Council to vote on removing Wyatt from civic committees while he faces sex assault charge

Winnipeg city council will vote on removing Coun. Russ Wyatt from most of the civic committees he participates in, in the wake of a sexual assault charge.

The Transcona councillor has declared his innocence and vowed to continue doing his job, despite calls from Mayor Scott Gillingham and others to step away to deal with the charges.

Wyatt was arrested and charged in March with sexual assault and administering a noxious substance. It’s alleged that during a gathering in December in the east area of the city, the victim was sexually assaulted after being given an illicit drug.

The executive policy committee voted at city hall Tuesday to recommend that council rescind Wyatt’s membership on the property and development committee, the Winnipeg Food Council, Transcona Museum Board, Winnipeg Housing Rehabilitation Corp., and Winnipeg Public Library Board.

Wyatt will remain a member of city council and of the East Kildonan-Transcona community committee. A bylaw requires community committees to include the councillors that represent wards in a specific region of the city.

The City of Winnipeg charter allows city councillors to work while they’re the subject of criminal proceedings.

Council will vote on April 30.

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Joyanne Pursaga
Reporter

Joyanne is city hall reporter for the Winnipeg Free Press. A reporter since 2004, she began covering politics exclusively in 2012, writing on city hall and the Manitoba Legislature for the Winnipeg Sun before joining the Free Press in early 2020. Read more about Joyanne.

Every piece of reporting Joyanne produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.