'No rational reason' why Manitoba police watchdog changes not implemented after 3 years: former director
CBC
A bill designed to strengthen the powers of Manitoba's police watchdog, including giving it power to penalize officers who don't comply with their requests, has been sitting on a shelf for almost three years.
The years-long delay is frustrating for family members whose loved ones were killed by police and want assurances that the Independent Investigation Unit of Manitoba can do its job properly.
"They recognize there's a problem. You spend time studying for solutions and then they don't implement them?" said Gerry Singer, whose 59-year-old brother, Bradley, was fatally shot by Winnipeg police in February of this year at his home, after officers attempted to take him to hospital for a non-voluntary examination under the province's Mental Health Act.
"He missed a doctor's appointment," Gerry said of the reason police were called to his brother's home.
The police watchdog is currently investigating his death.
The delay in the legislation "makes me feel like the public doesn't matter," said Gerry Singer. "And it's all just for getting re-elected."
The bill was introduced in November 2021, following multiple instances where the investigative unit's legislative limitations were put under the microscope.
The civilian-led agency, which is charged with investigating all serious incidents involving police officers in Manitoba, came into being following a review of Manitoba's Police Service Act.
In 2018, email exchanges between the watchdog and Winnipeg's police chief revealed Zane Tessler, the IIU's first civilian director, had raised concerns about police services not flagging incidents and keeping cadets from being interviewed.
In 2019, the unit took the Winnipeg Police Service to court after the force refused to hand over the notes of two cadets who witnessed a fatal Taser encounter. The police argued the cadets were outside the IIU's authority to probe.
Tessler was the director of the Independent Investigation Unit when the then Progressive Conservative government introduced the bill proposing IIU changes in 2021.
It passed second, first and third readings and reached royal assent on June 1, 2022 — the steps necessary for a bill to become law — but it was never proclaimed.
"And it's now November of 2024.… Nothing's changed," said Tessler, who retired in 2023 after a decade at the helm of the IIU.
"It was designed to enhance the powers of the IIU. There's no rational reason why it's sitting there."
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