Government house leader calls MLA Wayne Ewasko ‘disgusting’

Manitoba’s government house leader has called Lac du Bonnet MLA Wayne Ewasko “disgusting” after he allegedly directed a comment she defined as racist, towards the premier, despite his denial that he even made the comment in the first place.

The incident happened on April 15 when the House was in session during question period. In an online video of the session, Opposition Leader Obby Khan was asking Premier Wab Kinew if he will permanently cut the provincial gas tax. While the premier was answering Khan’s question, a gasp could be heard from Government House Leader and Minister of Families Nahanni Fontaine who shouted, “What did you say?” followed by a couple of “You’re disgusting!” comments. Another woman can be heard saying, “He says that every day.”

After the speaker of the House called for order, Kinew’s reaction was to calm his party members. “Alright. We’re ok. We’re ok,” Kinew could be heard saying before he finished answering Khan.

Initially, Fontaine said because of where she sits and the “echoey” nature of the chamber, she only heard Ewasko directing a comment about quitting drinking towards the premier. Later on, she was told by a colleague of hers, who sits right in front of Ewasko, as him having said, “Wab, you’re drunk. I thought you quit drinking.”

Kinew has been very open and public about his former struggles with alcohol addiction once telling the CBC that he was not proud of the drunken episodes in his life, which led him to behave in ways that weren’t healthy for himself or those around him.

“When the alcohol stopped, so did the fights. Violence, racism, and sexism are unacceptable. I’ve apologized unequivocally, and I do so again: to anyone I harmed, I am sorry.”

After the House session, Fontaine posted on her Instagram her reaction to Ewasko’s alleged comments.

“I can’t express how disappointing and how hurtful and how harmful and how dangerous that language is to be thrown out so loosely towards an Indigenous man. Towards an Indigenous man who works hard every single day for the province, for all Manitobans. For an Indigenous man who works hard every single day for his family, who works hard to be a role model for Indigenous youth, for all Manitoba youth. Who works incredibly hard at walking a good life.”

Part of Fontaine’s duties as government house leader is to ensure the protection of her caucus.

“It upset me as an Indigenous woman. It upset me as a minister of the Crown, and it upset me as a government house leader because it’s not only just about the premier. It is about how you view Indigenous peoples and the community in its totality,” she said.

Fontaine added in her Instagram post that the PCs “espouse anti-Black, anti-Indigenous racism, transphobia, misogyny” and are “a bunch of bigots.”

“If you don’t want to be called a racist, if you don’t want to be called a bigot, if you don’t want to be called a transphobe, if you don’t want to be called misogynist, try not being one,” she said in her post.

In speaking with The Carillon, Fontaine felt Ewasko’s alleged comment was promoting the negative stereotype of the drunken Indigenous man.

“One, it’s utterly disgusting, it’s incredibly disrespectful, and it’s patronizing towards an Indigenous man because Wayne hasn’t said that to any White man in the chamber, right? He’s only said that to the premier. But also, why I find it particularly egregious is that if you’re going to say that to the premier, I mean what are you saying in your private life about Indigenous peoples, right?”

Fontaine claims this is the second time Ewasko has thrown a “colonial racialized narrative” comment towards Kinew. When the premier was the Opposition Leader a few years ago, she alleges that Ewasko said something to the effect of Kinew not being Adam Beach, an Indigenous Canadian actor.

“And what (Ewasko) was trying to do was he was trying to insinuate that – and it’s this racialized narrative, this colonial racialized narrative – that there are some good Indians and then there are bad Indians and that’s what he was trying to kind of allude to. So, to hear him say that to the premier years later, you would have thought that he would have learned something that first time, but obviously clearly he didn’t.”

Fontaine noted that in an era of reconciliation, the vast majority of people understand that Indigenous people have trauma for a myriad of reasons, such as residential schools. As a result, for Ewasko to “demoralize and lean into racist and biased tropes about Indigenous men when they are struggling to survive and have a good life” is unacceptable.

“You would think in 2026, somebody who has been elected for a long time, who incidentally at one point in his career was the MLA for my reserve of Sagkeeng (Anishnaabe First Nation), you would think that he would know better in 2026, but clearly he doesn’t.”

According to a spokesperson for Ewasko, the MLA denies ever having made the comment to Kinew. Ewasko declined to speak with The Carillon about the matter as the incident is under review by the speaker of the house, who will give his ruling sometime within the next couple of weeks.

“What the PCs don’t understand is that there’s audio everywhere (in the House). I’m positive that he’ll be shown to have said that,” said Fontaine, who believes Ewasko needs training and healing.

“Go for training, for God’s sakes….Go for anti-Indigenous racism training. Go do some healing. He needs some healing to have that much hate in your heart. And the irony of it is that we start every session with the Lord’s Prayer. I’m agnostic, I don’t participate but he does. He crosses himself and he says Amen. Go do some healing.”

Fontaine said being a member of the legislature is a privilege and honour and “if you espouse anti-Indigenous racism, I would submit you don’t have a right to be here.”

“And so, my hope is that there’s somebody that’s wiling to run against him and challenge him and win and kick them out of office.”