Manwin vs. Main Street Project rages on

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This article was published 14/03/2024 (545 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The owner of the Manwin Hotel has fired back at its neighbour, the Main Street Project, after it filed a lawsuit alleging poor upkeep of the old hotel.

The statement of defence, filed by Shawa Law Chambers on behalf of the numbered company that owns the Manwin, denied any wrongdoing and alleged Main Street Project’s services and harm-reduction work hurts the hotel’s bottom line.

Main Street Project, in a lawsuit filed in Court of King’s Bench last November, alleged the slope of the hotel roof allowed rain water and melting ice to fall onto its office and emergency shelter, and had caused damage to its property as a result.

The shelter alleged the owner of the Manwin, at 655 Main St., had not taken any action, such as installing gutters, to mitigate the problem so its basement was damaged by repeated episodes of flooding.

The initial statement of claim, filed by Taylor McCaffrey LLP, sought an injunction to restrain the owner of the Manwin from diverting water from its roof onto Main Street Project’s roof, $50,000 in aggravated damages and other damages to be proven at trial, as well as court costs.

Some have called for the Manwin, a 34-room hotel built in 1882 that’s used for long-term housing for the homeless, to be closed owing to health and safety concerns. It is frequently the site of violent incidents, including slayings in recent years.

The defence statement said the Manwin, registered under the name National Hotel, complies with City of Winnipeg bylaws.

In a counterclaim filed in December, the Manwin owner seeks $10,000,000 in punitive damages from Main Street Project, along with other damages to be proven at trial, and interest.

The countersuit sought an injunction to restrain Main Street Project from operating its emergency shelter at 637 Main St. and from offering condoms, needles and the opioid antidote naloxone “in and around the defendant’s properties.”

“As a result of the plaintiff’s activities, the defendant, its staff and all patrons of the hotel remain in grave danger of repeated exposure to all health hazards, including human (excrement), injection needles or syringes, invasion of its hotel by the plaintiff’s invited guests and indeed loss of business and or revenues,” the counterclaim says.

The hotel goes on to say it would be in the interest of “justice, safety and health” of the hotel and others on the 600 block of Main Street if Main Street Project was ordered to shut down.

The lawyer for the shelter filed a response two days later, asking the court to dismiss the Manwin’s countersuit. The court papers say Manwin’s lawyer had inaccurately characterized the services it provides to the homeless and disenfranchised.

The response said that on top of the emergency shelter, Main Street Project also runs transitional living services, a food bank and mobile community outreach.

“Main Street Project… states that it provides its services: in a safe, reasonable and diligent manner; in accordance with industry standard and best practices; and in a bona fide effort to serve the needs of Winnipeg’s most vulnerable community members,” reads the response.

Main Street Project’s court papers said if anything, the services it provides reduced or mitigated the risk the Manwin claimed it had suffered.

Alternatively, the service provider said, any losses suffered by the Manwin were due to the way it conducts its business and the nature of the Main Street strip as a neighbourhood.

A judge will oversee a pre-trial hearing in May, court records show.

erik.pindera@freepress.mb.ca