Advocates 'disappointed' by flaws in Manitoba's plan to sell seized homes to non-profit for $1
6 homes will likely need to be demolished, creating barrier of added costs: housing advocate
Housing advocates say Manitoba's plan to have six seized homes redeveloped by a non-profit group may look good on paper — but it does nothing to address a critical social housing shortage and help those most in need.
The properties in north Winnipeg's Point Douglas area were seized by police two years ago under the province's Criminal Property Forfeiture Act, as a result of what the province described as their alleged use to "support illicit drug activity and crime."
But all six will likely need to be torn down — and the cost of rebuilding them would pose a huge barrier for any organization hoping to turn the sites into affordable housing, said Shauna MacKinnon, an advocate with the Right to Housing Coalition in Winnipeg.
"[I'm] disappointed. It's not meeting the needs of the folks" who need access to housing the most, said MacKinnon, who's also the chair of the University of Winnipeg's Department of Urban and Inner-City Studies.
"When you're looking at the situation we're currently in here in Winnipeg, with so many people in need of low-rent housing, this is not solving that problem at all."
The province said it's looking to sell the six properties for $1 each to an Indigenous or non-profit organization, which would then be able to develop affordable single-family homes to sell to families with low or moderate incomes.
Its request for proposals says three of the properties are on the 100 block of Lisgar Avenue, while the other three are on the 200 block of Austin Street North.
The document says the properties will be sold "as is" and noted "all six properties have been inspected by Manitoba Housing staff, and it has been determined that the homes will likely require demolition."
CBC News reached out to a handful of organizations who may qualify to buy the homes. While all said they were interested, many were unsure they would be able to take on the associated costs of rebuilding.
The homes were among 10 properties seized during Project Matriarch, a drug trafficking investigation that saw more than 20 people arrested and over $2.3 million in assets seized, including vehicles, weapons and bank accounts.
'Who's it serving, really?'
After redeveloping the land, the organization that buys the homes will also need to find a proposed homeowner who meets several requirements.
They'd have to be a first-time homebuyer, have dependents, qualify for a mortgage and have an annual income of no more than roughly $85,000.
MacKinnon said those details alone mean the province's plan won't serve those most in need.
"People who are low income, people on social assistance are not going to qualify for a mortgage," she said.
"There are already houses out there that someone who's earning $84,000 a year would be able to purchase. It sounds lovely to donate for a dollar — but you know, in the end, who's it serving, really?"
She said a better option would be for Manitoba Housing — the province's Crown corporation responsible for the expansion of social and affordable housing — to take on the six properties and build multi-unit buildings in their place.
MacKinnon also questioned why two other homes seized from the same owner as the six in Point Douglas were recently sold instead of being put up for $1 to non-profit groups. Neither of those homes needed to be demolished, and one was sold for $250,000.
"Again it's, 'Well, let's do something with the good ones,"' she said. "'And these ones are not worth anything, so let's just dump these off on the community.'"
A government spokesperson said in an email the money from selling those homes will be used to pay off "a significant mortgage" on one of the homes, as well as property tax arrears and penalties incurred.
The spokesperson said the rest of the funds will be used to pay for possible demolition of the donated homes that cannot be rehabilitated, and costs involved in the supervision and maintenance costs for the homes.
Seizures stretch across Winnipeg region
The province has seized properties from all across the Winnipeg area. In the 2022-2023 year, that included six in Point Douglas, two in River East and one in St. Boniface.
Over the past five years, an additional six properties were seized, including in Winnipeg's Fort Garry and Springfield North areas and in the city of Portage la Prairie west of Winnipeg, a provincial spokesperson said.
In April, the director of Manitoba's criminal property forfeiture unit filed a court claim to seize four residences believed to have been involved in a trafficking network.
Two of the homes are located in The Maples neighbourhood in Winnipeg and two are located just outside the city in West St. Paul.
The province is also in the process of trying to seize three homes in Bridgwater it claims were purchased and kept up with money obtained via illegal drug activity.
Normally, the assets are sold at roughly market value and the money raised is given to victims, victim service agencies and police.
The executive director of the Social Planning Council of Winnipeg questioned why viable homes that do not need work done and are located in wealthier neighbourhoods haven't also been included in projects like the homes in Point Douglas.
"It's almost government-sponsored NIMBYism if they're not going to give away those better homes, in better neighbourhoods, for the same amount of money," Kate Kehler said.
"That does speak to the idea of who gets to live in a neighbourhood and who doesn't get to live in a neighbourhood."
Property seized, convicted or not
The arrests that happened through Project Matriarch included that of Sandra Guiboche, who police alleged was at or near the top of a drug trafficking organization.
Guiboche was the registered owner or co-owner of all 10 seized properties.
While her trial is not expected to even begin until later this year, that didn't stop the homes from being taken.
In Manitoba, a person does not have to be charged with a crime, let alone be convicted, to have their property seized. Forfeitures do not rely on criminal prosecutions, do not create findings of guilt or innocence and are technically initiated against the property, not the person.
It's a practice both MacKinnon and Kehler disagree with, because people are innocent until proven guilty and shouldn't have their property sold before their criminal trial is heard.
"People do get wrongfully accused. It does happen," Kehler said.
"If somebody is found guilty, then that's a different situation than somebody who [was] simply just accused of a crime."
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