A city councillor has been formally reprimanded after refusing to apologize for comments he made about the city’s former chief administrative officer.
City council voted to reprimand Coun. Russ Wyatt on Thursday after he declined to apologize for remarks he made about Michael Jack in 2023, which an integrity commissioner found amounted to harassment.
“I believe that I have done nothing wrong. I simply was doing what is my responsibility to the citizens I represent,” Wyatt said before the council decision.
MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS FILES
Coun. Russ Wyatt (Transcona) refused to apologize for comments he made about the city’s former chief administrative officer in 2023. Only two council members voted against reprimanding him Thursday, with one saying Wyatt should be suspended.
The Transcona councillor made the remarks that triggered the finding after a judge ruled two city officials deliberately stalled the Fulton Grove housing development on the former Parker Lands and ordered the city to pay $5 million in damages.
Wyatt criticized Jack at the time for not firing a staff member named in the judgment and suggested Jack be replaced.
City of Edmonton ethics commissioner Jamie Pytel wrote in a report that Wyatt’s comments were “offensive, disrespectful, threatening and amount to harassment.”
Pytel recommended city council call on Wyatt to publicly apologize and reprimand him if he didn’t.
Wyatt suggested Thursday that punishing him for his comments would put the ability of councillors to hold city staff accountable at risk.
“The code of conduct is being weaponized, in my opinion, used politically against members of council, which was not its intent,” he said.
Wyatt declined questions from council members, noting he has secured legal counsel on the issue.
Council ultimately voted to formally reprimand Wyatt.
Coun. Sherri Rollins (Fort Rouge-East Fort Garry) and Coun. Jason Schreyer (Elmwood-East Kildonan) voted against the reprimand.
Rollins called for additional penalties of mandatory training and a suspension from one council meeting. Schreyer argued it is “the prerogative of any member of this council” to make a motion to fire the CAO and that comments on the matter can be shared publicly.
Wyatt and Coun. John Orlikow (River Heights-Fort Garry) were absent from the vote.
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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.
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