Local News
Zane Tessler set to retire after ten years at helm of organizationinvestigating potential police-involved wrongdoing
By MYRON LOVE After 43 years in practice, the past ten as head of the Independent Investigative Unit (IIU) of Manitoba, Zane Tessler is looking forward to retirement. “I felt that it is time for me to take a break,” he says. “I am not sure how long this break will last. But I want to enjoy retirement while I am still healthy enough to do so.”
Looking back, the longtime lawyer expresses his gratitude for a fulfilling career in both private and public practice. “I have had the opportunity to work with many really good, experienced lawyers, several of whom became my mentors.”
As with many of his contemporaries, Zane Tessler comes from a humble background. His late father, Ernie, was an orphan of the Holocaust who was brought to Winnipeg after the war – along with his sister and a cousin – by relatives who had settled here before the war. Ernie married Canadian-born Faye and the couple began their life together and their family – with Zane being the oldest of four – in Fort Rouge, where Ernie operated a grocery store which is now the site of the BDI ice cream drive-in.
Over time, Ernie prospered in business and the family moved first to Inkster and MacGregor, then to Garden City. Zane and his siblings went to Talmud Torah for elementary school and Jefferson/Garden City Collegiate for high school.
After earning a B.A ., Tessler was accepted into law school. He was called to the bar in 1980.
Tessler was in private practice for 18 years, serving with several different firms, including Norton Schwartz McJannet Weinberg; Nozick Sinder; Walsh Micay; Myers Weinberg; and Wilder Wilder and Langtry. He also partnered with Harley Greenberg in their own firm.
Throughout his time in private practice, Tessler’s focus was primarily on criminal law. “My areas of interest in law school were tax law and corporate litigation,” he recalls. “When I started at Norton Schwartz, I asked if anyone at the firm was doing criminal law. At that time, the only way to become experienced in criminal law was by doing it. I was put in touch with Michael Werier, who handled most of the criminal law cases – and I was off and running.”
In 1998, he transitioned to the other side when he became a Crown Attorney. “I felt that I had accomplished as much as I could as a defense attorney,” he says. “Working in the public sphere presents a more calming environment and a more stable life style.”
He points out that he joined the “other side” as a senior Crown Attorney. During his 15 years with the Crown office, he served as the provincial representative on the national Wrongful Conviction Committee for just shy of 10 years. He was also a member of the Crown’s Education Committee.
“For the last two years with the Crown’s office, I was responsible for supervising and mentoring new prosecutors,” he notes.
The idea of establishing a special independent body to investigate incidents involving members of the police force in the province – including RCMP officers – was first broached in Manitoba in the early 1990s,” Tessler points out. While Ontario established just such an independent investigative unit around that time, the other provinces didn’t follow up. It was the attempted cover up of the Crystal Taman case in 2005 that led directly to the creation of the IIU in Manitoba.
As some readers may recall, Taman was killed in an accident in East St. Paul involving a drunken off-duty Winnipeg police offer and a subsequent effort by the East St. Paul police department to shield the officer from prosecution. The officer was eventually sentenced to two years of house arrest and subsequently left the police force.
The creation of the IIU in 2013 was one of the recommendations of the inquiry that followed.
“I was the first employee,” says Tessler, who was appointed as executive director. “Now we have a staff of 15, including 15 investigators.
“Our purpose is not to prosecute police officers involved in serious incidents, but rather to investigate in a transparent manner and try to explain what occurred,” he continues. “Our reports are all available to members of the public. In all cases where the officer is cleared, his or her name is left out of the report.
“Where a prosecution is warranted, a different office takes over the case.”
When the IIU first began operations, Tessler recounts, “we were viewed as outsiders, an irritant. It took a while for police officers to buy in. To realize that the work we are doing benefits them. Now, we have a good relationship with law enforcement.”
Tessler adds that there have been and continue to be more officer-involved shootings in Winnipeg as compared to other cities – and each has to be investigated to determine if the use of lethal force was justified. “We work with a sense of integrity and professionalism and an eye to informing the public as best we can how and why the incident happened,” he points out. “We have received very few complaints and have never been challenged in court.”
Now, nearing completion of his second five-year term as head of the IIU, and with major changes coming to the operation of the unit as a result of the most recent government review a couple of years ago, Tessler believes that this is a good time to turn the reins over to a new director to lead the IIU into the future.
His last day at work will be June 30.
In retirement, Tessler says that he is looking forward to a simpler life, working on his golf game at Glendale (where is a member of the board), doing some traveling with his wife Shawna, and enjoying his grandchildren.
Local News
Shaarey Zedek celebrates reopening September 29
By BERNIE BELLAN After a period of renovation that began in the spring of 2022, the Shaarey Zedek Synagogue was officially reopened on Sunday, September 29.
