Five candidates are vying for the city councillor job in Winnipeg’s Transcona ward, but the legal troubles of one of the candidates is already garnering a lot of attention. Despite serious criminal charges hanging over him, Coun. Russ Wyatt (Transcona) is running for re-election. “I took the summer to reflect upon it and to think long and hard about it, you know, with family and everything else, close friends, and I know I’ve done nothing wrong, and I know I’m going to be okay,” Wyatt said. The incumbent councillor is facing sexual assault charges related to two alleged incidents in 2023 and 2025. Wyatt has maintained his innocence. The long-time councillor says he is in the race to fight the powers at city hall, which he says he has done for more than two decades. “They don’t like that, they would love for me to be gone, they would love to have a council of yes men and yes women,” Wyatt said. Some do want him gone while he deals with his legal troubles. Councillors Cindy Gilroy (Daniel McIntyre) and Evan Duncan (Charleswood-Tuxedo-Westwood) spoke out with labour leaders at city hall Tuesday. “I really wish that this councillor would step aside,” Gilroy said. “The people of Transcona are good people and they deserve better,” Duncan said. It appears those calls are not stopping Wyatt. “What gives them a right to tell the people of Transcona how to vote,” Wyatt said. But others agree with the councillors, including one of the other Transcona candidates. Lora Meseman says Wyatt should not be running. “It’s a distraction and people deserve more in Transcona,” Meseman said. Meseman is the executive director of the general council of Winnipeg Community Centres. “I work closely with the city, and I feel strongly that this is the next step,” Meseman said. Shawn Nason was the Transcona councillor from 2018 to 2022. He wants his old job back and says voters will decide if Wyatt’s candidacy is legitimate. Nason calls the situation a black mark on the community. “We’ve had a real lack of representation and communication, something I prided myself on in the four years that I was council,” Nason said. Also in the running, Chris Giesbrecht, who says Wyatt is innocent until proven guilty. Giesbrecht is an assistant to the area’s Conservative MP Colin Reynolds. “It does give you an insight into how these things operate behind the scenes, how deals get done and how you get progress in government,” Giesbrecht said. Nathine Dagdick, a water operator with the city, says Wyatt is entitled to run but hopes his legal troubles are not a distraction for Transcona. “People are being ignored, people are not being heard, we’re spending taxpaying dollars recklessly, and our services keep going down,” Dagdick said.
