Winnipeg council reprimands Coun. Russ Wyatt for comments about former CAO

Coun. Russ Wyatt's refusal to apologize for comments made about a former member of Winnipeg's civil service has resulted in a public reprimand.

Winnipeg city council voted 12-2 in favour of censuring the Transcona councillor during Thursday's council meeting at city hall.

Coun. Jason Schreyer (Elmwood and East Kildonan), Coun. Sherri Rollins (Fort Rouge - East Fort Garry) voted against the motion, while Wyatt and Coun. John Orlikow (River Heights - Fort Garry) were absent from the vote.

"I believe that I have done nothing wrong. I simply was doing what is my responsibility to the citizens that I represent … to hold accountable our most senior administration," Wyatt said before debate on the motion began.

The call for Wyatt to apologize arose after an investigative report into his call for the city's former chief administrative officer, Michael Jack, to be fired in August 2023. The comments were made after a multi-million dollar court judgment went against the city.

"We need a change. We need a new CAO and we need to start removing some of some of the deadwood that exists in senior management," Wyatt said at the time.

The report found that Wyatt breached the City of Winnipeg's code of conduct on several points with his comments about Jack and his staff that were "objectively offensive."

Questions about punishment

Several members of council raised questions about the punishment Wyatt should receive, as well as whether he was in the right or the wrong for his comments two summers ago.

Schreyer believes there's a grey area that Wyatt stepped into with his comments, and he asked council whether Wyatt's comments were false.

"At least Russ Wyatt said the CAO should be fired," Schreyer said. "It took some of the heart and soul out of city council.

"I'm glad he said it."

Conversely, Coun. Ross Eadie (Mynarski) put Wyatt on blast.

"What Coun. Wyatt is guilty of in my mind is ... impugn[ing] the motivation of the then-chief administrative officer for appealing a decision that we were presented," Eadie said.

As with Eadie, Coun. Cindy Gilroy (Daniel McIntyre) says Wyatt should apologize to Jack.

"There is still a way to communicate and have disagreements and voice disapproval," Gilroy said. "It's very disturbing to find out that he's had two chances and he's not listening to what our integrity commissioner has said."

She also wonders whether a verbal warning on the public record is enough of a punishment for Wyatt, who was previously on city council from 2002 until 2018 before being elected again in 2022.

Gilroy, who touted the ability to remove someone from a public meeting during her previous time as a trustee with the Winnipeg School Division, finds it "concerning" that the City of Winnipeg doesn't have the same ability.

"We need more than just we're reprimanding. I think the public needs more," she said.

Mayor Scott Gillingham said members of the council can fulfil their calling as elected officials as long as they do so within the parameters of the code of conduct.

"We can do our jobs with diligence and effectively holding the public service to account," he said. "We can do so in a manner that is consistent with the rules of the code of conduct that we've established and we agreed to."