Here is a montage of photos from the “Chanukat Habayit” that took place on Sunday afternoon.
Local News
Yazidi Association of Canada honours Winnipeg friends who helped start Operation Ezra
By BERNIE BELLAN On Sunday, September 22, members of Winnipeg’s Yazidi community showed their appreciation to Winnipeggers who had helped Yazidis move to Canada and settle in Winnipeg since 2015 by inviting a number of Winnipeggers to a dinner at Temple Shalom. Many of the guests were individuals who had played vital roles in helping Yazidis escape persecution by ISIS in Iraq back in 2015.
It was in 2015 that a spokesperson for the Yazidi community at the time, Nafiya Nasso, came in contact with some members of the Jewish community who were touched by the plight of the Yazidis in Iraq. Through the facilitation of Jewish Child and Family Service the seeds for what was to become Operation Ezra were planted. Since then Operation Ezra has helped more than 50 Yazidi families immigrate to Canada and settle here. The strong bonds that were established back then helped what was then a very small Yazidi community grow into a much larger – and what is now a thriving community.
The Yazidi Association of Canada, under the direction of Nafiya Nasso, organized a sumptuous buffet dinner at Temple Shalom on September 22. Not only was the food delicious, at the end, attendees were handed empty containers and invited to go fill them up to take home whatever they wanted. (If someone from the Yazidi community ever wanted to open a restaurant, I bet it would do very well.)
Local News
Temporary Federal Government visa program paves way for Israelis looking to Canada for reprieve from war
By MYRON LOVE Shortly after the Oct. 7th Hamas attack, Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) instituted a temporary immigration measure for Israelis (as well as Palestinians from Gaza and the West Bank) to apply for a temporary reprieve in Canada through applications for work permits. According to Iael Besendorf, Jewish Child and Family Service’s Settlement Services Team Lead, since last October, 70 families have arrived from Israel, comprising 191 individuals.
“While some of these families were already in the process of applying to move to Winnipeg, the conflict in Israel hastened them to leave sooner,” she reports.
She adds that approximately 50 of the families – comprising over 150 adults and children – have come through under the aegis of the temporary work visa program.
Besendorf points out many of the individuals, couples, and families arrived in Winnipeg in great distress, only taking the few belongings they needed to settle here.
“Most left behind family, friends, and jobs in a sudden state of emergency,” she notes.
”During the first few weeks following their arrival, JCFS was there to hear and acknowledge their immediate trauma. We at JCFS continue to provide individual counselling and group supports as needed.”
She further adds that JCFS created – with the financial support of the Jewish Federation of Winnipeg – a special War Response Team to assess and respond to the needs of local community members and new arrivals.
“Mental health and counselling professionals on our team are available to meet with anyone needing services,” she says.
“As an adjunct of this, we at the JCFS Settlement Team are the first to interface with newcomers to our community and are also available to help triage and refer clients in need. These new arrivals receive our typical settlement supports such as: information and orientation about their first steps in Canada, which includes help with practical needs such as housing, daycare, schools for their children, employment resources, and an orientation to all the various Jewish organizations.”
The newly arrived Israelis have also been showing up at our community’s summer camps and Gray Academy of Jewish Education.
“After October 7, we welcomed 17 temporary students who came from Israel to be with friends or family in Winnipeg,” reports Lori Binder, Gray Academy’s Head of School and CEO of the Winnipeg Board of Jewish Education.
“Eight of those students remained at Gray Academy, and 12 more Israeli students have joined us for the 2024-2025 school year.”
She adds that enrolment at the school is over 500 (as compared to 472 last year) – with almost 100 of them brand new to the school. Quite a number of the new students, she points out, are from local families who see the value in a Jewish education.
Ian Baruch, Camp Massad’s Planning and Engagement Director, reports the camp at Sandy Hook welcomed “quite a few” IsraeIi kids this past summer among the 136 campers who were registered.
“About a quarter of our campers and half our staff are Israeli or from families from Russia who came here by way of Israel,” he notes.
The BB Camp office was closed through the first half of September so no comment was available as to the number of Israeli children at the Lake of the Woods camp.
Iael Besendorf further observes that among the challenges the Israeli newcomers are facing here is the length of time that it is taking the Federal Government to issue work permits.
“As a result,” she says, “the adults are unable to work, and many families are feeling this financial pressure.”
She adds that “as the situation in Israel appears to be far from over, we expect more people will seek reprieve outside of Israel. The Federal Government just announced an extension of one more year, to March, 2025, for this temporary visa program. As such, JCFS expects that more will arrive and that we will are likely to see a steady stream of more people over that time.”
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