Tories accused of abuse of power

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This article was published 29/05/2019 (2555 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

One of the owners of a building that housed at-risk youth says the Pallister government’s decision to introduce legislation to break its lease with the group sends the wrong signal to business and is “an abuse of government power.”

In a prepared statement for an appearance before a legislative committee Wednesday evening, Ken Cranwill said while the government might legally be able to slip out of its commitment, that doesn’t make it right.

“As a Manitoba businessman or woman are you going to invest your hard-earned dollars in leasehold improvements to a building or property that this government can destroy and escape from their obligations through loopholes in case law?” he asked. “I think we all know the answer to these questions.”

Cranwill was still waiting for his turn to speak to the committee by the Free Press deadline.

In an interview while waiting to make his presentation, he took issue with statements by Progressive Conservative MLAs at the meeting who assured earlier presenters — several of whom required the services of a Punjabi translator — that the facility had sat empty for years.

“That is preposterous. That is absolutely untrue,” he said.

Marymound, a sub-tenant, had been using the facility until the end of February, Cranwill said, but the agency vacated the building on the orders of the government.

The landlords say they were left with tens of thousands of dollars in damages to their building, including broken windows, holes in walls, destroyed cabinets and scarred and torn up floors.

Bill 32, which would empower the government to break its lease with the numbered company that owns the building at 800 Adele Ave., has passed second reading in the legislature.

More than four dozen people had registered to speak to the all-party committee by 9 p.m. A number of presenters opposed the government bill, saying it was wrong to try to break a legally binding lease through legislation.

Others worried that the facility’s closure might leave vulnerable children in the lurch. The lease would be terminated effective Nov. 30, according to the bill.

The former NDP government had entered into the 20-year lease with the owners of the building in 2008. It was said to be worth about $500,000 a year.

Tara Petti, chief executive officer of the Southern First Nations Network of Care, which signed the deal with the numbered company, said her organizations supported the government’s move to break the lease.

Petti said the organization, which supervises CFS agencies, is no longer able to use the facility for any purpose. She said the government has made several attempts to renegotiate the original lease with the landlord, but the landlord has been unwilling to renegotiate any terms and conditions.

However, Elsie Flette, who was the CEO of the Southern Network when the lease was signed, defended the contract and opposed the Tory government’s decision to break the lease.

She said the deal had been scrutinized by several layers of government at the time, including Treasury Board and the provincial cabinet.

She said at the time, the government was under pressure to find viable alternatives to placing children in care in hotels. Social agencies were looking for a location where youths could be carefully assessed and provided with emergency placement.

“They were the only ones who came forward with a viable building we could use,” Flette said of the owners of the Adele Avenue property.

larry.kusch@freepress.mb.ca