Motkaluk’s brother appears to donate to competitor

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This article was published 04/10/2022 (1154 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The brother of a mayoral contender appears to have donated to another candidate’s campaign.

In the goal of transparency, Scott Gillingham opted to share a list of individuals who gave $250 or more to support his mayoral run. The list includes the name John Motkaluk, which is also the name of mayoral candidate Jenny Motkaluk’s brother. John Motkaluk is a vice president of a Winnipeg construction firm.

When reached by phone, Jenny Motkaluk said little about the specific donation.

“My thoughts are that people in Winnipeg are free to contribute, listen to, support mayoral candidates because we have an election going on. It’s our responsibility as voters to get engaged,” she said.

The candidate has previously noted her siblings are helping with her campaign. On Tuesday, she said her brother John supports her mayoral bid.

“My family and I are very close… and we always have been and we always will be,” she said.

Motkaluk declined to reveal any of her donors at this point, stating she won’t release that information until she files her final election documents. She will meet all deadlines to do so, she said.

Gillingham also declined to comment on individual donors, stressing he appreciates all campaign contributions.

“I’m grateful for all the donors,” he said.

Gillingham did note some campaign donors don’t limit their support to just one candidate in a council race.

“I think you’ll find sometimes, I’ve seen it in the past, where you’ll see people donate to several campaigns or a few campaigns. That’s not an uncommon thing in the history of elections,” he said.

John Motkaluk could not be reached for comment.