Province extends Portage la Prairie families’ eviction deadline
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 28/08/2017 (2973 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
Manitoba Housing has extended today’s eviction deadline for 18 Portage la Prairie families who have not paid rent for the past 21 years.
Sources said that Manitoba Housing is hand-delivering letters this afternoon to the 18 families that the court-ordered writ of possession will not be enforced prior to Sept. 7.
That’s the day that residents’ leaders will meet in Winnipeg with officials sent by Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada Minister Carolyn Bennett.
The federal officials will raise the possibility of finding land for a new reserve to accommodate the residents, and will raise other housing options.
The 18 families were forced to leave Waterhen First Nation — now Skownan First Nation — north of Dauphin in 1996 after ongoing confrontations with the chief and band council of the day.
The province put them up in Manitoba Housing, but they have always refused to pay rent, and Ottawa has said it has no responsibility for First Nations residents once they leave the reserve.
Families Minister Scott Fielding says the residents owe more than $1.2 million in back rent. He said that there is a waiting list of more than 1,000 people who are willing to pay rent to Manitoba Housing.
The province has been trying since 2010 to work out a compromise with the families, and finally took the matter to court. In June, the court of appeals ruled in favour of Manitoba Housing and set today’s deadline for them to be out.
Residents believed the physical eviction was scheduled for several weeks ago, but was delayed when the residents protested on the steps of the Legislative Building and indicated they would set up camp on the grounds if removed from their Portage units. The sheriff’s office and Justice Department have refused to discuss when the order would be enforced.
The letter being delivered to residents this afternoon cautions, “Manitoba Housing does retain the right to have the sheriff enforce the writ and take possession of the unit at whatever time is deemed appropriate after Sept. 7.”
nick.martin@freepress.mb.ca