Fontaine was interviewed for the Tina Fontaine episode the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network (APTN) documentary series on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls,Taken. Despite sharing the same surname,the two are not related.[3]
On 10 March 2021,Nahanni Fontaine was removed from the House for the rest of the day for saying the Progressive Conservatives "just don't give a crap" about missing and murdered Indigenous women,girls,and two-spirit people.[4]
On 26 June 2025,Fontaine,who is the minister responsible for accessibility,was caught on camera,unaware her microphone was still recording,complaining about an American Sign Language (ASL) interpreter. The hot mic moment was captured by APTN after Fontaine had delivered remarks at a graduation ceremony and was speaking with an aide as she prepared to talk to the media. “I was thrown off—it wasn’t great—but,because the woman,she shouldn’t have been on the stage. I couldn’t see anybody on the side,”Fontaine was heard saying. “All I could see was her." Fontaine then began waving her hands,to which her aide responded,describing the ASL interpreter’s signing as 'frantic hand movements.’ “Yeah. So,I’m like f**k,why did I have her on stage?”Fontaine said in response. “I’m like,‘Jesus.’I’m like,‘You need to leave.’”[5]
On 4 July 2025,shortly after reporting on this incident,APTN noticed that every member of their news team had been blocked by Fontaine on social media,said APTN executive director of news and current affairs Cheryl McKenzie. The network contacted Manitoba cabinet communications that day,and,after repeated interview requests,was issued a statement from Fontaine acknowledging APTN journalists had been blocked from her social media. “Immediately upon learning that journalists were blocked on my social media account,I directed staff to reverse this decision,”APTN reported Fontaine as saying.[6]
On 12 September 2025,Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew asked Fontaine to issue an apology for a social media post she shared on the day U.S. conservative activist Charlie Kirk was assassinated at Utah Valley University,describing Kirk as "a racist,xenophobic,transphobic,Islamophobic,sexist,white nationalist mouthpiece who made millions of dollars inciting hatred in this country.”The post further said,“I extend absolutely no empathy for people like that.”The premier said he would help Fontaine understand the need to “bring people together and not to divide people at this time.”Progressive Conservative Leader Obby Khan said Fontaine’s apology was “obligatory and disingenuous”and he called for her to be removed from cabinet. Fontaine has shown a pattern of poor conduct and she doesn’t have the “temperament to be a minister,especially of families and accessibility,”Khan said.[7][8]
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