Personal life
Kinew recounts that he "experienced racially motivated assaults by adults" during his time growing up in suburban Winnipeg.
Some time after moving out of his parents' home at the age of 19, Kinew began experiencing problems with alcohol.
On February 24, 2003, Kinew was arrested in Winnipeg, after he was spotted erratically driving his father's 2000 Dodge Dakota by Henderson Highway late in the evening. A witness testified in court that they followed Kinew for several kilometres and saw him lose control of his vehicle twice after striking a guard rail and street light. Kinew continued to drive several more kilometres with a blown-out front tire before police caught up to him at a parkade. Police reported Kinew as having bloodshot eyes and slurred speech, as well as being unsteady on his feet. A near-empty bottle of gin that had been purchased that afternoon was found in the back seat. Kinew refused to undergo a breathalyzer after being taken into custody. For this incident, Kinew was convicted of impaired driving.
In June 2003, Kinew was charged by the RCMP with two counts of domestic assault related to allegations that he threw his then-girlfriend, Tara Hart, across a room during an argument. A Crown attorney and Kinew's lawyer appeared in court several times between January and June 2004. The charges were subsequently stayed. Kinew denies the allegations, while Hart has continued to maintain otherwise. These charges were previously unknown to most during Kinew's public life, only coming to light in 2017 via anonymous emails sent to Winnipeg media outlets. Hart has said that she can only recall one alleged assault and does not know why two charges were filed. She has stated that after she left Kinew, she was living outside Winnipeg and never heard from the Crown on why the charges were stayed.
On June 27, 2004, while bound by a court recognizance on his previous DUI charge, Kinew was arrested following an altercation with a taxi driver. Kinew was intoxicated when he caught the cab shortly before 5 in the morning. According to the Crown prosecutor, Kinew "began to insult the [cab driver] with some racial comments which continued until the driver reached the intersection of Portage Avenue and Fort Street." While stopped at a red light, Kinew exited the vehicle, approached the driver's side door window, which was open, and punched the driver in the face. A passerby yelled out and momentarily interrupted the assault. When the driver exited the cab, Kinew pushed him to the ground and kicked him, according to CBC News. Kinew attempted to flee the scene when police arrived, and Kinew declined to discuss the incident after being taken into custody. The taxi driver suffered a small laceration to his elbow and swelling to his face. On page 70 of his 2015 memoir, The Reason You Walk, Kinew has stated he had grabbed a cab with friends and "hopped out without paying," after which:[T]he driver caught up with us and pushed me. I turned around and shoved him back. A passing cabbie saw what was happening, stopped his taxi and jumped out to help his fellow driver. He swung and hit me in the face. I grabbed him and swung back.
We stood in the middle of the street, arms flailing in full-on hockey fight mode. The police showed up and tackled me.It has been pointed out that Kinew's account of the incident in his book heavily differs from what was heard in court during his 2004 sentencing hearing.
Also in 2004, Kinew was given a conditional discharge for an assault in Ontario after getting into a fight. Kinew also has stated that in 2006 he was charged with stealing a money order, but that charge was stayed when he repaid the money.
Kinew has gone through various exercises to rehabilitate himself from his issues with alcohol, including attending sweat lodges and a sun dance ceremony where he fasted for four days and pulled buffalo skulls by piercings cut into his body. Kinew also began attending regular Alcoholics Anonymous meetings.
Kinew has since quit drinking and, in 2014, applied for a pardon from the Canadian government, which was granted by the Parole Board of Canada in 2016. The Parole Board ruling removed from the Canadian Police Information Centre database references to his convictions on assaulting a taxi driver, a driving under the influence conviction for refusing a breathalyzer sample, and two breaches of court orders.
In September 2016, Kinew married Dr. Lisa Monkman, an Ojibwe family physician who practises medicine at an inner-city clinic. The couple welcomed a son in May 2017. Kinew has two sons from a previous relationship.
Kinew is trilingual: he speaks Ojibwe, English and French.
