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Tragedy pushes man to lobby for change

The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.

The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.

Jonathon Naylor Editor A one-time member of the Flin Flon media has become a news story himself as he lobbies to protect convenience store workers. Aaron Nagy is a former CFAR announcer and reporter now living in Yorkton, Sask. In June, his friend Jimmy Ray Wiebe, 50, was murdered at a Yorkton gas station while working alone overnight. "It hit home pretty close. I'm still shocked by it," Nagy told Yorkton This Week. But Nagy is hoping to glean some good from the tragedy. He has launched a petition to require Saskatchewan convenience stores to have at least two workers on shift at all times. Not only would this help prevent murders and assaults, he said, but it could also save lives related to unexpected health occurrences such as heart attacks, strokes and choking. Door-to-door Nagy has gone door to door and online to collect signatures in support of what he calls Jimmy's Law. Along the way, he has been interviewed by local media as well as two major television outlets, CTV and Global. The petition has more than 1,000 signatures, but it's not clear whether lawmakers are prepared to comply. Some are questioning whether Nagy has the proper solution. Doug Hartl, vice-chair of the Western Convenience Store Association, told CTV there is no proof that having two employees working overnight is any safer "Banks are always robbed during the day time, they're always robbed when there's more than one clerk and there are always customers in there," he said. "So multiple people doesn't reduce the propensity of violence, matter of fact the more people there is, the more propensity for someone, for more than one person to get hurt or killed." According to Yorkton This Week, no Canadian province prohibits working alone. B.C. comes the closest with a law that gives employers the option of either staffing multiple workers for late-night shifts or separating lone employees from the public with a physical barrier or locked door. All gas sales must also be prepaid. Nagy said he won't let up, insisting that Wiebe's death Ð for which a 20-year-old man has now been charged Ð was preventable. Nagy, 29, worked at CFAR from July to November of 2006 before landing a job at another radio station in Dauphin. He later moved to Yorkton, where he continues to work in radio. To sign Nagy's petition online, visit http://ipetitions.com/petition/jimmyslaw .

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