only ones happening in the province.

"This drove the desire to get together as a community — business and law enforcement, unions and small [and] large businesses of all types — together to come up with real solutions," he said.

"The front-page stories have been certainly, in recent months, about Liquor Mart stores, [but] crime is an issue that every retailer is dealing with, and larger businesses might be better equipped to respond to it," he said.

Graham said the roundtable discussions gave retailers an opportunity to connect and discuss the possibility of collaborating on crime-prevention initiatives.

No simple solution: justice minister

Marco Addesa, a regional loss prevention manager for Best Buy Canada, said the discussions on Friday gave him hope for possible solutions to increasingly brazen thefts he said they're seeing at Winnipeg stores.

"We were all definitely talking the same language. We want some resolution and some control around the crime that's taking place," he said.

Addesa said with more retailers seeing people walk right out the door with stolen merchandise, he wants to explore the possibility of sharing information with other retailers and police about known or suspected thieves.

"I think it's important to share information in a responsible fashion," he said, "so we can build a network of sharing of intelligence and from there, obviously apprehend individuals who are allegedly responsible for theft or fraud within our stores, and including the violent component of things."

Addesa also declined to get into specifics of the meeting before the final report is complete.

Justice Minister Cliff Cullen said the discussions at the meeting were productive, and said he's looking forward to reading the report that comes out of it.

"Theft is not just a business concern," he said. "It's an issue that affects all Manitobans, and it's nice to get all Manitobans at the table in that discussion."

Cullen said there's no simple solution to the challenges retailers in the province say they're facing, and that it's important to identify best practices for preventing theft.

"This certainly isn't the end of the discussion. I think it's more the beginning," he said.