WINNIPEG — The speaker of the Manitoba legislature has tossed a Tory Opposition member from the legislature, and has warned that other politicians could follow.
Speaker Tom Lindsey ordered Wayne Ewasko to leave the chamber for the day over comments Ewasko made last month while heckling Premier Wab Kinew.
Ewasko had suggested Kinew, who doesn’t drink alcohol, was drinking.
Lindsey ordered Ewasko to apologize unequivocally, and did not accept it when Ewasko apologized if Kinew took offence to the comments.
Kinew, who is First Nation, says the comments were racist.
The Speaker has tried to clamp down on heckling and issued a new warning that he is now more likely to eject people for the day if they disregard his rulings.
He also revealed a list of words that will now be deemed unparliamentary — racist, homophobe, bigot, misogynist and transphobe.
The last politician ejected from the Manitoba legislature was New Democrat Nahanni Fontaine in 2021, who refused a previous Speaker’s order to withdraw the word “crap” from an accusation she made against the Tories.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 4, 2026.
Steve Lambert, The Canadian Press
