A judge has ordered a private addiction treatment centre to move out of a condo complex on Waverley Street, where it had been a source of angst among residents.
Michael Bruneau, president and CEO of Aurora Recovery Centre — a drug and alcohol treatment centre north of Gimli — purchased 23 of 24 units at 873 Waverley St., with plans to renovate and rent the suites out as the Aurora Reunification Village, in which children would live with their parents as they received treatment.
Some clients and their families moved in after the village opened in June.
MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS FILES
Aurora Recovery Centre president and CEO Michael Bruneau said the centre’s clients will leave the Waverly Street condo. Aurora does not plan to appeal the legal decision.
The complex has two multi-storey buildings and a few townhouses. Aurora is located in the west-side building, while two dozen condo owners live in the east-side building.
The condo board and owners in the development opposed the move and told Bruneau the paperwork he signed to buy the condos indicates he couldn’t operate a business of any kind in the residential suites.
The board’s lawyer filed a notice of application in the Court of King’s Bench under the Condominium Act, seeking a declaration that the village had violated bylaws by using suites for business purposes.
Justice Shauna McCarthy sided with the condo board in a ruling this month.
“The issue for the court to decide is solely whether the business of operating a family-reunification and sober-living program out of this condominium is compatible with the intentions of the condominium community as evidenced through its declarations and bylaws,” said McCarthy in a Nov. 2 endorsement. “I have found it is not.”
Robert Murdoch, a condo owner and vice-president of the condo board, called the decision clear, fair and reasonable.
“I live here, this is my home, and you’re running a business,” said Murdoch. “The Court of King’s Bench has spoken and we should respect that.”
Bruneau said Thursday that everyone will move out and he will sell the condos.
He does not plan to appeal the matter but does plan to open another reunification village elsewhere at some point, he said.
Bruneau’s lawyer had argued that the individuals and families who live in the complex had valid tenant agreements and used them as single-family residences, in compliance with the legislation and the bylaws.
Further, the lawyer argued, the tenants mostly received services in the privacy of their units, comparing it to other services such as home care, and suggesting there was a discriminatory aspect to the court application given other people at the complex received services in their units.
The judge rejected those arguments, saying the rules were properly set out prior to purchase and she deemed the operation a business.
Among the rules is that tenants must not interfere with other tenants’ reasonable use, occupation and “quiet enjoyment,” McCarthy noted.
The judge pointed to the evidence of the real estate agent for the couple who purchased the last unit in the west-side building, who told court that Bruneau contacted her to try to get her to sell to him.
She told court that Bruneau advised her clients “would not like it there” and that things would be “loud and chaotic,” McCarthy wrote, making it clear to the judge that Bruneau expected the use of the building would likely interfere with the enjoyment of other tenants.
McCarthy, however, noted she wanted to be clear that her findings were not meant denigrate the intentions of the reunification program or its structure.
“The goals and services of this program are very positive for both the participants and the community as a whole,” McCarthy wrote. “I also want to be clear that I have made no findings that the occupants of the units in question or the… staff have done anything wrong.”
erik.pindera@freepress.mb.ca
Erik Pindera
Reporter
Erik Pindera is a reporter for the Free Press, mostly focusing on crime and justice. The born-and-bred Winnipegger attended Red River College Polytechnic, wrote for the community newspaper in Kenora, Ont. and reported on television and radio in Winnipeg before joining the Free Press in 2020. Read more about Erik.
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