Recruits prepare for policing career after graduating from Brandon college
After five years of working toward his goal of becoming a police officer — including time as an auxiliary constable with the Sainte-Anne Police Service — Fabian Toews is one step closer to realizing his dream.
The 24-year-old from Niverville recently completed the public safety certificate program at Assiniboine Community College in Brandon, which had been recommended by a Sainte-Anne officer who had completed it.
Next week, Toews begins the second phase of his training with the Brandon Police Service, where he has been hired as a recruit constable.
'It has been incredibly rewarding,' Toews said about the program. 'It genuinely felt like being part of a police academy, particularly after being hired to join Brandon Police Service while continuing to study.'
Assiniboine's program has trained law enforcement-ready graduates for nearly 20 years.
On Friday, another 15 students graduated during a ceremony in Brandon. Of this year's cohort, two —including Toews — have been hired by Brandon police. One is in the final stages of the competition process, and three others are expected to become cadets.
Bailey Culbertson, 20, who is originally from Melita in the southwest corner of Manitoba, is in the final stages of the hiring process for the Nishnawbe Aski Police Service in northwestern Ontario.
'I've always had an interest in law enforcement from a very young age,' she said. 'I just searched for options of what would be a good entry course to gain some background, educational-wise, for law enforcement, and I came across this. It helped me out. I ended up getting a job.'
Culbertson, who said she has an interest in the cultural background of Indigenous people, always knew she wanted to police in a remote community.
'I want to travel and gain that experience of isolated communities, of what they're experiencing, because in Canadian northern communities, there's not a lot of resources,' Culbertson said.
The certificate program emphasizes non-biased policing, with a focus on inclusive and culturally sensitive policing.
'We went to the Riverbank Discovery Centre (in Brandon) for Truth and Reconciliation week,' Toews said. 'We made teepees, we cooked bannock, participated in a feast and played with the children. It was a great experience to get more into Indigenous cultures.'
Since its inception in 2006, the program has had 21 classes with more than 300 grads. Ninety per cent still work in law enforcement or public safety roles. More than half of Brandon police officers are grads of the program, said former Winnipeg police chief Jack Ewatski, who is the academic chairperson for the public safety institute at the college.
He said the program continually evolves to meet the demands of modern policing.
'All police agencies right now are really facing challenges in terms of recruiting and hiring people,' Ewatski said, noting police officers are viewed in a negative light by some members of society.
'Our base program gives people the foundational aspects to do the job. We're continuing to evolve to meet the needs of the police services to help get people out in the street, out in the field, quicker, than in the past.'
The college also delivers recruit training for the Manitoba First Nations Police Service and prepares members of the Winnipeg Community Safety Team, including staff who work on Winnipeg Transit buses.
'These students represent the future of policing, and we're committed to supporting their growth as they work toward their personal and professional goals,' said Greg Hebert, deputy chief of Brandon police.
scott.billeck@freepress.mb.ca
Scott BilleckReporter
Scott Billeck is a general assignment reporter for the Free Press. A Creative Communications graduate from Red River College, Scott has more than a decade's worth of experience covering hockey, football and global pandemics. He joined the Free Press in 2024. Read more about Scott.
Every piece of reporting Scott produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press's tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press's history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.
Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber.
Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Canada Standard
3 hours ago
- Canada Standard
"Canadian politicians must distance themselves from extremists": Journalist Mocha Bezirgan alleges assault by Khalistanis at Vancouver rally
Vancouver [Canada], June 8 (ANI): An independant Canadian investigative journalist on Sunday alleged that he was physically assaulted and 'threatened' by a group of Khalistan supporters and had his phone snatched while reporting their rally in Vancouver. The journalist, Mocha Bezirgan, who posted his ordeal on social media platform X said that the Khalistani extremist movement in Canada has raised serious security concerns and strained ties between India and Canada. 'It just happened two hours ago and I'm still shaking,' Bezirgan told ANI in a phone interview. 'They acted like thugs - crowding in on me, grabbing my phone, trying to stop me recording.' The incident occurred while Bezirgan was in Vancouver city to cover a rally organised by Khalistan supporters. The Canadian journalist described the attack as 'thuggery' and said he was targeted for his editorial independence and past coverage of Khalistan-related protests. Earlier he took to X to post, 'I've been surrounded by a group of Khalistanis who grabbed my phone out of my hand and threatened me. Naturally I'm a bit shaken, but not deterred.' Bezirgan further said that the pro-Khalistan movement has led to acts of vandalism, intimidation, and violent rhetoric, despite not being widespread within the Sikh community. On being asked about Khalistani extremism, the Canadian investigative journalist said, 'This is a movement headed by Sikhs for Justice (SFJ). They are the ones organising it, and most of the time, it's the same people attending these protests, whether it be in Ontario, British Columbia, US, UK, New Zealand. They mobilise people to come from local Gurudwaras to create a little bit of crowd, but there are bigger political organizations like the World Sikh Organization which is based in Canada and they are they have a troubled history and they do the political cover in Canada. He highlighted that larger political organizations such as the World Sikh Organization, based in Canada, provide political cover for the movement. 