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Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew is calling on Transcona Coun. Russ Wyatt to step away from his duties at city hall now that the city councillor is facing multiple sexual assault and drug charges.
Kinew also said the province should look at whether municipalities need more tools to temporarily remove members of council accused of crimes — but won’t do so until the conclusion of Winnipeg’s election in October.
“This is just awful, what’s been alleged here,” Kinew told CBC Radio’s Information Radio host Marcy Markusa on Thursday. “These charges are really nasty, very creepy and just disgusting.”
The Winnipeg Police Service announced Tuesday that Wyatt has been charged with sexual assault and administering a noxious substance in relation to an incident alleged to have taken place in 2023.
A man said he met Wyatt on social media and then in person before, he alleges, he was drugged and assaulted.
Wyatt was charged in March with sexual assault and administering a noxious substance in relation to a separate incident involving a different complainant. That incident is alleged to have taken place in 2025.
Wyatt is also charged with psilocybin possession in relation to the 2025 incident.
Evan Roitenberg, his lawyer, said Wyatt is innocent and will contest the charges in court.
Election ‘complicates it’: Kinew
Winnipeg Mayor Scott Gillingham, council Speaker Devi Sharma (Old Kildonan) and several other members of council have called on Wyatt to step away from his duties.
Council can remove a member convicted of a crime but has no mechanism to remove a member of council facing charges.
The mayor, Sharma and other councillors have called on the province to change that.
Kinew said Wyatt should step down.
“This councillor should step away, and the fact this is happening during an election period just complicates it,” Kinew said.
“It would be tough for us to step in during the election period, if that makes sense. But there’s clearly an issue here, and so I think we should look at it this fall and maybe, hopefully, the charter could potentially be changed for the next round of the terms that the councillors and mayors and reeves will be serving.”
WATCH | Premier adds to chorus urging Coun. Russ Wyatt to step down:
Premier adds to chorus urging Coun. Russ Wyatt to step down
Transcona Coun. Russ Wyatt returned to Winnipeg city hall Thursday, despite calls from the mayor and premier to step away from the job while he faces sexual assault and drug charges.
The province would have to ensure the legislative change respects the presumption of innocence, Kinew said.
“It’s an important thing to get right, and that’s why I think it will take time,” the premier said.
“But realistically, many of us around the city, we know Russ Wyatt. So in this specific case, I think that’s why people are saying it’s time to step away.”
Late arrival
Wyatt was 50 minutes late Thursday morning to an East Kildonan-Transcona community committee meeting at city hall.
On his way in, he told reporters he is not stepping away because he is conducting his duties as a councillor.
Several residents in attendance expressed annoyance that the committee meeting, which started without Wyatt, was delayed 30 minutes due to his initial absence.
Christina Pyra, a Transcona resident who took time away from work Thursday to attend a public hearing at the meeting, said a delay of this length would not be acceptable in the corporate world.
Wyatt has not registered to run in this fall’s municipal election. Four candidates are registered in Transcona: Chris Giesbrecht, Nathine Dagdick, Lora Meseman and former councillor Shawn Nason, who represented the ward from 2018 to 2022.
Gillingham said Thursday that he will bring a notice of motion to city council in September to formally ask the province to review how other jurisdictions in Canada handle candidates who are charged with or convicted of criminal offences.
Gillingham would like the province to determine which convictions should automatically disqualify candidates from continuing to hold office and determine what charges, if any, should prevent candidates from running for office.
He also asked the province to create temporary measures so councillors facing charges are removed from sitting on committees or boards, barred from participating in council meetings or placed on administrative leave, depending on the offences.
The province would then have to amend the City of Winnipeg charter to enact these changes.
Gillingham said the appropriate time for council to vote on this motion is after the Oct. 28 election.