Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - August 8, 2024, Winnipeg, Manitoba THURSDAY AUGUST 8, 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 Location, location… no thanks F OR almost a year, Ed Artola tried to sell his one-storey rental bungalow in the 500-block of Atlantic Avenue before finally giving up. He didn’t receive a single offer and he’s blaming a vacant home next door. “There are reports of drug usage (from people who break in) — which isn’t a surprise — property damage to my property, breaking into my property, not being able to sell my property. It creates a stigma for the neighbourhood,” said Artola. White boards covered the empty home’s windows and doors Wednes- day, while its tall grass nearly reached the height of a fence that divides the two lots. Artola said the empty home sometimes attracts squatters and he fears it could be set on fire, due to the increased arson risk facing vacant and derelict structures. In July 2023, he listed his property for sale, aiming to move on from be- ing a landlord. When it became clear he wouldn’t be able to sell it, he opted to find a new tenant in June. “There were people I was told who wanted to buy the property but… this property next door was scaring them off,” he said. While sales are sizzling in some segments of Winnipeg’s housing mar- ket, Artola said dropping the home’s sale price from $180,000 to $150,000 — the price he paid for it in 2021 — also failed to attract a buyer. He said city bylaw officers helped ensure the house next door is se- curely boarded up, though he would ideally like to see it torn down and replaced. “I’d love the city to (do) more…. It’s so slow to get answers, it’s slow for them to take repossession of these properties,” he said. “I know they should take more accountability, but it might be a financial thing. Maybe they don’t have money to knock down all these properties that are just sitting there.” He’s considering legal action against the vacant home’s owner. City spokesman Kalen Qually con- firmed that property has been “under enforcement as a vacant building” since December 2023, though Winni- peg Fire Paramedic Service has not been there because of fires or fire inspections during that time. “The city does receive complaints about vacant properties through 311, most often about suspected vacant properties, but we’re not able to quan- tify how many may have been about home sales related to vacant proper- ties,” Qually told the Free Press in an email. He noted the city approved a request to split the vacant property on Atlantic into two single-family lots in December 2022, which indicates it could be redeveloped in the future. Realtor Frank Zappia, of Zappia Group Realty, said he has also faced challenges in selling homes next to vacant structures. “It basically wipes out (the chance of) a family moving there because of the risk of fire next door…. It be- comes a fire hazard, arson, all sorts of stuff can happen,” said Zappia. That challenge can lead owners to drop prices or keep homes to rent them out, preventing permanent resi- dents from moving in, he said, noting vacant homes grew more common after the pandemic. “Ideally, you need the city to do something about them… and not just let them sit there. The longer you let them (sit there), the more dangerous it becomes,” said Zappia. As of last month, the city was monitoring 695 properties through its vacant buildings bylaw. Coun. Cindy Gilroy (Daniel McIn- tyre) said she’s received complaints from residents who have struggled to sell homes because of derelict properties nearby. Gilroy said the problem can be devastating for peo- ple who were banking on their homes to cover expenses after retiring. “People maybe have invested in their properties for years, doing many upkeeps and when they do look at downsizing… if that’s their nest egg for their future and that’s what they were trying to live off of, it can be very, very difficult,” she said. Gilroy noted the city has increased bylaw inspections, ramped up fines and enhanced requirements for boarding up vacant homes to try to tackle the problem. Vacant, derelict properties slam brakes on nearby home sales, neighbours say JOYANNE PURSAGA NIC ADAM / FREE PRESS Ed Artola is a Winnipeg landlord who blames a vacant house next door for preventing him from being able to sell a home he owns and rents out on Atlantic Avenue. Families of deceased denied funding for lawyers Province to ‘explore options’ to cover costs ERIK PINDERA JUSTICE Minister Matt Wiebe says the province is exploring its options after a judge recommended government be required to cover the cost of lawyers representing families of the deceased at inquests. Provincial court Judge Robert Hein- richs made the recommendation in a report last week on the long-delayed joint inquest into the police-involved deaths of Evan Caron, 33, and Adrian Lacquette, 23, which he oversaw in January. In a statement issued Wednesday, Wiebe said he reviewed the report and the judge’s recommendations. “I take to heart the comments made by family members at the inquest about the burden it can place on them,” Wiebe said. “Moving forward, we will explore op- tions so that all families have the oppor- tunity to meaningfully