Winnipeg mayor pushes for city charter changes after councillor charged again

WINNIPEG – Mayor Scott Gillingham is turning to his council colleagues in Winnipeg to support a push for changes to the city’s charter after a councillor was charged with additional criminal offences this week. 

Gillingham said council should have access to more tools when an elected official faces serious criminal charges or convictions.

“Winnipeggers have a right to expect a high standard from the people they elect to public office,” he said in a statement on Thursday. 

“We also have to respect the presumption of innocence and the democratic choice of voters. Right now, provincial legislation gives council very little ability to balance those two principles when serious circumstances arise.”

Coun. Russ Wyatt has been charged with sexual assault, administering a noxious thing and drug possession stemming from two separate alleged events involving two men. 

Wyatt’s lawyer, Evan Roitenberg, did not respond to an immediate request for comment when the latest charges were announced this week, but at the time of the initial arrest, he said his client is innocent. 

The allegations have not been tested in court. 

Gillingham and other councillors have called on Wyatt to step down, but the 56-year-old has said he has no plans to do that. 

Wyatt arrived late at a community committee meeting Thursday, and when questioned by reporters, he deferred comments to his lawyer. 

Premier Wab Kinew echoed calls from city hall for Wyatt to resign, saying the allegations were “really nasty, very creepy and just disgusting” in an interview with CBC Radio on Thursday. 

In a statement later in the day, Kinew called the allegations serious. 

“I agree he should do right by his constituents and step away from his duties as a city councillor,” the premier said. 

Under the current charter, a councillor automatically forfeits their seat if they have been convicted of certain criminal offences, but it offers few options to respond to serious allegations before a case has been resolved.

Gillingham said politicians should not have unrestricted power to remove another democratically elected representative, but options should be put in place to protect public confidence while also safeguarding due process. 

He is proposing that council formally requests the province undertake a “cross-jurisdictional review” of how other Canadian municipalities and provinces address these situations. 

Part of this would include a look at amending the city charter to modernize the rules governing criminal convictions, create temporary measures while serious criminal charges are before the courts and review eligibility rules for municipal candidates. 

Kinew said his government is open to working with municipalities to consider changes to the charter after October’s elections. 

Gillingham said he will introduce a motion to council in September that could be considered when a new council takes office two months later. 

Wyatt, who is the councillor for the Transcona ward and was first elected in 2002, was removed from the boards and committees he sat on after his initial arrest in March. 

Wyatt has not registered to run in October’s municipal elections nor stated whether he will try to maintain his seat.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 13, 2026.