Manitoba commissioner dismisses complaint about Tory pamphlet, volunteer comments

WINNIPEG — A Progressive Conservative pamphlet before the 2023 Manitoba election campaign that detailed Premier Wab Kinew’s criminal past, along with related comments made by volunteers, did not violate the province’s Elections Act, elections commissioner Bill Bowles has ruled.

A resident in the Riel constituency in Winnipeg filed a complaint about the focus on Kinew’s past, alleging it violated a section of the law that forbids people from knowingly making false statements about a candidate’s character or conduct. In a report issued this week, however, Bowles ruled there was a basis for the material and comments.

“The complainant in this case, and many others, judging from the complaints I have received, found the statements to be offensive and little more than ‘mudslinging,'” Bowles wrote about the brochure.

“Nonetheless, the statements all appear to be true, or at least supported by articles written in reputable news journals. I have no difficulty in accepting that whoever wrote and whoever distributed this brochure might well have believed the statements to be true.”

Kinew entered provincial politics in 2016 and became leader of the New Democrats the following year, when the party was the official Opposition. His previous involvement with the law as a young man was disclosed in a memoir he had written earlier and through court documents revealed in 2017.

His convictions included refusing a breathalyzer in 2003 and assaulting a taxi driver in 2004. He was also charged with assaulting a girlfriend he lived with during that time, but the charges were stayed and Kinew has consistently denied the accusation.

He received a record suspension, commonly called a pardon, for his convictions several years later and has apologized for his past behaviour.

The Tory brochure did not note the legal troubles stemmed from two decades earlier or mention Kinew’s successful career since then, Bowles wrote, but the brochure did not contravene the ban on false information.

Bowles did not identify who filed the complaint, but said it was not the New Democratic Party or Kinew himself. The complainant also provided a recording of a verbal exchange between their husband and someone who appeared to be a volunteer on the local campaign in the Riel constituency.

During the discussion, the volunteer said Kinew beat up a taxi driver and a “wife” — an apparent reference to Kinew’s former girlfriend.

“There is insufficient evidence in the public domain to justify such an allegation. Mr. Kinew denies it. The charges against him were stayed. But did the volunteers believe it? I expect that they did,” Bowles wrote about the “wife” comment.

“Had the statements been made directly by the PC party, the situation might perhaps be different, but I think it is quite plausible that these volunteers believed what they were saying.”

Under the Elections Act, people who knowingly make false statements of fact about a candidate’s character or conduct for the purpose of influencing the election can face a fine of up to $10,000 and/or up to one year in jail.

Bowles alluded to the fact the NDP won the 2023 election after seven years in Opposition.

“The outcome of the election suggests that a significant plurality of voters decided that these episodes from Mr. Kinew’s youth should not disqualify him from elected office, or even from becoming premier.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 11, 2025.

Steve Lambert, The Canadian Press