Sask. prosecutors will review Manitoba's decision not to charge Peter Nygard

Crown prosecutors from Saskatchewan are now reviewing the Winnipeg Police Service's investigation into sexual abuse allegations against Peter Nygard, after Manitoba's prosecution service decided last year against charging the disgraced fashion retailer. 

Earlier this month, Justice Minister Kelvin Goertzen said the provincial government was taking a second look at the decision by Manitoba prosecutors not to lay charges against Nygard, and would ask out-of-province Crown attorneys to review the evidence.

In an email to CBC on Friday, the justice minister's press secretary wrote that Saskatchewan's prosecution service has "been asked to provide an independent opinion in the Nygard matter."

No timeline was given for the review, except to say it will be completed as soon as reasonably possible.

Nygard, the former head of a multimillion-dollar clothing company, has been in custody since December 2020, when he was arrested at a Winnipeg home after he was charged with nine sex-related counts in New York. He faces extradition to the United States on those charges.

He is also now accused of 11 counts of sexual assault and three counts of forcible confinement in Toronto, related to allegations from the late 1980s and mid-2000s, and has been charged with one count each of sexual assault and forcible confinement in Quebec.

Nygard, 81, has denied all allegations. His lawyer did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 

Winnipeg police said last year that they conducted an investigation that involved working 15 files, interviewing 29 witnesses, including survivors, and compiling more than 1,600 documents.

Eight cases were submitted for consideration to the Manitoba Crown, Winnipeg police said, but prosecutors decided not to lay charges.

"I can confirm that the Winnipeg Police Service forwarded a thorough police investigation relating to allegations made by a number of people against Mr. Nygard," wrote Jennifer Mann, director of Winnipeg prosecutions in the Manitoba Prosecution Services department, in an email to CBC on Thursday.

Mann says she conducted a careful and detailed review of the evidence and, as is usual for serious cases such as this, the prosecution service held an internal case conference. Several Crown attorneys who have considerable expertise and experience in prosecuting sexual assault cases weighed in on her decision, she said.

It was determined "there was no reasonable likelihood of conviction for each of the allegations," Mann wrote, so she did not authorize charges.

She also noted she is "ethically bound not to authorize charges in circumstances where there is no reasonable likelihood of conviction."

The Manitoba Association of Crown Attorneys — the union that represents prosecutors in the province — said it was surprised by Goertzen's announcement. 

Earlier this month, when asked about Goertzen's announcement that the evidence would be reviewed, president Erika Dolcetti said the association was not prepared to comment on specific cases.

Shannon Moroney, a Toronto trauma therapist who is supporting dozens of people across Canada, the United States and other countries who say they were assaulted by Nygard, said there's "big hope" in the review for those whose cases saw no charges laid.

But for her clients, who include several of those women, that comes with a dose of caution.

"It's a very, very cautious optimism — very cautious," Moroney said.

"The worst case scenario is really that they are told again that they will not have charges laid for them."

Goertzen has previously said the review might lead to charges, but there are no guarantees.

"I felt it important because I had concerns. It bothered me that we were seeing charges in other places, but there might be good reason," said Goertzen in early December, when he announced the review.