Nesbitt grilled as convicted niece fights for appeal

WINNIPEG — As Chasity Findlay’s lawyers fought to overturn her sexual assault conviction in court Monday, Tory MLA Greg Nesbitt, her uncle who posted her bail, sat in question period and endured verbal barbs from Premier Wab Kinew.

At the Manitoba Court of Appeal, lawyers for the former high school teacher convicted in 2024 of sexual assault against a then-15-year-old student, argued text messages provided to police by the victim shouldn’t have been admitted into evidence at trial. Her lawyers argued the trial judge erred by accepting evidence of Findlay’s sexual history and erred in her analysis of Findlay’s credibility.

Findlay, who was 30 at the time of the offences, remains on bail as the province’s highest court mulls its decision. She was originally sentenced to five years in prison in September 2024.

Nesbitt, the MLA for Riding Mountain, did not comment on his niece’s case during question period, though it was repeatedly brought up by Manitoba’s premier.

Nesbitt pledged more than $1 million to post bail for Findlay, while she appealed her sexual interference and sexual assault conviction.

“Where do you stand on child molesters?” Kinew asked the Progressive Conservative party in question period, adding he couldn’t believe he was asking the question in 2026.

Kinew announced he’d table an affidavit where Nesbitt declared he had more than $1 million in savings and investments, as well as a mortgage-free home, in an effort to have his niece set free pending her appeal.

The judge ultimately set the surety at $7,500.

Kinew also asked whether Obby Khan, leader of the PCs, was aware of the affidavit when he allowed Nesbitt to be re-nominated for the Riding Mountain constituency. The Tories acclaimed Nesbitt last month.

Khan didn’t answer and instead questioned the premier about the Port of Churchill being excluded from Ottawa’s major projects list.

The premier said Manitobans can trust him on the port and went back on the offensive, asking whether Nesbitt recused himself from Bill 35, the framework the Tories brought in to create an independent commissioner of teacher professional conduct and an online registry for disciplined teachers.

Khan declined to comment further on Nesbitt and Findlay.

“The matter is now before the courts,” he told reporters.

He previously told the Winnipeg Free Press he thought Nesbitt did “whatever any loving uncle, aunt or relative would do for their niece.”

“There was an opportunity for his niece to be granted bail — pending her appeal. The same opportunity for bail is afforded to anyone under the justice system — and MLA Nesbitt provided that surety,” he’d said in a statement.

In a civil lawsuit, Seine River School Division says it accepted a resignation from Findlay following an investigation. The teacher moved to Rolling River School Division, in Nesbitt’s riding, until her arrest in late 2021.

She officially resigned from the division in January 2024, a month after her conviction. Her teaching certificate was cancelled on July 30, 2025, after the Free Press informed the NDP government she was a convicted child predator and still certified.

» Winnipeg Free Press, with files from Dean Pritchard