Winnipeg will not stay silent’: activists, union groups plan Nygard protest

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This article was published 17/08/2020 (1592 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A group of activists and labour organizers have announced plans to hold a protest outside the Nygard company’s former Winnipeg headquarters.

Organizers announced the protest on social media on Aug. 17, calling the event “Times Up Nygard.” It will be held at the former Nygard property on Notre Dame Avenue, which has been sold as part of a court-ordered receivership, at 4 p.m. on Aug. 26.

“It is time that Winnipeg comes together to stand up against Peter Nygard’s legacy of sexual violence and to stand in solidarity with all those affected in Winnipeg and around the world,” organizers posted to social media.

“Winnipeg will not stay silent.”

According to the post, the protest is being organized by the “United Against Nygard Organizing Committee,” and is being supported by various labour groups, including Canadian Union of Public Employees local 2348 and the Workers United Canada Council.

The event is also being supported by Women’s March Winnipeg and Winnipeg Youth United, organizers said.

Former fashion mogul Peter Nygard, 79, is the subject of two lawsuits related to his alleged sexual abuse. The accusations have not been proven in court.

Speaking through his attorneys, Nygard has repeatedly maintained his innocence, claiming he’s at the centre of an elaborate conspiracy orchestrated by people with a personal vendetta against him who are seeking to ruin his business and reputation.

On Feb. 13, 10 women filed a class-action lawsuit against Nygard in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. The women claim they were drugged, raped and sodomized by Nygard.

Since then, 47 other women have added their names to the class-action lawsuit, raising the total number of accusers to 57. The accusations span at least four decades, three continents and five countries.

On Aug. 16, two of Nygard’s sons — identified only as “John Doe No. 1” and “John Doe No. 2” — filed a lawsuit in U.S. court claiming their father paid a “known sex worker” to rape them when they were teenagers. They were 14 and 15 years old, respectively, at the time of the alleged offences.

In a recent interview with the Free Press, Jay Prober, one of Nygard’s attorneys, said his client was shocked by the latest lawsuit, and categorically denies the allegations.

Ryan Thorpe
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