Province proposes changes to policing legislation

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This article was published 18/03/2022 (1457 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Proposed changes to the Police Services Act are aimed at boosting co-operation between Manitoba’s police services and setting out a code of conduct for police officers in the province.

The changes in Bill 30, which were introduced on Thursday, include establishing policing standards and a standard code of conduct for police services across the province. They come based on recommendations from an independent review of the legislation governing police in Manitoba.

Justice Minister Kelvin Goertzen said in an interview the amendments around policing standards are the beginning of a series of changes to the act and there are more to come, calling it a “step by step process.”

“It’s not reflective of any particular concern we’re hearing regarding policing, it’s just best practices that are happening … and it might lead to other things,” he said.

Municipal police officers would be covered by the code of conduct, but not RCMP officers.

The amendments would also establish a Criminal Intelligence Centre, which Goertzen said would promote inter-police service information sharing. The centre would be led by a criminal intelligence director.

“When you see some of the most effective police work that happens, it’s usually because you’re sharing information, whether that’s between poles forces in a province or across Canada,” he said.

“We really want to promote that and continue that culture.”

While there is good information sharing already, it could be better and more standardized, he said.

Changes to the Law Enforcement Review Act are also included as part of the package, which would extend the time for filing complaints with the agency from 30 days to 180. LERA investigates non-criminal complaints against police officers while the Independent Investigations Unit of Manitoba investigates criminal complaints.

Goertzen said the changes to bring in a police code of conduct will also help change how LERA complaints are dealt with.

But NDP justice critic Nahanni Fontaine said the provincial government’s changes don’t go far enough to reform LERA. It needs a complete overhaul and changes to its operational structure and investigative processes, she said.

“If LERA does not have the public’s confidence for years and years … how long do you stick with some type of structure that is not working until you say, ‘This isn’t working, we need an overhaul, let’s reimagine what a police complaints body would look like for Manitoba?’” she said.

“[The provincial government] chose to do the bare minimum despite many, many criticisms, critiques and concerns from Manitobans.”

Brandon Police Service Chief Wayne Balcaen said Friday he was glad to see the modernization of the Police Services Act start to take shape. Having a “robust” intelligence centre like the one proposed will be helpful, he said.

“There’s a saying that ‘Intelligence isn’t valued unless its shared,’ so having a robust intelligence centre will be beneficial for all police service,” he said.

The changes around police standards and a code of conduct brings Manitoba closer to other provinces and what the public expects, he added.

“We’re looking for an act that will be progressive and move all of our agencies in the same direction.”

Goertzen said more changes to topics like police governance will come in the future.

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