Manitoba cabinet minister reminds Winnipeg voters that declared mayoral candidate worked for Peter Nygard
A Manitoba cabinet minister is criticizing Winnipeg mayoral candidate Kevin Klein for his past employment with the late disgraced fashion mogul Peter Nygard. Klein maintains he was unaware of Nygard's criminal activities during his brief tenure.
Why it matters
This highlights the role of past professional associations in local political campaigns and the ongoing public scrutiny of Nygard's former associates.
Fontaine, who has served as families minister since the NDP was elected in 2023, posted a 55-second video on Facebook about Klein, a former city councillor and cabinet minister in the previous Progressive Conservative government.
"Kevin Klein once worked for Peter Nygard. Peter Nygard is Canada's equivalent to Jeffrey Epstein: had his own little island, did unspeakable, disgusting things to women," Fontaine said in the video, posted Tuesday.
"I just thought that Winnipeggers would want to know that Kevin Klein at one point worked for Peter Nygard."
The caption for Fontaine's video reads, "I mean really, who chooses to work for Count Dracula?" followed by a vampire emoji.
Klein, who finished third in Winnipeg's mayoral race in 2022, declared his candidacy for the 2026 election on Monday.
Keith Poulson, Klein's campaign manager, said his candidate plans to register his campaign on Thursday and will respond to Fontaine then.
Get smarter about the news
Sign up free for a feed built around what you actually care about, Dive Deeper research on any story, and the full text of every article.
Create free accountAlready have an account? Sign in