WINNIPEG — Manitoba’s NDP says a booted backbencher’s ties to the lawyer representing convicted sex offender Peter Nygard was the last straw after a year of disrespectful behaviour.

The caucus turfed Mark Wasyliw on Monday, saying it was because he still works at the law firm where Nygard’s lawyer is a partner.

Law groups have condemned that rationale.

Caucus chair Mike Moyes elaborated on the abrupt removal, saying Wasyliw has demonstrated a pattern of deceit and disrespect to caucus members.

Moyes says Wasyliw was told he must choose between his law practice and caucus and that the legislative member for Fort Garry opted to continue working as a lawyer.

Wasyliw says caucus members have never spoken to him about his behaviour and his decision to continue practising law was brought up once after the NDP took power last fall.

He says he believes he was removed because he has butted heads with Premier Wab Kinew, who he calls a toxic and dysfunctional leader.

Wasyliw says he will continue to sit in the legislature as an Independent and to speak for constituents who feel the NDP has strayed from its traditional values.

Nygard, who founded his fashion empire in Winnipeg, was sentenced earlier this month to 11 years in prison for sexually assaulting four women at his company’s headquarters in Toronto.

The 83-year-old faces other charges in Manitoba, Quebec and the United States.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 18, 2024.

Brittany Hobson, The Canadian Press