09/02/2026
Winnipeg Dollarama 'a lot calmer' after Indigenous advocate becomes ambassador with security company.
Impact Security CEO says downtown store has seen 'sharp decline in violence' since Viv Ketchum joined team.
Lauren Scott · CBC News · Posted: Aug 31, 2026 8:00 AM CDT | Last Updated: August 31
A prominent Indigenous advocate has been working as an ambassador alongside security staff at a downtown Winnipeg Dollarama store, making sure community members and guards are safe after the shop was the site of a serious assault on an alleged shoplifter earlier this year.
Viv Ketchum is an ambassador with Impact Security Group at the dollar store on Portage Avenue, located between Donald and Smith streets, where one of the company's security guards allegedly used brass knuckles during an assault an accused shoplifter in late February.
Ketchum was in the crowd at a rally outside the store in March after a shocking video of the security guard punching and kicking the man was shared online.
Months later, shop staff have told Ketchum — a liaison between security guards and community members — there's a new sense of peace as she walks through the aisles or stands by the entrance.
"They said it's a lot calmer here when I'm working and there's been less violence, less shoplifting," Ketchum told CBC News in a Sunday interview.
"It's a lot calmer," she said.
Ron D'Errico, president and CEO of Impact Security Group says Ketchum represents both the community and security company when she's on shift, wearing a t-shirt that identifies her as Impact's ambassador there.
She's "bridge between two entities" as she oversees interactions between security and community members, acts as a mediator, while offering guidance and connecting people with outside supports. She's even offered sacred items like to***co or sage, D'Errico said.
"We've noticed a sharp decline in violence in the workplace. Staff feel comfortable, the guards feel comfortable. People are coming back into the store. Incidents have dropped drastically," he said.
"It's very important that she's in that role because there's a different dialogue that takes place of respect, where we don't need violence or escalation of violence, we don't need to be physical. We can mediate and talk," he said.
Impact is running the ambassador program as a six-month trial at the downtown Dollarama. But D'Errico has plans to expand.
"It's actually doing so well that we're actually looking at adopting it across Canada," he said.
Ketchum's participation has been key to that success, he said. However, Ketchum said her own experiences of racial profiling and being followed or accused of shoplifting in stores initially made her hesitant to work with a security company.
Her perspective has been shifting as she's grown to know the guards as individuals.
"Getting to know them on a personal level is an eye opener for me," she said. "One of them, in fact, calls me auntie."
Ketchum says she works at the store eight hours a day, six days per week. In that time, she's also intervened when shoppers act poorly toward guards, including making racist comments.
"I'm making sure that the guards treat shoplifters fairly and I'm also making sure that the security guards are treated fairly," she said.
Sometimes she has to call outside organizations for support, like Downtown Community Safety Partnership or city police, when needed. She also keeps an eye out for missing people in the high-traffic dollar store.
"It's one role, but I do many things," she said.
She hopes her presence at the store will create change and rebuild trust with the community after the serious assault there this past winter — and ensure similar incidents don't happen again.
"A lot of people said, "I wish I could have been there, I would have done something." Now I am taking that step. I'm actually doing something to prevent anything like that [from happening] in the future," Ketchum said.
