Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - March 25, 2024, Winnipeg, Manitoba MONDAY MARCH 25, 2024 ● ASSOCIATE EDITOR, NEWS: STACEY THIDRICKSON 204-697-7292 ● CITY.DESK@FREEPRESS.MB.CA ● WINNIPEGFREEPRESS.COM SECTION B CONNECT WITH WINNIPEG’S NO. 1 NEWS SOURCE ▼ CITY ● BUSINESS Troubled, shuttered apartment block slated for sale A troubled, low-income apartment block in the West End neighbourhood is up for sale, months after the building was shuttered due to failed safety in- spections and dozens of residents were forced into the streets. The tumultuous saga of the Adanac Apartments highlights the dangers of providing low-income housing with- out incorporating social supports, said Marion Willis, executive director of St. Boniface Street Links. “This is a population plagued by a multitude of challenges, addictions and mental health primarily,” Willis said of the building’s former tenants. The Adanac, a 46-suite apartment block at 737 and 743 Sargent Avenue, was seized in a receivership granted by the Winnipeg Court of King’s Bench last December. The building is current- ly listed for sale at $2.6 million, accord- ing to a recent property summary. The apartments had long been a source of fires and crime, generating hundreds of calls for service from emergency responders since 2018, city officials said previously. The Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Ser- vice ordered the building to close last August, following a failed fire-safety inspection that revealed a dysfunc- tional fire alarm system, insufficient smoke alarms and limited access to electricity, extinguishers and fire es- capes. Days after the order came down, doz- ens of residents fled with their posses- sions in hand, many of them destined for homeless shelters or encampments. “For me, when I look at the Adanac now and I look at the various responses of the Adanac being up for sale, does that leave me feeling hopeful? Not real- ly,” said Willis, whose organization for- merly housed several tenants inside the building. The Adanac is one of many dilapidat- ed properties that could be revitalized to address Winnipeg’s ongoing “social crises.” Its closure exemplifies what happens when property owners provide housing to high-risk tenants “without any supports whatsoever” from senior levels of government, she said. For such buildings to be successful, they must include in-house addictions, mental health, justice and education services that are available to tenants 24-7. While housing is the integral, first step of addressing social challenges, it cannot be successful without con- sistent, immediate and low-barrier sup- ports, she said. “Bricks and mortar on its own will not change a thing,” she said. “It’s about coming up with a plan that considers all of that, and how you keep the gangs and the drug dealers out to keep the build- ing a safe place for people to live and begin to rebuild their lives. They are not going to be able to do that on their own.” Additional funding for low-income property owners is another import- ant aspect of addressing Winnipeg’s critically low affordable housing stock because damage caused by tenants is often financially unsustainable, Willis added. The Adanac property assessment notes it has “extensive fire damage” in at least five units, and most units suf- fered significant damage due to the “abrupt abandonment by the previous tenants and their attempts to retrieve personal items from the building.” Additionally, the property’s common areas — such as hallways, stairwells and lobbies — need to be refinished and the roof has not been inspected. The sale of the building will be contingent on court approval, it says. The Free Press connected with the Adanac’s former owners, who declined to comment. The provincial and municipal govern- ments have each said they are commit- ted to increasing Winnipeg’s housing stock and addressing chronic homeless- ness during their political tenure. While the future of the Adanac build- ing remains unclear, Willis hopes it can one day be restored and serve as a model of sustainable, supportive low-in- come housing, she said. tyler.searle@freepress.mb.ca TYLER SEARLE FREE PRESS FILES The Adanac is one of many dilapidated properties that could be revitalized. Plenty of vehicles ticketed despite little snow NOT much “white stuff” fell on Winni- peg this winter, but drivers who parked on the city’s designated snow routes had to shell out a lot of green anyway. In total, 5,046 drivers who failed to obey the bylaw, which bans parking on marked streets from 2 a.m. to 7 a.m., were both ticketed and towed, the City of Winnipeg said. The ban, which is imposed annual- ly in the fall, was lifted by the city on March 20 this winter. Each driver was on the hook for a $100 ticket ($75 if paid withing 14 days) and a $130 towing bill. “Oh my god, that’s ridiculous,” said Ashton Zorn, who got up one morning in February and saw an empty space on the street where his vehicle had been parked. “I’d like to know why so many times people were towed with so little snow this year.” This winter marked the second year the municipal government ran a campaign to warn drivers their ve- hicles would be ticketed and towed if they parked overnight on snow/winter routes. The city wants streets free of vehicles so snow-clearing can be con- ducted. The number of cars ticketed and towed dropped from the previous year, when 5,558 were removed. City statistics also show 2,326 vehi- cles were ticketed (but not towed) be- cause they had been parked on residen- tial streets slated to be cleared after a snowfall. In total, it amounts to $655,980 in towing bills and $737,200 in tickets ($552,900 if all were paid within 14 days). Michael Cantor, the city’s manager of street maintenance, said snow clearing is just one reason for the parking ban. “It is operationally driven,” he said. “We have to do snow clearing, but we also have to do ice control. We need to put salt and sand on the street and it has to be across