Russ Wyatt, the Winnipeg city councillor facing criminal charges including sexual assault, appeared at a community committee meeting at City Hall Thursday.
Wyatt is the councillor for Winnipeg’s Transcona ward. He joined the East Kildonan-Transcona Community Committee’s special meeting Thursday, appearing in Winnipeg’s Council Chambers after the meeting reconvened, shortly before 11 a.m.
The 56-year-old is facing charges in relation to two incidents — one from October 2023 and another based on allegations from last December. He was removed from several committees following his initial charges in April, but a civic bylaw allows him to remain on this committee as he must represent his ward.
“I’m here for a public hearing,” Wyatt told reporters as he arrived, responding to why he was at City Hall. He deferred questions related to the recent charges to his lawyer.
Global News reached out to Wyatt’s defence lawyer for an interview. The request was denied.
Noting the charges Wyatt is facing, she said, “That’s ultimately Coun. Wyatt’s decision.”
Under the City of Winnipeg Charter, councillors charged with crimes are not automatically removed from the regular council or committees. It says they can only be forcibly removed from council after conviction.
“The allegations against Councillor Wyatt are serious, and I agree he should do right by his constituents and step away from his duties as a city councillor,” Kinew’s statement read.
In a news release Thursday, the office of Winnipeg Mayor Scott Gillingham said he will ask the city council to start the process of altering the charter, allowing it to use “better tools to respond when an elected official faces serious criminal charges or convictions.”
He intends on bringing this motion to Winnipeg City Council in September, Gillingham said, speaking with reporters in an unrelated news conference Thursday. The mayor pointed to other, non-governmental workplaces that place people charged with serious crimes on administrative leave.
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Modernizing Winnipeg’s charter will provide council with the option to manage cases like Wyatt’s and aid in public trust of the city government.
“This is a matter, really, that should be dealt with in earnest after the municipal election and the next term of council,” Gillingham added, describing Wyatt’s charges as “concerning” and “distracting.”
“The serious nature of these charges makes for, really, a distracted atmosphere in many cases here at council right now.”
Gillingham noted that Wyatt is innocent until proven guilty.
“There’s got to be a balance, and the city council members and the mayor need to have the tools to deal with matters in this severity that we should be dealing with them in,” he added.
The exact tools the mayor’s revisions seek will be determined after a review of the charter, he said.
The release from Gillingham’s office said he decided to request the change after several councillors showed concern about the charter’s limitations. If approved by Winnipeg city council, the city will formally request the province review the charter.
The province is “open to working with municipalities to consider changes to the charter,” the premier said in the email statement.
Wyatt has not yet registered to re-run for the upcoming municipal election. When asked why he has not done so yet by reporters, he said it was “because I haven’t registered to run for the campaign yet.”
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The city councillor was arrested and charged with sexual assault and administering a noxious thing with intent to endanger life or cause bodily harm Monday.
Winnipeg police said it was related to a historic sexual assault that occurred in October 2023 and involved a man he met in July of that year. The victim alleged that they were sexually assaulted at a home in the southwest area of the city after being provided an illicit drug, according to the police news release from Tuesday.
He was also arrested earlier this year, on March 24, according to the Winnipeg Police Service (WPS).
At that time, he was charged with sexual assault and administering a noxious thing with intent to aggrieve or annoy. Those charges were laid in relation to a December 2025 incident at a home on the east side of the city, police said.
He was later charged with possession of a scheduled substance in early April.
Officers seized psilocybin, commonly known as magic mushrooms, after police executed a search warrant at a home in eastern Winnipeg. Approximately seven grams, with an estimated street value of $240, were confiscated, WPS said.
None of the recent allegations against Wyatt have been proven in court.
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