Brandon’s fire chief expressed shock and disappointment that a man with a child pornography conviction hired by the Manitoba Office of the Fire Commissioner (OFC) participated in an event for children at his fire hall last fall.
Brent Dane, Brandon’s top fire official, told CBC news that he had not been notified by the OFC about the man’s past or the reason for his dismissal. The fire department partners with the OFC to offer students from the Grand Valley Mutual Aid District areas a chance to be “Fire Chief for a Day” as part of the Fire Prevention week held annually in Brandon.
Dane did not know the man interacted directly with children at the event and with his fire service until he was told by CBC News. There is no indication that the man did anything wrong while employed by the OFC.
“It really comes as a shock and it’s a huge thing, a huge thing for the communities because of the kids,” he said, describing the event. “It’s been a thing they really look forward to. It’s a fun day for them and it’s activity-packed and they go home at the end of the day with a big smile on their face. It’s kind of the goal to give them an experience and interact with the fire service.”
Promotional materials for the event said “one lucky Grade 4 student from each school in the Brandon School Division” along with students from surrounding communities spend the entire day at the Brandon Fire Hall and Manitoba Emergency Services College.
Brandon Fire Chief Brent Dane was disappointed and shocked to learn of sex offender’s presence at an event at his fire hall. (Brandon Fire Emergency Services website )
The man, in his thirties, worked at the fire commissioner’s office for eight months before being fired in December 2015. He is listed in the child abuse registry and on the national sex offender registry after a conviction in Brandon in 2010 for possessing child pornography. He pleaded guilty to downloading the pornography from the internet and was sentenced to 90 days in jail followed by two years probation.
He was hired at the OFC through the province’s student employment placement program called STEP Services. The OFC declined an interview request but said in a statement: “Moving forward, summer students will also be required to provide the same checks, depending on the nature of their responsibilities (such as speaking to students or at events where youth may be present).”
Dane said the OFC should have told him and their other parties about what happened.
“You should really be ahead of it and telling all the partners,” he said. “Telling all that kind of stuff as opposed to hearing it in the press because now we are in a reactive mode trying to find out what went on.”
“It’s kind of a bit disappointing that we have to react to this,” he added.
CBC News asked for an interview with the Minister responsible for the Civil Service, Kerri Irvin-Ross, but she was unavailable.
A spokesperson said in a statement: “The province’s policy around the requirement for background/security checks (depending on the role or responsibility of the employee) has been in place for some time. We are ensuring all departments that require child abuse checks are doing so for all employees who work with children, including STEP student hires. We are strengthening our policy to explicitly outline this approach.”
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