Transcona councillor refuses to apologize after report finds he made offensive comments about CAO

A Winnipeg city councillorsays he will not publicly apologize for his behaviour towarda former civil servant, after an integrity commissioner's investigation found he breached the city's code of conduct with offensive comments about the city'sformer CAO.

An investigative report byJamie Pytel of Edmonton-based Kingsgate Legal, who is the City of Edmonton's integrity commissioner, foundCoun. Russ Wyatt (Transcona)breached the City of Winnipeg's code of conduct on several points with his comments about thenchief administrative officerMichael Jack and his staff that were "objectively offensive."

But Wyatt, who was previously on city council from2002 until 2018 before beingelected again in 2022, says he is "very disappointed" by the report's findings andhas no intention of apologizing.

"I am not going to apologize. No way. I did nothing wrong," he told CBC News on Thursday. "I basically spoke to the public about the fact that we need to have better accountability and transparency at city hall."

Jack, who resigned fromhis city post in June and was named the provincial deputy minister ofbusiness, mining, trade and job creation on Thursday, made a formal complaint against Wyattin August 2023.

Because Winnipeg's integrity commissioner had a conflict of interest, the complaint was referred to Edmonton's Pytel, her report says.

Jack alleged he was "publicly harassed through the publication of an interview given by [Wyatt] to the Winnipeg media," the report states.

Wyatt called for Jack's firing in an August 2023CBC article, after amultimillion-dollar court judgment that went against the city.

"We need a change. We need a new CAO and we need to start removing some of some of the dead wood that exists in senior management," Wyatt said at the time.

Pytel's report, which was obtained by CBC, acknowledged that Wyatt was entitled to hold his opinions, but said his statements in the article breached the city's code of conduct.

The comments "personally attacked" Jack and "threatened his employment," the report says, and were "offensive, disrespectful, threateningand amount to harassment."

Pytel also wrote that the reference to "dead wood" was "disrespectful, objectively offensive" and "questioned [Jack's] professional capacities."

Wyatt refutes the report's findings, and saysthere's a different standard for elected officials as compared to senior administration.

"At no point was there any harassment or coercion on my part," he said.

"It's not an issue of not eating crow. I have eaten crow in the past and I'm sure I will in the future," Wyatt said, but he maintains he did nothingwrong in this case.

"I stood up for what I believe the public expects of our elected officials," he said.

"If I apologize, that basically means that every councillor today andin the future is going to have to look over their shoulder wondering, 'Can I say this? Can I say that?'"

The report says it's up to council to decide what sanctions, if any, will be imposed on Wyatt for breaching the code of conduct, but recommends he publicly apologize prior to the next scheduled council meeting.

If he fails to do so, Wyatt would be publicly reprimanded, the report says.

CBCcontacted Jack but he declined to comment.