Mayor believes Wab Kinew’s apologies are sincere

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 19/09/2017 (2654 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Winnipeg Mayor Brian Bowman waded into the Wab Kinew controversy Wednesday when he told reporters he believes the newly minted NDP leader is sincere in his efforts to apologize for his troubled and violent past.

During a question-and-answer session with reporters following the weekly executive policy committee meeting at city hall, Bowman said he wouldn’t comment on the new allegations that Kinew’s public admissions don’t match up with court records of his misdeeds, but said he supports Kinew.

“I won’t speak to the allegations made in the last week directly, but the Wab Kinew I have known… is somebody who I believe is sincere in his regret of some of his actions in the past and I believe he’s trying to make amends for that,” Bowman said.

Although from different political backgrounds, Bowman and Kinew have a history together: Bowman picked Kinew in June 2015 to chair the then-new advisory body on Indigenous issues, the Mayor’s Indigenous advisory circle.

At the June 2015 news conference, Bowman said he and Kinew, who was at that time still a broadcaster and university administrator, had spent the previous several months working together to invite the other individuals to join the advisory circle.

 

“Redemption is possible, and when someone offers what I view is a sincere apology, then I wish him and anybody in that position all the very best,” Bowman said. “I wish him well in his role as Leader of the Opposition and I wish him well in the personal journey that he continues on and tries to make amends.”

aldo.santin@freepress.mb.ca