Expanded ankle bracelet monitoring will help protect Manitoba intimate partner violence survivors: province

A program that uses tracking bracelets to monitor people accused of crimes and considered dangerous is being expanded beyond Winnipeg, and will include the use of an app that can provide resources and emergency help for survivors of intimate partner violence, the province said Friday.

"This makes a huge difference for giving the victim the power, the ability to feel safe and to deploy resources as necessary," Justice Minister Matt Wiebe said at a news conference in Selkirk Friday. 

The province rolled out the monitoring program to supervise people released on bail in August, and had initially set specific criteria for which accused offenders can be outfitted with the monitors, which includes violent offenders but excludes cases involving murder, aggravated sexual assault or violence with a firearm.

The program also initially excluded cases involving intimate partner violence, but the province is now expanding it to include people accused in such cases.

It's also expanding from Winnipeg to several rural areas, as of Dec. 2, to include the areas around Steinbach, Selkirk, the Pembina Valley, Portage la Prairie, Brandon, Westman and Dauphin.

"We've seen tragedies in this province — we know our crime rates outside of Winnipeg and in rural Manitoba specifically are high, and we know that our rates of intimate partner violence are high when compared to the rest of the country," Wiebe said. 

Manitoba's monitoring program will also now give survivors tools through a smartphone app called Empower, which Wiebe said is a "game changer."

The app can notify survivors if an offender has breached conditions of their bail or probation, said Wiebe.

It will allow survivors to access information and resources, such as upcoming court dates in the accused offender's case, and has a panic button a survivor can hit if they need immediate assistance.

That will connect them with the commissioners who monitor the program to get advice or, if the situation escalates, have them dispatch help.

"For far too long, survivors of intimate partner violence in this province have been forced to protect themselves, and often alone without support from the government," Minister of Families Nahanni Fontaine said at Friday's announcement. 

"This is about believing women, girls, two-spirit and gender-diverse folks.… It's about supporting them in real time."

Wiebe said the decision on which accused offenders get the ankle bracelets will continue to be determined by a judge's order.

In August, the province said it would roll out 100 devices. So far, only 31 are in use, Wiebe said, but with the expansion, he's expecting all of the devices will soon be in use.

"Law enforcement and courts are going to really lean into this as they understand the technology and continue to deploy it," he said.

'Significant step': shelters co-ordinator

The expansion of the program is a "significant step" in addressing escalating levels of violence, particularly in rural communities where there is a lack of resources, safe spaces and counselling support, said Tsungai Muvingi, the provincial co-ordinator at the Manitoba Association of Women's Shelters.

"It has sadly become all too common for perpetrators to look for, stalk, harass, coerce and continue to abuse women, children and individuals who are fleeing gender based violence," she said.

The monitoring program is a survivor-centred approach to helping victims, she said, and helps connect them with law enforcement, who may not always respond in time through other traditional methods — including 911 calls. 

Fontaine said the program responds to the reality of victims of violence, particularly in First Nations communities that have been demanding real-time support for years. 

"The ability to use an app is in itself actually quite safe.… It will feel safer for the individual that's using it rather than having to call 911," she said. 

Other provinces have been using electronic monitoring for offenders for years, Wiebe said.  

Manitoba previously had an ankle bracelet program that was phased out in 2017 by the then Progressive Conservative government, after a review determined many bracelets were either inaccurate or ineffective.

But in 2023, then PC justice minister Kelvin Goertzen changed course and promised to reinstate the program. The Tories were defeated in the October 2023 election before they could do so.

Wayne Balcaen, the justice critic for the now Opposition Progressive Conservatives, said ankle bracelets are a tool for law enforcement.

But "Manitobans fed up with this NDP government's revolving door want jail, not bail for repeat violent offenders," he said in a statement.

"A violent offender in jail poses no risk to Manitobans."

The province will spend $2.9 million on the ankle bracelet program over a two-year period. The government said the contract may be extended.