A Crown prosecutor argued on Tuesday that a Winnipeg judge should not halt the sexual assault case against former fashion mogul Peter Nygard, despite concerns raised by his defense about police not retaining records from over three decades ago. Saskatchewan-based Crown attorney Rob Parker stated that the lost files do not pose a significant enough obstacle to prevent Nygard’s lawyer, Gerri Wiebe, from conducting a thorough cross-examination of the woman at trial in December.
Parker emphasized to Manitoba provincial court Judge Mary Kate Harvie that the police should not be expected to preserve all materials indefinitely, as it may not always be clear what will be relevant in the future. Nygard, aged 84, faces charges of unlawfully confining and sexually assaulting a woman at his Winnipeg warehouse apartment in 1993, with charges formally brought after a 2020 investigation by Winnipeg police.
The identity of the woman, protected by a publication ban, came to light when her mother contacted the police in 1993 after she failed to establish contact upon traveling to Winnipeg to meet Nygard. Discussions with police at the time revealed concerns about her safety and well-being, with no formal actions taken back then. Subsequent investigations in 2020 by Winnipeg police and the RCMP failed to locate documents related to these earlier discussions.
Gerri Wiebe argued that the failure to preserve these records constitutes unacceptable negligence on the part of the officers involved, potentially depriving Nygard of a fair trial by hindering effective cross-examination of the complainant’s statements from 1993. The uncertainty surrounding the file retention policies at the time poses a particular challenge, as survivors of sexual assault often take years to disclose full details to law enforcement.
Judge Harvie concurred with these concerns and is in the process of evaluating the situation. Meanwhile, Crown prosecutor Parker disagreed with Wiebe’s stance, asserting that the absence of documents does not prevent a robust cross-examination of the complainant’s credibility. Nygard, currently serving an 11-year sentence in Ontario for historical sexual assault offenses, awaits trial for additional charges in Quebec. The judge will make a decision in the coming weeks.