'Their executives include current and former MPs and ministers, who have spread influence across Canadian institutions,' said the Canadian journalist. Bezirgan also expressed concern over the reluctance of Canadian politicians to condemn these extremist groups. 'Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre, the NDP, and some Liberal MPs recently attended a Nagar Kirtan in Surrey, BC, which had significant Khalistani influence. They shared the stage with Santokh Singh Kelha, a convicted Sikh Canadian who conspired to bomb an airplane,' Bezirgan said. Bezirgan condemned the glorification of violence by these groups, who the journalist said speak openly about plans to ambush and kill India's current Prime Minister Narendra Modi. '...Because of the tensions between Canada and India, it's a very highly political subject, but I feel like we are disregarding what's happening underground. What these people are saying, how they are exercising their free speech while they are celebrating the assassins of Indira Gandhi and saying that they are going to ambush and kill India's Prime Minister, Modi's politics at the G7. I asked them Are you going to kill his politics the same way you killed Indira Gandhi's politics? Because they refer to the assassins as their forefathers. They say we are the descendants of the killers of Indira Gandhi, and they are glorifying these acts of violence...' 'It is disturbing that Canadian politicians continue to associate with such extremists, despite their violent history and inflammatory rhetoric,' Bezirgan said. He warned that lack of media coverage and public awareness in Canada allows such events and political participation to go unchecked. Bezirgan called for greater accountability and awareness to prevent normalization of extremism. 'As a citizen, I expect my representatives to distance themselves from extremists and those with violent pasts.' The investigative journalist emphasized that ignoring these issues would embolden extremist groups and escalate tensions between India and Canada. 'Today's thuggery I was subjected to was not the first time,' said the journalist who posted visuals on his social media platform X about an event from March 2024 when 'Khalistan supporters, armed with daggers, swords, and spears, gathered in Edmonton, Alberta to protest against India's high commissioner to Canada.' Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi confirmed on June 6 that he will represent India at the upcoming G-7 summit in Canada next week, after he was invited by Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney during a telephone call. (ANI)
Montreal Gazette
5 hours ago
- Montreal Gazette
‘Complicit with a totalitarian regime': Canada's border rules are landing asylum seekers in ICE detention
News By Canadian authorities have returned more than 1,600 asylum seekers to the United States in 2025 without hearing their case for refugee protection, according to the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA). Many have landed in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody. The removals are a product of the longstanding Safe Third Country Agreement, which requires anyone seeking refugee protection in Canada or the U.S. to claim asylum in the first of the two countries they reach. This means many asylum seekers who attempt to enter Canada through the U.S. are turned back at the border. The agreement is based on the assumption both the U.S. and Canada have sufficiently robust refugee protection systems. But with the U.S. asylum system now suspended and amid reports of refugee claimants facing deportation without so much as an interview, Canadian advocates say the U.S. is no longer safe for those fleeing persecution. Canadian authorities must stop the removals, they say, and allow refugee claimants to plead their cases on this side of the border. CBSA data shared with The Gazette show authorities sent a total of 1,624 asylum seekers back to the U.S. between Jan. 1 and June 2, 2025. Though the deportation data isn't broken down by location, just over 40 per cent of all asylum seekers in 2025 — deported or not — made their claims at the St-Bernard-de-Lacolle crossing, south of Montreal, CBSA data shows. Unless they have legal status in the U.S., all asylum seekers returned from Canada are transferred into ICE custody, a U.S. Customs and Border Patrol spokesperson confirmed in an emailed statement. Canadian authorities 'are complicit with an increasingly totalitarian regime,' said Wendy Ayotte, a member of Bridges Not Borders, a grassroots organization of people living near the now shuttered Roxham Road crossing. Ayotte called Canadian authorities 'cruel' for sending asylum seekers into the hands of the same immigration authorities who deported more than 100 Venezuelan men to a high-security El Salvador prison and reportedly removed U.S. citizens from their own country. Her organization maintains a web page with information for asylum seekers planning to cross into Canada, which Ayotte said sees a steady flow of web traffic. 'A lot of people are totally ignorant' of the Safe Third Country Agreement, Ayotte said, including of how to assert exemptions that allow certain groups of people to claim asylum when crossing from the U.S. One exemption is for those with family members in Canada. But some asylum seekers with legitimate connections are struggling to prove it, according to Jenn McIntyre, coordinator of the Canada-U.S. Border Rights Clinic, which provides legal assistance to migrants seeking protection in Canada. 'We do see people who approach the border and should be found eligible under the Safe Third Country Agreement because they have family members in Canada, but they don't necessarily have all of the information' needed to assert their eligibility, she said. 'They don't always have all the correct documentation on hand. 