the entire lane.” Cantor said, although not ideal, salt can be spread on a road with parked vehicles, but it’s tough to spread sand, which won’t cover the entire street if cars are in the way. “If the pavement is bare and there’s no precipitation, there is no need for salt or sand,” he said, adding if there is ice, crews need to get to it. As for how many vehicles are ticket- ed and towed each winter, Cantor said a major factor is the number of available Winnipeg Parking Authority officers. “There are many variables,” he said. “It’s not the same time frame each win- ter and it also depends on how many units the (authority) has on a given night.” The bylaw changed after the winter of 2021-22, when just two vehicles were towed. In 2020-21, 18 cars were towed, while five were removed in 2019-20. The change meant the snow route ban was no longer automatic and didn’t ne- cessarily begin Dec. 1 and end March 31. In the winter of 2022-23, 5,558 tickets were handed out and 10,866 vehicles were towed. It was also the first winter the city started the ban when snow was in the forecast and took it down when no more snow was expected in the spring. The snow route ban that winter began Nov. 25, 2022, and ended March 17, 2023. This winter’s ban came late, not beginning until Jan. 15 and ending on March 20. As for Zorn, he admits that even af- ter being ticketed he rolled the dice and continued to park on the street over- night. “I was playing with fire, for sure,” he said laughing. “I was tempting fate once the snow was gone, but there would have been no reason to tow it: there was no snow.” kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca KEVIN ROLLASON MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS FILES Ashton Zorn: ‘I’d like to know why so many times people were towed with so little snow.’ Environmental coalition sends postcards to legislature urging enshrinement of emissions reduction targets Make Manitoba ‘part of the solution’ A COALITION of environmental groups hopes to combat climate change by mailing dozens of post- cards to the provincial legislature. The postcards, addressed to Premier Wab Kinew, call on the province to en- shrine its emissions reduction targets into legislation so “Manitoba can be part of the solution” to climate change. “Manitobans want protection from the health consequences and econom- ic costs of frequent extreme weather events,” read the postcards, which were distributed during a Manitoba Climate Action Team event on Sunday. “Our lives and the lives of future generations depend on this decisive action.” The action team — which includes representatives from Climate Change Connection, Wilderness Committee, Green Action Centre, Manitoba Energy Justice Coalition and Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives — wants the province to reduce its annual green- house gas emissions by 45 per cent before 2030, said communication man- ager Bethany Daman. The latest provincial targets, previ- ously announced by the Progressive Conservative government, aim to re- duce such emissions by roughly 27 per cent before 2027. NDP Environment Minister Tracy Schmidt has not announced any chan- ges to the targets since taking office last October. Her portfolio includes responsibility for Efficiency Manitoba — the govern- ment arm in charge of cutting back on provincial energy use — and the minis- ter has been tasked with helping guide Manitoba toward net-zero emissions by 2050. Enshrining emissions targets into legislation will ensure future polit- icians remain accountable beyond “the four-year cycle of government,” Da- man said. “Our goal is to bring people togeth- er who are concerned about climate change to be able to amplify their voices in a way that really ends up mo- tivating shifts at a provincial level,” Daman said, speaking from the lobby of the Park Theatre in south Osborne where she helped host an Earth Month kick-off party. April is internationally recognized as a month of environmental education, acknowledgment and activism that cul- minates annually with Earth Day on April 22. “We as Manitobans are incredibly concerned about climate change, but this isn’t something we can tackle on our own. We need policy and system level changes,” she said. Public officials, including Kinew and Schmidt, were not formally invited to attend the party, Daman said. Around 3 p.m., roughly an hour af- ter the event began, a few dozen of the postcards had been signed by attendees and were waiting to be mailed. Daman expected to gather more signatures be- fore the event ended at 8 p.m. The party also featured climate change petitions, climate change liter- ature, arts and crafts, live music and a pop-up clothing and audio record swap meet. Winnipeg senior Pat Wally was among those who signed one of the postcards destined for the legislature. “We need to make sure the gov- ernment knows that the community — young, old and middle aged — is concerned. I feel the general public is ahead of the curve over government and they need to know we are all watch- ing,” she said. Wally, who is in her 70s, is part of a fledgling group of senior climate ac- tivists that is searching for Manitoba members. She attended the event in the hopes of meeting other seniors who share her concerns about the environment. While she was mostly greeted by young and middle-aged people during the time she was at the party, the turnout gave her hope, she said. Daman said the Climate Action Team will continue to collect and mail post- cards to the premier throughout April. Several other events, including a virtual seminar on Indigenous archi- tecture, group hikes through the As- siniboine Forest, information sessions and sustainability workshops will take place during the month. tyler.searle@freepress.mb.ca TYLER SEARLE JOHN WOODS / FREE PRESS Bethany Daman, communications manager for the Manitoba Climate Action Team, says the action team wants the province to reduce its annual greenhouse gas emissions by 45 per cent before 2030. ;