In Halifax’s famous bar scene, public safety has been ignored
The Nova Scotia government has delayed implementing the Security and Investigative Service Act (SISA), passed in 2010, which would have mandated licensing and standardized training for bouncers, leaving public safety concerns unaddressed in Halifax's bar scene. The death of Ryan Sawyer in 2022, after being placed in a chokehold by an unlicensed bouncer, has highlighted the consequences of this inaction and spurred new regulatory efforts. Despite promised updates to liquor laws set for June 1, concerns remain over lack of transparency and industry influence in the rule-making process.
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Open this photo in gallery:Staff of the Halifax Alehouse work in front of the bar in July, 2023.Darren Calabrese/The Globe and MailShareSave for laterPlease log in to bookmark this story.Log InCreate Free AccountTerri Giffin is a former counsellor based in Halifax.On Christmas Eve, 2022, Alex Levy – the former head of security at the now-shuttered Alehouse bar in downtown Halifax – put 31-year-old Ryan Sawyer in a chokehold for nearly two minutes. Last month, just before Mr. Levy was sentenced to four years in prison for manslaughter, he apologized to Mr. Sawyer’s family in Nova Scotia Supreme Court.“I tried to deal with the situation the best I could with the training I had,” Mr. Levy said. “Maybe it wasn’t the most up-to-date training.
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