Precedent-setting warrant to search encampment called ‘troubling’

Point Douglas Residents Committee asks for clarification on law in email to premier, mayor, police chief

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A residents’ group has questioned whether the Winnipeg Police Service’s use of a warrant to search a homeless encampment in Point Douglas could set a “troubling” precedent.

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A residents’ group has questioned whether the Winnipeg Police Service’s use of a warrant to search a homeless encampment in Point Douglas could set a “troubling” precedent.

Amy Robinson, the Point Douglas Residents Committee’s housing chair, is concerned the warrant process inadvertently validated the encampment as a residence.

“Such a designation is deeply problematic, as these structures are in clear violation of City of Winnipeg bylaws,” Robinson wrote in an email to police Chief Gene Bowers, Mayor Scott Gillingham and Premier Wab Kinew on Tuesday.

MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS
                                A homeless encampment in Point Douglas that was searched by police has a residents’ group has questioning whether the use of a warrant in such cases could set a “troubling” precedent.

MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS

A homeless encampment in Point Douglas that was searched by police has a residents’ group has questioning whether the use of a warrant in such cases could set a “troubling” precedent.

“Treating them as lawful residences risks undermining existing enforcement mechanisms and sets a troubling precedent.”

WPS charged two men after executing a search warrant on a temporary structure at the encampment, located on the bank of the Red River near Gomez Street, Aug. 27.

Police allege a bicycle chop shop was being run out of a structure that was used as a workshop. Officers seized 50 bicycle frames, 77 tires, 53 tire rims and other items.

At the time, Insp. Helen Peters told reporters it was the first time in memory police obtained a search warrant for an encampment structure.

Regarding Robinson’s email, a WPS spokesman referred the Free Press to Peters’ response to an earlier email from Robinson on Aug. 29.

Peters said the Charter of Rights and Freedoms protects against unreasonable searches and seizures, requiring police to have legal authority for any search.

“A person may consider a structure on public property to be their temporary dwelling shelter and also be in violation of a bylaw,” Peters wrote.

“A criminal court will focus on the belief of the person whose privacy may have been impacted. In this case it was necessary to obtain a search warrant as the charges were specific to the property we seized.”

Situations where a warrant may not be required, such as exigent circumstances and consent, did not apply in last week’s case, she said.

Police and city departments will review the structure for bylaw violations, Peters added.

Brandon Trask, associate law professor at the University of Manitoba, said the acquisition of a search warrant for a criminal investigation at an encampment has no bearing on the enforcement of municipal bylaws at such a location.

He said the police obtaining a search warrant in an attempt to ensure that the court recognizes the search was conducted legally under the Criminal Code doesn’t mean the encampment is considered a legal dwelling under municipal bylaws.

Trask said the two areas of law are separate and siloed.

Mayor Scott Gillingham and Housing Minister Bernadette Smith supported the use of a search warrant.

“I trust the police are going to take whatever legal steps that they determine are necessary to support their investigations,” Gillingham said Tuesday.

“By law, city council, of course, cannot direct the Winnipeg Police Service, but if police believe that obtaining a warrant would strengthen their case, then I support that decision.”

Last week, Smith said the use of a search warrant aligned with the province’s Your Way Home strategy “in terms of making sure that people are safe and secure.”

St. Boniface Street Links founder and executive director Marion Willis was copied on Robinson’s email.

“My take on this is that the police maybe felt that they needed to cover all of the bases because there are those that believe that encampments are considered somebody’s permanent residence,” she said.

Main Street Project viewed the WPS approach as “aligning” with the current legal understanding of encampments, a spokesperson said.

“This understanding is based on decisions in other Canadian cities that have been clear: if a jurisdiction is unable to provide reasonable housing options for people, their encampment then becomes their housing under the Canadian Charter,” Jamil Mahmood, executive director of Main Street Project wrote in an email.

The organization would welcome a community-led model for encampment policing, the spokesperson said.

If a court recognized an encampment structure as a personal dwelling, the structure should fall under the provincial Safer Communities and Neighbourhoods Act (SCNA), Robinson said.

The act is designed to hold property owners accountable for “threatening or disturbing activities,” including illegal drug use or trafficking, gun offences and organized crime.

The act’s definition of property can include a structure, business, house or land on which there is no building.

“If an encampment structure is legally deemed a residence for warrant purposes, then residents of Point Douglas and the Exchange District should be equally entitled to seek remedies under the SCNA to protect their safety,” Robinson wrote in her letter.

“This includes confidential complaints, investigations and, where warranted, closure orders.”

She asked the city, WPS and province to clarify “how the law will be applied consistently.”

“Either encampments are unlawful structures that must be dismantled under existing bylaws, or, if they are deemed residences, they must be equally accountable under the Safer Communities and Neighbourhoods Act,” Robinson wrote. “Anything less creates a dangerous double standard for residents, property owners, and neighbourhood safety.”

with files from Carol Sanders

chris.kitching@freepress.mb.ca

Chris Kitching

Chris Kitching
Reporter

Chris Kitching is a general assignment reporter at the Free Press. He began his newspaper career in 2001, with stops in Winnipeg, Toronto and London, England, along the way. After returning to Winnipeg, he joined the Free Press in 2021, and now covers a little bit of everything for the newspaper. Read more about Chris.

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Updated on Tuesday, September 2, 2025 5:35 PM CDT: Adds quote attribution

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