Calls for inquiry renewed in Nygard’s ‘training ground’ By: Chris Kitching Posted: 5:40 PM CST Monday, Nov. 13, 2023 Last Modified: 7:49 AM CST Tuesday, Nov. 14, 2023 Updates

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Two women who accused Peter Nygard of rape are renewing calls for a public inquiry into how Manitoba Justice and Winnipeg police handled past complaints of sex crimes against him.

KC Allan and Serena Hickes want an inquiry to further explore, among other things, why charges were not laid in almost all cases reported in Manitoba and whether any systemic changes are necessary.

“Winnipeg was his training ground,” Allan said of Nygard, who is a convicted sex offender after a Toronto jury’s verdict Sunday. “He learned all of his tricks in Winnipeg. I always thought of Winnipeg as my home-free zone. I don’t feel that way anymore. I think you’re more likely to get justice in the U.S. than in Canada.”

Hickes said she wants to meet with recently sworn-in Premier Wab Kinew to read a poem she wrote and request an inquiry.

“It absolutely should happen,” she said of an inquiry. “I would ask publicly that he (Kinew) sit down with me.”

Nygard was found guilty of four counts of sexual assault after a six-week trial. He was acquitted of a fifth count and a charge of forcible confinement.

The disgraced former fashion mogul denied the allegations of five women who said he used his power and status to lure them to a Toronto office, where he had a bedroom suite. Court heard the incidents happened between 1987 and 2006.

Nygard still faces charges in Winnipeg, Quebec and New York.

The NDP government made no commitments Monday, citing the case that is still before the courts in Manitoba.

“Our government will not jeopardize the ongoing independent prosecution in Manitoba,” a spokesperson for the province wrote in an email.

“It takes immense courage to speak out against sexual assault, and our government is committed to working with survivors to provide supports. We will fight gender-based violence for all Manitobans so that everyone can live safely and without fear.”

“He learned all of his tricks in Winnipeg. I always thought of Winnipeg as my home-free zone. I don’t feel that way anymore.”–KC Allan

Calls for an inquiry escalated in Manitoba in 2021 after more women came forward with allegations. The former Progressive Conservative government, citing ongoing criminal proceedings outside Manitoba, did not launch an inquiry.

Liberal Leader Cindy Lamoureux said Monday the NDP government, which was sworn in last month, must find ways to “better support” women who have accused Nygard of sex crimes.

“Actions need to be taken to ensure accountability and the prevention of crimes of this magnitude from going unnoticed again,” she wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Her party, under former leader Dougald Lamont, had joined earlier calls for an inquiry.

Allan and Hickes said there has been a lack of accountability and transparency in Manitoba when it comes to allegations against Nygard.

They were among eight women whose complaints were forwarded to prosecutors for review in 2021 after a Winnipeg Police Service investigation of 15 files. The Manitoba Crown attorney’s office decided not to pursue charges.

Manitoba’s Tory government asked Crown prosecutors in Saskatchewan to review the evidence in 2022 amid pressure from the women and advocates. The review led to Nygard, now 82, being charged in July 2023 with sexual assault and forcible confinement in one of the eight cases.

A woman, then 20, said Nygard raped her at his company’s headquarters after inviting her to Winnipeg for a modelling job in 1993.

Allan said there seems to be “no fight” in Manitoba. She and Hickes questioned why it took so long for Nygard to be charged and put on trial in any jurisdiction, and whether some of the crimes he’s been convicted or accused of could have been prevented had action been taken earlier.

Nygard first faced allegations of sexual offences or harassment in Winnipeg more than 40 years ago.

“Why did the victims have to advocate on their own behalf and why, when we did step forward, were we revictimized?” said Allan, a former Winnipegger who accused Nygard of raping her in 1979, when she was 17.

“I’m really angry at how the Manitoba system works.”

People who groomed women or girls for Nygard should be charged and prosecuted, Hickes said.

“There’s no way on this scale could you do it alone,” she said. “There are still predators out there that have people covering up for them and lying for them.”

Hickes has said she was groomed before Nygard raped her inside one of his Winnipeg stores, where she worked in the early 1990s, when she was in her early 20s.

Allan, who lives in the U.S., said American prosecutors tend to face the media to explain their decisions. She was disappointed that didn’t happen in Manitoba when the Crown first decided not to pursue charges in the eight cases.

“There’s no way on this scale could you do it alone … There are still predators out there that have people covering up for them and lying for them.”–KC Allan

“Their absolute radio silence left eight of us out to dry,” she said.

Toronto-based therapist Shannon Moroney also spoke in support of calls for an inquiry. She is supporting survivors, including most of the five women whose complaints proceeded to trial in Toronto.

Moroney argued the cases in Toronto were similar to those in Winnipeg in terms of overall evidence.

She noted Nygard wielded power and influence in multiple cities. He was a “big fish in a small pond” in Winnipeg, she said.

The impact on the women who were told charges would not be pursued in Manitoba has been devastating, Moroney said.

“It has put people’s lives at risk, and that’s not hyperbole,” she said. “This has made some people suicidal.”

Moroney said there is a lack of funding for ongoing mental health supports for survivors.

— with files from the Canadian Press

chris.kitching@freepress.mb.ca

Chris Kitching
Reporter

Chris Kitching is a general assignment reporter at the Free Press. He began his newspaper career in 2001, with stops in Winnipeg, Toronto and London, England, along the way. After returning to Winnipeg, he joined the Free Press in 2021, and now covers a little bit of everything for the newspaper. Read more about Chris.

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