Manitoba's 'outdated' agency for complaints about police conduct to be overhauled: minister

The Manitoba agency that investigates public complaints about officer misconduct is getting overhauled amid growing calls for greater police scrutiny, CBC News has learned. 

"I don't want to prescribe the solution. I know there's a problem," provincial Justice Minister Kelvin Goertzen said in response to a CBC News investigation into Manitoba's Law Enforcement Review Agency (LERA).

Goertzen said the province will introduce legislation this session to address the "outdated" parts of LERA, an independent civilian agency that looks into complaints about the conduct of municipal police officers. 

That could come as early as Thursday afternoon.

That's when the minister is slated to introduce a bill that includes amendments to the laws governing LERA.

There have been repeated calls over the decades for changes to the agency, and in recent years, its ranks have been depleted. 

A CBC News analysis of all publicly available court hearings posted by LERA shows that only two police officers have faced discipline in the last decade. 

Manitobans filed more than 1,700 complaints during that same period of time, the vast majority of which were dismissed by the commissioner or abandoned by the complainant.

A Winnipeg woman, whose journey trying to find justice through LERA left her feeling re-victimized and abandoned, welcomed the impending changes. 

"It kind of sucks the life out of you," said Sophie, who CBC is not identifying because she's a victim of sexual abuse with her case currently before the courts.

Her experience with LERA began in 2020. That's when Sophie came forward to police and reported a historic sexual assault committed by a family member.

The Winnipeg police officer who first took her statement was dismissive, she said, and falsely told her there was a statute of limitations for when she could report the abuse.

"He went out of his way to belittle me and make me feel like crap," she said. "I really thought … people would show up and just listen to me."

Reporting what had happened to her was a very stressful moment, Sophie said, adding that she had grappled for decades with the guilt of not reporting the abuse.