Motkaluk rails against 'woke mob,' repeats pledge to fire 3 city appointees to The Forks board

Winnipeg mayoral candidate Jenny Motkaluk spoke in front of a crowd that included anti-vaccine mandate activists when she reiterated her desire for The Forks to change the name of its Canada Day celebrations.

Motkaluk spoke about "the woke mob" who she said tried to "intimidate" her after she criticized the decision of The Forks to change its Canada Day event earlier this summer.

"No one should tell you that you should be ashamed of our city. And when I'm mayor of Winnipeg no one is going to tell me or my neighbours that we should be ashamed of our country or who we are," Motkaluk said Monday.

People in the crowd waved Canadian flags and signs reading "Mandate Freedom" alongside "Vote Jenny Motkaluk for Mayor."

The crowd included a number of people who have spoken against measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19, such as Sharon Vickner, who was recently fined thousands of dollars for repeatedly violating public health restrictions.

When reporters pointed this out, Motkaluk said she "wouldn't know anything about that."

"I know that there are people here who believe in Canada and who are horrified that the Forks chose to cancel it and who share my values," she said.

Throughout the news conference, Motkaluk took aim at a wide range of perceived opponents, including the media, the "ivory tower," "poli-sci pundits," "leaders of public sector unions," and "limousine liberals."

"In Canada, we already do not discriminate on the basis of sex, race, ethnicity, age or religion," she said.

"I reject woke culture. I reject critical race theory and the attempt to disrupt our community with fake news, fake labels, and collective guilt for our imperfect past."

At a mayoral forum last week, Motkaluk was booed by members of the audience after she stood up and told the crowd that she was done wearing masks and social distancing. The event was held at the University of Manitoba, which has a mask requirement, but Motkaluk was the only candidate who refused to wear one.

Earlier this summer, Motkaluk criticized the decision of The Forks to rename its Canada Day event as "A New Day," which included a range of cross-cultural programming, including traditional Indigenous drumming, powwow dancing, craft stationsand musical and theatre performances.

The organization said in the past that it hadnot cancelledCanada Day celebrations, but had"reimagined" July 1 celebrations following months-long Indigenous-led roundtable discussions with a variety of community members, after the discoveries of potential unmarked graves associated with residential school sites across Canada.

"If we fail to show that pride every July 1st, then the Canada that we know and love will actually cease to exist," Motkaluk said at the rally on Monday.

She repeated her pledge to replace three city-appointed members of The Forks board of directors.

"They caved into the woke mob and they will be fired," she said.

"I will replace them with people who share our values, who share our pride in this country and who insist that Canada Day be celebrated right here at The Forks every July the first."

Before the news conference started, officials with The Forks informed Motkaluk that she did not have permission to hold the event on the property, but she went ahead with it anyway.

Jenny Motkaluk protests changes to Canada Day celebrations at The Forks

2 years ago

Duration 1:53

Winnipeg mayoral candidate Jenny Motkaluk spoke in front of a crowd that included anti-vaccine mandate activists when she reiterated her desire for The Forks to change the name of its Canada Day celebrations.

The Forks vice-president of strategic initiatives released a statement to CBC News.

"This group did not have a space booking with us, so security approached to question the group, as they do with all unscheduled events," she wrote.

"In order to be transparent and equitable to all, we do not take bookings for any campaign announcements from any candidates, regardless of level of government or candidate."

Adelakun makes promises on business

Meanwhile on Monday, mayoral candidate Idris Adelakun released a plan he says will attract investment to Winnipeg.

Part of his plan includes merging the business tax with the commercial property tax.

"But you still need to work with the province. There are some things you can do on your own, but when we sit down and figure out what are the barriers, why are we not getting more investors into our city?" he said.

Adelakun also wants the city to work with the federal and provincial governments to complete the construction of CentrePort South, and encourage tax increment financing to support downtown projects such as affordable housing and infill.