New Manitoba NDP leader continues to deny past assault allegations

Newly-elected Manitoba NDP leader Wab Kinew hasn’t had much airtime to discuss policy since winning the leadership on Saturday as past allegations of domestic assault continue to haunt the 35-year-old politician.

In an interview with VICE News, Kinew, the first Indigenous leader of a major political party south of the 60th parallel, denied accusations of domestic abuse but owned up to other past mistakes says he’s rehabilitated.

“For many years, I was suffering from addiction. I had to first leave behind drugs and alcohol,” Kinew told VICE News. He added that he had faced relapse which he needed to address, as well as “selfishness and anger and feeling entitled to behave the way I saw fit because of things I had experienced earlier in life.

But one domestic violence activist and current member of the Manitoba NDP says that is not good enough.

“He has not once apologized to his victim. That is the criteria of a changed man to me. He has not owned up to what he has been accused of,” Zita Somakoko said, who has recently been in correspondence with the woman who made the domestic assault accusations.

Those allegations go back to 2003, when Kinew was charged with two counts of domestic assault. The charges were eventually stayed by the court.

Last week, Tara Hart told the Canadian Press that she had been subject to domestic violence from Kinew during their two-year relationship. She said that he threw her across the room and sustained rug burns on her legs and hands.

Kinew told VICE News that he continues to deny the domestic assault allegations, but owns up to a period of “troubled young adulthood.”

“There were a lot of ways I acted out, partying, getting into fights, getting into trouble with the law, being mean to people, stuff like that. The transformation that I’ve gone through from then to now is pretty remarkable.”

“I’m committed to being a good ally, working to help women, and live free from violence, harassment and intimidation,” he said.

“I think our society needs to understand that rehabilitation is possible and I think I’ve walked that path, and shown it in my own experience.”

Somakoko doesn’t buy it. She says she is “done with this party.” She added that Hart, Kinew’s former partner, is now “in seclusion” because of the threats and hate messages being sent to her online.

“Right now, this girl went into seclusion. She doesn’t even want to watch TV, or be on social media,” Somakoko told VICE News.

Those are not the only allegations dogging Kinew. The same day as his victory the governing Manitoba Progressive Conservatives launched an attack website against the NDP leaders with screenshots of past tweets allegedly from Kinew with homophobic and sexist remarks and lyrics. Kinew said he has not looked closely enough at the tweets to verify their accuracy.

The site also contains details of charges for multiple counts of assault and theft, a fine for assaulting a cab driver, and failure to comply with breath sample and court orders.

Kinew has received support and derision from within his own party. Leadership candidates for the federal NDP, Jagmeet Singh and Niki Ashton, have entered the debate. Singh says he “believes survivors,” but also says Kinew has changed. Ashton, whose father ran against Kinew for the leadership, went after Singh for his position, telling the CBC “It’s not enough to have a platform on gender-based violence.”

Senator Murray Sinclair, former head of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission which studied the residential school system and its impacts on Indigenous peoples, called the ongoing media scrutiny of Kinew a “witch hunt” on CBC Radio on Thursday morning.

In Canada, Indigenous women are reportedly three times more likely to be victims of abuse than non-Indigenous women.

Naomi Sayers, an Indigenous feminist writer, said that controversy around Kinew has brought up an important discussion of how the criminal justice system handles violence against women, and what accountability looks like in Indigenous communities.

“It’s not the first time that Indigenous women have heard about it. It’s the first time that other people are listening to their story of violence,” Sayers told Vice News.

“It’s unorthodox because allegations are being made against an Indigenous man who’s well respected in our communities, however, with that being said, we have to remember the system that he’s going into. The system that wasn’t meant to support Indigenous communities in the long run,” she said.

Sayers doesn’t believe the vetting process was adequate for Kinew’s candidacy, but she said public discussion of the story has been problematic as well.

The harassment and threats targeted at Hart is emblematic of what happens when allegations are made against a man in a position of power, Sayers said.

Kinew said he recognizes the need for this sort of debate.

“These are very important conversations and I want to continue to play a role in moving that forward,” he said.

“Right now, it means that I have to greet the personal questions and the personal issues in a very open and honest way, talk about my own experience and continue to show that I realize that there’s something bigger than myself at stake here,” Kinew said. “We need to work really hard together to build a consent culture and to make sure our society is free of violence.”