Manitoba looks to strengthen police watchdog by requiring most officers to comply — or penalizing them

Manitoba is planning to beef up its police watchdog, whose shortcomings — ranging from its overseeing of law enforcement personnel to the diversity of members — have come into question.

The provincial government introduced legislation on Monday that will give the Independent Investigation Unit more bite.

The civilian-led body that oversees police would be able to introduce fines and jail time for most police officers who do not comply with any of its "reasonable" requests.

The bill would also forbid the unit from hiring active police offers as investigators.

As well, the IIU would be required to prepare a public report into each investigation. It must also provide an explanation whenever police officer is cleared of wrongdoing.

"The reason we're bringing legislative changes is that we're seeing that there's an opportunity and a time right now to evolve," Justice Minister Cameron Friesen said in an interview.

The watchdog's limitations have been laid bare in recent years.

In 2019, it 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.

And the watchdog couldn't do anything when a community safety officer in Thompson knocked a woman unconscious at a RCMP detachment in 2018 because the individual's position was outside its jurisdiction. 

The new legislation still does not permit IIU to investigate cadets or community safety officers, but it requires them, along with other police officers, to comply with the reasonable requests of investigators. 

Officers who are suspected of wrongdoing don't have to co-operate. Friesen said the exemption is needed to comply with police contracts and the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

"We cannot simply override the protections that police officers have in their collective agreements. We can't override what the charter says about your right not to incriminate yourself," he said.

The bill stems from an independent review of the law governing police last fall and was originally scheduled to be debated last spring. But Friesen pulled the bill, citing a need for more consultation following a probe into the fatal police shooting of Eishia Hudson, an Indigenous teen in Winnipeg. The report sparked more calls for reforms.

The government consulted with Indigenous and other community groups in response, said Grand Chief Arlen Dumas with the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs.