The Manitoba government is condemning a Winnipeg landlord it says broke the law by executing a mass eviction at an apartment block in the St. John’s neighbourhood.
Dozens of tenants living in Stratford Hall, a three-storey apartment at 285 College Ave., were unexpectedly ordered to leave the building June 12. That has sparked an investigation by the Residential Tenancies Branch, Consumer Protection and Government Services Minister Lisa Naylor said.
“My understanding is people were told to move out with little to no notice, that their locks were changed. We’ve heard accounts that peoples’ belongings were thrown out, but all of this is currently under investigation,” Naylor said.
TYLER SEARLE / FREE PRESS
Dozens of tenants of the three-storey apartment building at 285 College Ave. were unexpectedly ordered to leave the building on June 12, sparking an investigation by the Residential Tenancies Branch.
“We are not sure what all has transpired here. This could add up to some substantive charges, and if the investigation reveals that there are criminal actions as a part of what’s gone on, then it can also be referred to the justice system.”
Naylor and Housing, Addictions and Homelessness Minister Bernadette Smith held a news conference at the Manitoba Legislature Building on Wednesday to address concerns and answer questions about the mass eviction.
The province has been working with a variety of non-profit and government agencies to connect displaced tenants with temporary accommodations and supports, Smith said, adding the government is “outraged” by the allegations.
“While the investigation is ongoing, it’s important that the public understands… in Manitoba, it is illegal to evict tenants without cause. It’s illegal to enter into someone’s suite without due notice, and it’s illegal to dispose of tenants’ belongings,” Smith said.
“These events are unacceptable, and they’re roadblocks to our efforts to end homelessness here in our province.”
The Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service went to the apartment building June 12 and discovered some fire safety systems were not operational. It required a fire watch be put in place over the weekend but did not order the building to be vacated, a City of Winnipeg spokesperson said.
“It is our understanding that the owner made the decision to vacate the property.”
The landlord of Stratford Hall was previously known to the tenancies branch and has been in contact with the department since it opened its investigation, Naylor said.
Naylor could not provide a timeline for the investigation but said the department is working “non-stop” to ensure it is completed quickly.
The Free Press has confirmed the building came under new ownership the day before the mass eviction started. It was purchased alongside another apartment block at 583 Furby St.
Two sources identified the new owner as a man named Kelly Vasas.
A review of tenancies branch files shows Vasas has been subject to several orders to repair minor damages at other apartments in Winnipeg.
A tenancies branch officer ordered Vasas to pay a woman $1,458.61 in 2009.
According to the order, the tenant, who was from Alberta, was looking for a short-term rental near Health Sciences Centre after her husband was hospitalized. The woman did not sign a tenancy agreement and only spent one night in the apartment before her husband died and she returned to her home province.
The tenant claimed her son explained the situation to Vasas, but he still charged the woman $1,500 for her stay.
St. Boniface Street Links executive director Marion Willis said Stratford Hall tenants began calling her in a panic Friday night, saying they’d woken up to strangers in the building who were trying to force them out.
Several of the people living at the building are clients of Street Links and other social organizations in Winnipeg. Many have experienced homelessness and live with addictions and mental health issues, she said.
Naylor said there were 26 tenancy contracts linked to Stratford Hall, but Willis said there were likely up to 60 people living there.
Street Links dispatched a support team to the apartment Monday morning and discovered some tenants were offered cash equivalent to half a month’s rent and told to leave, she said.
“By the time we got there, people were sitting on the boulevard in tears, holding their heads in their hands,” Willis said. “It was horrible. I’ve never witnessed such a blatant, severe violation of people’s rights.”
Willis plans to report the incident to the Winnipeg Police Service and will file a complaint with the Human Rights Commission, she said.
Willis said she visited the Furby Street building Wednesday afternoon to find many of the tenants displaced from Stratford Hall sheltering inside.
The Furby apartment has been the site of numerous overdoses, stabbings and two fatal shootings in recent years — earning it the moniker “murder mansion” from people living nearby.
It is inundated with gangs and drugs, and Willis fears things could turn violent if the new property owner attempts a similar mass eviction there, she said.
“There isn’t going to be anybody who can go in there and make them leave without a fight,” she said. “It would be a bloodbath.”
tyler.searle@freepress.mb.ca
Tyler Searle
Reporter
Tyler Searle is a multimedia producer who writes for the Free Press‘s city desk. A graduate of Red River College Polytechnic’s creative communications program, he wrote for the Stonewall Teulon Tribune, Selkirk Record and Express Weekly News before joining the paper in 2022. Read more about Tyler.
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