OTTAWA -- Winnipeg’s mayor says Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister has not been accessible over the course of COVID-19, even as the province grapples with record case numbers.

“I’ve put in numerous requests over the last year that he’s been unwilling to respond to in terms of meeting,” Brian Bowman told CTV News Channel’s Power Play on Friday.

Bowman said that while direct communication with the premier would be helpful, Manitoba’s health minister and other government officials have been available. Manitoba is struggling under a COVID-19 crisis, leading Canada and the U.S. in per capita coronavirus cases.

Both Pallister and Bowman spoke with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau Friday about the situation in Manitoba.

Watch Bowman explain the lack of communication in the video at the top of this article.