Kinew won’t reveal what ex-premier says about accusations

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 08/02/2018 (2522 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Manitoba NDP Leader Wab Kinew has talked to former premier Greg Selinger about allegations of sexual harassment against former cabinet minister Stan Struthers, but won’t make public what Selinger told him.

After calling the failure to act on the women’s complaints while the NDP was in government “a failure in leadership” on Thursday, Kinew again Friday refused to say if there is any possibility he may take action against Selinger — up to and including expelling the longtime St. Boniface MLA from caucus.

“Wab has had a preliminary conversation with Mr. Selinger and will continue to seek more information from him and other members of caucus,” press secretary Rorie Mcleod Arnould wrote in an email.

Kinew told reporters Thursday the NDP deserved to lose the 2016 provincial election because it had lost sight of what was right and what the party was supposed to be.

The Opposition leader has not yet named his women-led commission, which will investigate the allegations against Struthers and against the actions and non-actions of the NDP government hierarchy.

“The details of the commission are being decided and discussions will continue in the days ahead,” Mcleod Arnould wrote.

According to the press secretary, Kinew does not have the authority to revoke a party membership, but reiterated he would have thrown Struthers out of caucus if Kinew had been in charge when the allegations arose.

Struthers served in the legislature as the MLA for Dauphin from 1995 to 2016

Kinew would not say if any more women came to him with allegations Friday.

“In order to protect those who have shared their experiences recently, Wab won’t be going into any details about those private conversations,” Mcleod Arnould wrote.

nick.martin@freepress.mb.ca