Transcona residents weigh in after councillor charged with sex assault

News that their longtime city councillor has again been charged with sexual assault was the talk of Transcona Thursday, where residents described being curious and concerned.

“If you’ve been elected to public office, you should be held to a standard where if there is any question of your character you should no longer be in office,” said Gale Burridge, 60, about the charges against Russ Wyatt.

“You are innocent until proven guilty. However … we should be able to demand more of people who represent us.”

The 56-year-old is accused of drugging and sexually assaulting a man he met on the internet in December. In 2018, he was accused of sexually assaulting a woman, but the Crown stayed those charges the following year without explanation. He has maintained his innocence in both cases.

In 2018, he didn’t run for re-election, but ran again in the 2022 election.

The lack of transparency about how the first case ended leaves many in Transcona to question what happened. The latest allegations have hurt people who gave Wyatt a second chance, Burridge said.

“As a woman, and as a mother who has raised three daughters, I would say it was highly concerning to me,” she said. “There is a mistrust.”

Burridge said she has discussed the accusations against Wyatt with her family and peers. She fears they have cast a pall over the neighbourhood where she has lived for 36 years.

That feeling was shared by Carla Wright, 50, who works at a restaurant on Regent Avenue West, where she said Wyatt is a regular patron.

“It’s sad that our name is being dragged through the mud,” Wright said as she waited to catch a bus Thursday.

“It’s a small-town community. Everybody knows everybody, and so you come to my restaurant and you see people going from table to table talking to all their friends.”

“You are innocent until proven guilty. However … we should be able to demand more of people who represent us.”

“This was the topic of conversation today,” her colleague Rebecca Grymaluk, 38, said.

“He’s a regular customer all the time and we were discussing today what we would even do if he came in.”

Both women said they are upset, but not surprised, by the latest charges.

A group of men shooting pool at the local Legion hall cautioned against rushing to judgment before the charges are settled in court.

“Wait until he’s proven guilty and leave it at that,” said one, twisting a piece of chalk onto the tip of his pool cue.

A woman minding the till at a nearby business said the same.

“He’s being presumed guilty before our justice system has had a chance to do its work and I don’t think that’s OK. It’s almost a lynch mob mentality against this guy,” she said.

That said, the charges against Wyatt have raised questions over how well city council is equipped to deal with allegations against elected officials, she added.

“He’s a regular customer all the time and we were discussing today what we would even do if he came in.”

Multiple councillors, and Mayor Scott Gillingham, have urged Wyatt to step away from office as he awaits his day in court.

Wyatt has collectively spent about 20 years representing the people in the ward across multiple terms in office. He has previously spoken publicly about his battle with alcohol and substance disorders.

“To me, this is a big deal. It gives everyone a black eye. It’s the second time already, and if you’ve got problems don’t take office,” said another man in the store.

tyler.searle@freepress.mb.ca