WINNIPEG, MB: The Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms announces that lawyers funded by the Justice Centre are seeking Winnipeg Police Service records concerning a violent altercation at the University of Winnipeg on September 26, 2025. The records are being sought on behalf of a professor challenging the decision of Manitoba’s police oversight agency not to investigate his complaint about the police response to the incident.

The professor’s identity is being withheld for privacy reasons. He will be referred to as David Martin.

The complaint arose after Mr. Martin attended a Spectrum Street Epistemology exercise at the University of Winnipeg where members of the public were invited to consider the basis for their views on controversial subjects, including whether “residential school denialism” is a barrier to reconciliation. A group opposed to the exercise and the participation of Dr. Frances Widdowson, a political scientist and former Mount Royal University professor who has written extensively on indigenous policy and residential schools, was also present, and a violent altercation occurred.

According to the complaint, at least eight calls were made to the Winnipeg Police Service between approximately 2:00 and 3:30 p.m., but no police officers appeared at the scene. Mr. Martin left at approximately 5:00 p.m. He subsequently filed a complaint arguing that members of the Winnipeg Police Service knew about the exercise but chose not to attend despite having been dispatched. Mr. Martin contends that this amounted to an abuse of authority through differential treatment based on political belief or activity.

The Law Enforcement Review Agency Commissioner determined that the matter concerned quality of service and fell outside the scope of The Law Enforcement Review Act. No investigation was conducted. Mr. Martin sought a review of the Commissioner’s decision and is now seeking disclosure of police records as a preliminary step in that review.

Requests for the police records have already been refused twice, first on October 22, 2025, and again on June 19, 2026. Mr. Martin’s complaint states that multiple witnesses called police during the altercation and that a dispatcher advised that a police car would be sent “soon.” The records now being sought could provide important information about how the Winnipeg Police Service responded to those calls and why no officers appeared at the scene.

Lawyers funded by the Justice Centre argue that the requested records are relevant and necessary to determining whether officers dispatched to the University of Winnipeg committed an abuse of authority.

“Procedural fairness exists to ensure that the results of an investigation or quasi-judicial decision can be fairly relied upon with confidence; without it, the truth-seeking function of the complaint process is compromised,” said constitutional lawyer Michelle Nguyen.

Once the disclosure issue has been determined, the review of the Commissioner’s decision not to proceed further with the complaint is expected to be heard.

The Justice Centre is Canada’s leading civil liberties organization defending Charter rights and freedoms in the courts of law and in the court of public opinion. Founded in 2010, the Justice Centre funds lawyers across Canada, relies entirely on voluntary donations to carry out its mission, and issues official tax receipts to donors.