Motion to oust Russ Wyatt from five committees, boards clears hurdle

Coun. Russ Wyatt attended Thursday’s city council meeting one day after being charged with sexual assault. Jeff Keele reports.

Embattled Winnipeg city councillor Russ Wyatt could be kicked off five committees and boards at city hall.

A motion to remove Wyatt from the property and development committee, as well as other smaller committees and boards, passed at the city’s executive policy committee on Tuesday.

The motion was brought forward by Mayor Scott Gillingham, which still requires council approval.

Council does not have the authority to remove Wyatt from its ranks or a community committee.

This comes after Wyatt was charged with sexual assault last month. Police allege he went to the home of a man he had met on social media, gave him an illicit drug and assaulted him.

The allegations have not been tested in court.

Wyatt is presumed innocent and has said he is innocent.

After the charges became public, Gillingham and other city councillors called for Wyatt to step away from city hall while he deals with the matter – calls which he ignored.

In a statement, Wyatt once again reiterated his innocence.

“I have done nothing wrong, and I will have my day in court to prove that,” Wyatt wrote. “And unlike the mayor and obviously members of EPC, I still believe in the rule of law, that one is presumed innocent, until proven otherwise.”

Wyatt also claimed the decision to remove him from committees was coming.

“Because I always stood up to the bullies at city hall, both elected and unelected, I have a feeling they were going to do something like this anyways for some time, but now they have an excuse,” he claimed.