Choice to toss complaint gets review

A man who alleges two Winnipeg police officers illegally searched his room in a group home hopes a judge will agree it was unreasonable for his complaint against them to be dismissed.

Michael Filbert, 69, who has cognitive and physical disabilities, appeared before a provincial court judge Thursday to argue in favour of a judicial review. His complaint to the Law Enforcement Review Agency was dismissed in September.

He alleges the officers conducted a search without a warrant and threatened him with an electroshock weapon in 2025.

Deb Roach, a friend of Filbert’s, spoke to the Free Press on his behalf because he has hearing loss and difficulty speaking.

“He was scared by police,” she said about the encounter. “Michael, he stands up for his rights and he stands up for other people’s rights, too.”

Roach helped Filbert write down and submit a formal complaint about the incident. She was by his side when a LERA investigator interviewed him about the allegations.

According to Filbert’s complaint, he was suffering from chest pain on April 29, 2025, and feared he might be at risk of a heart attack.

He said he asked group home staff about their emergency procedures, and learned they had been directed to consult with their superiors before phoning 911.

Filbert responded by taking one of the group home’s wireless phones into his room, so he could call for help on his own if his symptoms escalated.

Staff called police and alleged he was aggressive and defiant when asked to return the phone. Officers turned up at his door a short time later.

Filbert alleges the officers entered his room and began tearing through his belongings without his consent as they searched for the phone. Filbert said he was frustrated by the encounter and tried to leave the room to smoke a cigarette. That’s when one of the officers pulled out his Taser, he said.

Roach, who was an RCMP officer for 35 years before retiring in 2010, described Filbert as a “great defender of disability rights.”

She said he is outspoken, but has trouble articulating, and speaks loudly due to his hearing loss. Those factors could have led officers to believe he was being aggressive when he communicated with them.

“There are a lot of police officers — and it’s not just that profession — that don’t know anything about people with disabilities and how to work around them or with them,” she said. “I think there needs to be more training on this, and not just at the base level.”

She said Filbert paid rent to the group home and should have been protected by Charter rights against an unreasonable search or seizure.

LERA commissioner Harmen Wouda concluded the officers’ accounts of the interaction were consistent, and did not line up with Filbert’s allegations. The complaint was dismissed.

Around a dozen people, including other people with disabilities and law students, crowded into a small room at the Law Courts Building Thursday to witness the beginning of the judicial review proceedings. However, owing to illness, the judge was unable to attend.

Provincial court Judge Keith Eyrikson stepped in to lead the review on short notice, but was unable to fully review the legal submissions. He opted to reschedule the proceedings to gain a better understanding of the lawyers’ submissions.

“I think I need to have a full understanding of the materials before we go ahead. I think I owe it to the entirety of the hearing, as well as Mr. Filbert.”

The judicial review has been set for June 22. Eyrikson will determine whether the LERA commissioner’s decision to dismiss the case was reasonable.

Filbert’s lawyer, Brandon Trask, and Peter McKenna, the lawyer for the officers, will be permitted to make arguments but cannot submit evidence.

If Eyrikson determines the decision was not reasonable, the case could move to an appeal, at which point there could be a hearing with testimony from Filbert, the officers and witnesses.

The judge could also direct LERA to take a second look at the case and seek alternative resolutions, Trask said.

Filbert had lived in the Manitoba Development Centre, a provincially run residential institution for people with intellectual disabilities in Portage la Prairie that operated from 1890 to 2024. It was the subject of a lawsuit that alleged residents had been neglected and abused. In 2023, a $17-million settlement was reached that allowed for compensation payments to individuals who had lived there between July 1, 1951, and May 29, 2020.

tyler.searle@freepress.mb.ca