Mr. Zane Tessler (Civilian Director, Independent Investigation Unit of Manitoba) at the Public Safety and National Security Committee

I'll be very brief.

I am the civilian director of Manitoba's Independent Investigation Unit. I was the inaugural civilian director appointed in 2013.

I'm now just a few weeks shy of the end of my second term, or 10 years, in this position. Our mandate, in Manitoba, is to investigate and involve ourselves, providing an independent overview and oversight of all serious incidents involving the police within the province, including death, serious injuries or breaches of criminal or statutory codes.

In my time, in the last eight years, since we've been operational in June 2015, we have now surpassed some 500 notifications for our unit to become involved in the serious incident investigation process.

Hopefully, my experience can assist in better understanding and developing the proposals under Bill C-20.