participate in the inquest process.” But he stopped short of saying the province would make the funding man- datory, as Hein- richs urged. The men were shot and killed by Winnipeg police a week and a half apart in Septem- ber 2017 in separ- ate circumstances. The shootings of both men — Caron stabbed an officer, while Lacquette pointed a gun at police — were deemed justified. Heinrichs’ lengthy report from the inquest — a court hearing called by the chief medical examiner to look at the facts of deaths in certain circum- stances — was released to the public last Thursday. Many families, Heinrichs wrote, can’t afford to pay for lawyers and provincial judges have no authority to order any agency to cover the cost. Provincial funding has, technically, been available for families who’ve been granted standing in inquests in the past, but is only provided in extraordin- ary cases. A government spokesman previously said five of 10 families who sought such funding in any provincial inquest since 2017 were approved. The factors the province considers in granting the money include: the com- plexity of the inquest; whether it could be said the Crown attorney assigned to the inquest is not able to “protect the family’s interest;” if the family had a role in the events being examined; and their ability to pay. Vivian Caron and Joanne Malcolm, mothers of the two men, sought funding from the government, but were denied. “They wanted to have legal counsel represent them at this inquest … Joanne Malcolm and Vivian Caron carried on, wanting to represent themselves, how- ever, Joanne Malcolm eventually gave up,” wrote Heinrichs. “Vivian Caron did carry on admir- ably and fully participated in this in- quest, questioning witnesses and mak- ing recommendations. However, she would have benefited from having legal counsel.” Vivian Caron, who is in her late 50s, told the court the hearing was not satis- factory for her, as a result. Heinrichs said that seeking but not securing funds has been the case for “many other family members” in pre- vious inquests. The judge suggested providing such funding aligns with the principles of reconciliation between Indigenous people and other Canadians. Both Evan Caron and Lacquette were Indigenous. Richard Longstrup — a lawyer ap- pointed to conduct the hearings as in- quest counsel — also focused on legal funding in his closing remarks. Longstrup recommended funding be made mandatory, in part, so lawyers can help families cope during the diffi- cult hearings and sift through complex evidence on their behalf. erik.pindera@freepress.mb.ca Pavilion protest decries Israeli actions in Gaza ROUGHLY 40 protesters outside Folk- lorama’s Israel pavilion held Palestin- ian flags and handmade signs reading “This is genocide” and “Winnipeg for- ever stands with Gaza” Wednesday. The peaceful protest, the latest in a series dating back 10 years, outside the Asper Jewish Community Campus on Doncaster Street sought to inform pa- vilion-goers about the conflict between Israel and Hamas and its impact on civilian life, an organizer said. “Our goal here is to educate the people going into the Israeli pavilion that probably wouldn’t know about it,” said Ramsey Zeid, president of the Canadian Palestinian Association of Manitoba Wednesday night. “These are average Winnipeggers going into Folk- lorama, thinking that this is just a nor- mal, everyday pavilion but maybe not knowing that they are killing innocent Palestinians every day, that they’re stealing their heritage, their culture, their food.” Zeid said the turnout is smaller than they’ve had in some years, adding it’s smaller because “people are tired, people are worn down” from protesting for the last 10 months. Tensions be- tween the cultural groups have been heightened as war continues in the Mid- dle Eastern states. Zeid added it’s important to continue protesting. If they stop, it sends a mes- sage that what Israel is doing to Pales- tinian people is okay, he added. The Israel pavilion was aware of the pro-Palestinian protest scheduled to happen Wednesday evening and to- night, said Jeff Lieberman Wednesday afternoon. After the gathering began, the chief executive officer of the Jew- ish Federation of Winnipeg said there were fewer people in the rally than he had anticipated. “Everybody has a right to protest peacefully and that’s what they were doing,” Lieberman said on the phone. “We knew it would be a little bit larger than normal and we expected that it would be peaceful, and it is.” Lieberman said in anticipation of the bigger rally, the pavilion worked with police and Folklorama like they do every year to create a security plan. The security presence this year was larger, he added, as multiple marked and unmarked police vehicles parked nearby or drove the streets. The protesters have never been vio- lent, Lieberman said. In previous years, there have generally been 10 or fewer members in the rallies. There was no disruption to those try- ing to get into the show. jura.mcilraith@freepress.mb.ca JURA MCILRAITH NIC ADAM / FREE PRESS Protesters for Palestine demonstrate across the street from the Israel Folklorama pavilion at the Asper Jewish Community Campus Wednesday. ● DERELICT, CONTINUED ON B2 Matt Wiebe ;