'And so we do see people turned back from the border even though they have families in Canada. The consequences of getting turned back are very severe.' Most people are being detained upon return to the U.S., she said, which could eventually see them deported to the very country they fled. 'When a person makes a claim for refugee protection at a port of entry, a CBSA border service officer will determine if, on a balance of probabilities, evidence shows that the refugee claimant is subject to the Safe Third Country Agreement,' CBSA spokesperson Rebecca Purdy said in an email. The onus to prove the right to seek protection is on the asylum seeker, Purdy said. But that isn't always easy for someone fleeing persecution, according to Ayotte. 'Imagine someone without any prior preparation or knowledge presenting themselves at the border and, all of a sudden, they're going through an interview. But they don't understand the purpose of the interview,' she said. Some of those seeking asylum at the border are Haitian, said Abdulla Daoud, executive director of the Refugee Centre in Montreal. In February, U.S. President Donald Trump removed deportation protections for Haitians facing continuing gang violence that has seen more than a million people in the country become homeless. Many Haitians have family in Canada, Daoud said, making them eligible to claim asylum. Daoud said he, too, had heard of people turned away despite a family connection. Others are truly ineligible, he said, but have come to the border without understanding the rules. 'They are typically the most vulnerable of the vulnerable,' he said. By turning them away, Canadian officials 'are doing ICE's job for them.' Most people claiming asylum in Canada have a legitimate fear of persecution or even death, Daoud said. In 2024, nearly 80 per cent of asylum seekers who made their case to an immigration judge were granted refugee status (excluding claims that were withdrawn or abandoned). Daoud said this proves most claims are legitimate. If eight out of 10 asylum seekers have a legitimate claim and those returned to the U.S. are facing increasing odds of deportation 'what is the statistical probability that we're sending people to their death?' The contested agreement has been challenged in the courts. In 2023, the Supreme Court of Canada upheld it, but sent a question over its constitutionality back to a lower court. Though especially concerning now, the Safe Third Country Agreement, first signed in 2002, has never been acceptable, said Adam Sadinsky, advocacy co-chair at the Canadian Association of Refugee Lawyers, which is participating in the continuing legal challenge. 'The way that refugees and asylum seekers are treated in the United States has always been problematic,' Sadinsky said. But he said the system has only become worse under Trump. 'What's clear in the United States now is that the asylum process is not being respected,' Sadinsky said. In an emailed statement, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada spokesperson Julie Lafortune said the U.S. 'continues to meet the criteria ... to be a designated safe third country.' She said Ottawa continues to monitor developments in the U.S. to 'ensure that the conditions that led to the designation as a safe third country continue to be met.' Immigration Minister Lena Metlege Diab's office declined The Gazette's request for an interview. The Liberal government has since tabled Bill C-2, which, among other measures, would further restrict migrants' ability to claim asylum.
Calgary Herald
9 hours ago
- Calgary Herald
Alberta judge rejects robber's Indigenous identity claims, proposes test for deciding who should and shouldn't get Gladue reports
An Alberta judge is proposing new guidelines for how courts handle people who say they are Indigenous during sentencing hearings, but don't have proof to back up their claims. Article content Last month, Justice Jordan Stuffco of the Alberta Court of Justice sentenced Jonathan Anthony Ninan to 33 months in prison for robbing a Leduc sports bar, after Ninan admitted to pointing a replica firearm at the bar's lone female employee and making off with $12,000 cash. Article content Article content Article content After pleading guilty to a pair of charges, Ninan requested a Gladue report, a pre-sentence document which examines the impacts of government policy towards Indigenous people on an Indigenous person's criminal conduct. Article content Article content While some offenders' claims of Indigenous identity are uncontroversial, Ninan had only the vague sense that his mother — with whom he has had almost no contact since age 10 — had 'some ancestral connection to an unspecified Indigenous community,' Stuffco wrote. Article content 'Although Mr. Ninan endured substantial childhood trauma and intergenerational harm due to abusive and neglectful biological parents, I do not find these factors are connected to Indigeneity,' wrote Stuffco, a member of the Métis Nation of Alberta. Article content 'I find Mr. Ninan is not an Indigenous offender because there was no meaningful evidence, other than self-identification, establishing Mr. Ninan as an Indigenous person.' Article content Article content The decision comes amid ongoing debate over Indigenous identity fraud, including deeper examination of Indigenous identity claims from public figures in government, pop culture and academia. Article content Article content Stuffco did not accuse Ninan of trying to mislead the court, noting the 24-year-old simply knew little about his mother 'due to his chaotic and abusive family history.' Article content Gladue reports Article content Since the Supreme Court of Canada's 1999 decision in R. v. Gladue — the first case to interpret Criminal Code amendments aimed at addressing the over-representation of First Nations, Métis and Inuit people in Canadian prisons — Indigenous offenders have been able to request pre-sentence reports examining their family histories and how government Indigenous policy may have contributed to their criminal behaviour. Article content Gladue and subsequent cases recognized Indigenous people 'endured many generations of unparalleled systemic abuse and discrimination at the hands of all levels of government,' Stuffco wrote, including residential schools, displacement from traditional lands and adoption into non-Indigenous families.
