Legislature hears calls for Nygard investigation inquiry

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This article was published 27/11/2022 (661 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A decision by Manitoba Crown attorney’s office not to pursue charges against disgraced fashion designer Peter Nygard demands an independent inquiry and a new investigation into alleged sexual assaults, victims and advocates said Monday.

“There’s been a fundamental failure in Manitoba,” said KC Allan, a former Winnipegger who accused Nygard of violently raping her in 1979, when she was 17.

Allan’s complaint was one of eight cases investigated by the Winnipeg Police Service and forwarded to prosecutors to review in 2021, following an 11-month investigation.

However, the alleged victims learned last fall the Crown attorney’s office would not to pursue charges against Nygard in any of the complaints.

In Toronto, meanwhile, Nygard is awaiting trial after being charged six counts of sexual assault and three counts of forcible confinement, alleged to have occurred between October 1987 and March 2006.

Nygard, 81, has denied the allegations.

“I just cannot imagine a situation in which one of us — it doesn’t need to be me — why one of us can’t see our charges adjudicated,” Allan said. “Until that happens, we’re all left publicly looking, at the least foolish, and at the worst like liars.”

Allan spoke to reporters during a news event organized by the Manitoba Liberal Party, which also included at least three other women who have accused Nygard of assault.

Earlier Monday, the Manitoba Law Society reprimanded Winnipeg lawyer Jay Prober for comments he made in the media, alleging women accusing Nygard of sex crimes were lying. Allan, 59, filed the complaint with the law society, following remarks made to media between February and March 2020.

Toronto-based therapist and social worker Shannon Moroney, who has worked with Nygard complainants for the past two years, and Kai Bickle, estranged son of Peter Nygard, also spoke in support of calls for an inquiry.

Moroney argued those who will have their cases heard in Toronto next year are similar to those in Winnipeg when it comes to demographics, their reports of assault and available evidence.

An inquiry into the handling of complaints brought forward in Winnipeg to police and Manitoba justice officials would explain why there was a difference between the two jurisdictions, she said.

“Peter Nygard was an open secret in Winnipeg,” Moroney said. “An inquiry, a deep dive inquiry that has public oversight, is going to reveal exactly why. I do think that we’re going to find the types of answers that we might find, say in the Bahamas — a lot of corruption, a lot of payoffs.”

Moroney and Allan also called for the Winnipeg Police Service investigation to be reopened, with a new team of a new team of investigators and attorneys.

Liberal Leader Dougald Lamont raised the matter in question period Monday.

“On behalf of more than 40 Nygard survivors who are watching these proceedings, I ask: will the PC government call a public inquiry into the Winnipeg Police Service and Manitoba Justice for their handling of the Nygard investigations and prosecutions?” the St. Boniface MLA said.

Deputy premier Cliff Cullen said the Progressive Conservative government will not interfere with a “process underway in respect of this particular situation.”

“We will allow that process to unfold,” Cullen said, without specifying the process to which he was referring.

On Monday, Justice Minister Kelvin Goertzen was in Brandon and was not immediately available for comment.

danielle.dasilva@freepress.mb.ca