Cloud of criminal charges hangs over Winnipeg's Transcona ward race

A cloud hangs over the campaign for the Transcona seat on Winnipeg council. The incumbent, Russ Wyatt, is running for re-election while charged with sexual assaulting two men in separate incidents from 2023 and 2025. Candidates hoping to unseat him say the controversy is a distraction. I think it's unfortunate that he decided to do that. Unfortunate, disrespectful frankly. It certainly casts a shadow, a negative shadow as far as some of the proceedings that are in front of the individual. Wyatt denies the charges, saying he will defend himself in court. He declined interview requests from CBC News, but in a written statement he says, I have been through many storms in my life, and I will get through this latest storm. But I am the only candidate that has a clear and strong record of standing up to power and corruption and, if re-elected, shall continue to do so. Sean Nason is running to reclaim the seat he lost to Wyatt in 2022. He served one term as Transcona Councillor after winning in 2018, a year when Wyatt chose not to run following a previous sexual assault charge, which was later dropped. Having served as City Councillor from 2018 to 2022 was a very fulfilling project in my life, and I look forward to trying to do that again. Laura Maisman is currently the Executive Director of the General Council of Winnipeg Community Centres. She wants to see the city invest more in recreation. A lot of individuals do not know that community centres, those 63 community centres, are operated by volunteers. And there is a shortage of volunteers, so we need to be investing so that we can support staffing. Chris Geesbrecht first dipped his feet into the political waters working for Conservative Elmwood Transcona MP Colin Reynolds. Because I was in that role, I've gotten the top-down view of what's going on in Transcona at each level of government. and there's actually very good working relationships between each level of government. Nathan Dagdik has worked for the City of Winnipeg for 10 years, currently as an operator in the Water and Waste Department. I've seen from the ground up what the problems are. I know the difference between a permanent fix versus a political patch and I want to make sure that we're starting to respect tax-paying dollars. Nason, Maisman, Geesbrecht and Dagdik are all running against a candidate whose name has a long history in the ward. Wyatt was first elected in 2002. If Wyatt wins this election, he still faces a possible trial on sexual assault charges. If convicted, he would be forced to step down, which means voters in Transcona would have to head back to the polls. Cameron McLean, CBC News, Winnipeg.