The province of Manitoba says it’s investigating the evictions at a North End apartment building earlier this week.
Numerous residents were forced to leave an apartment on College Avenue in Winnipeg this week, with minimal notice. Many tenants told Global News they were offered money to leave abruptly and were locked out of their apartments, and some had their personal belongings removed and tossed out.
Kyle Lemke was one of them.
“It’s severely impacted my life, it was by all means, as I suspected at first, an illegal eviction,” Lemke told Global News.
Lemke is now staying in a hotel, trying to decide what to do next.
“My finances are obviously dwindling right now,” he said. “Homelessness is not something I’ve ever experienced, and not something I ever want to experience.”
During a press conference Wednesday afternoon, Housing, Addictions and Homelessness Minister Bernadette Smith said many of the landlord’s alleged actions are illegal.
“I just say shame on that landlord. He needs to be part of the solution and he needs to make amends for what he has done,” Smith said.
“And he’s going to be held accountable by this government.”
The province says it’s working to identify and contact each of the residents of the apartment building to help them find housing and to help compensate tenants for personal items that were thrown out by property management. It says residents are able to make a claim against the landlord and is urging them to contact the Residential Tenancies Branch for further steps.
It will also be conducting an investigation into the landlord’s actions.
“This could add up to substantive charges,” Consumer Protection and Government Services Minister Lisa Naylor said.
“And if investigation reveals criminal action has gone on here, then it can be referred to the justice system.”
Marion Willis, the founder and executive director of Street Links, says many of the tenants previously lived in homeless encampments and were re-housed by her organization. She says she also has concerns this landlord will take similar action at another rental property.
“The people in that building, at least 50 per cent of them are people we’ve taken out of encampments and housed in that building,” Willis said. “They aren’t people you’re going to mess with, but they’re human beings, though, and they have as much of a right as you do and I do to be housed.”
Global News reached out to Lanawae Housing Centre who said they are in the process of moving tenants out and working to ensure tenants have alternate accommodations.