The owner of the former Manwin Hotel, destroyed earlier this year, has filed a $15-million lawsuit against the City of Winnipeg, alleging the city is responsible for the loss of the property.
The Main Street building, constructed in 1882, burned down on Jan. 14 after sitting vacant for a year.
In a statement of claim filed April 29 in the Court of King’s Bench of Manitoba, the building’s owner—identified as a numbered Manitoba company—alleges the city shut down the hotel’s operations without warning on Jan. 3, 2025, prompting the forced eviction of 34 tenants who were left to find their own accommodations in “severe cold.”
The claim says the city had a duty to ensure the building was properly secured and boarded up following the eviction but failed to do so.
According to the filing, on Jan. 13—the day before the fire destroyed the structure—the city contacted the company to report the property had been broken into and requested it be boarded up. The city agreed to carry out the boarding, the claim says, but only after police had conducted a full walkthrough of the premises.
When officers attended, however, the filing alleges they refused to conduct the sweep, after which a “make believe boarding” of the premises took place.
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According to the city’s vacant buildings bylaw, the owner of a vacant building must ensure the structure is secure from unauthorized entry.
“The plaintiff states that the defendant’s conduct was willful, wanton, malicious and oppressive, demonstrating a conscious disregard for the plaintiff’s property and business,” the filing reads.
The statement of claim also references the Main Street Project’s 24/7 emergency shelter, which operated directly next to the hotel. It alleges the city had a duty not to “approve, license and or condone” activities that harmed the company’s operations and business.
The claim says the shelter provided clients with harm-reduction supplies such as needles, syringes, condoms, and outdoor sleeping benches, among other items.
The filing seeks $15 million in punitive and exemplary damages, plus interest and costs.
CTV News reached out to Akim Kambamba, the company representative who filed the suit, for comment and is awaiting a response. A city spokesperson declined to comment, saying the matter is before the courts.
No statement of defence has been filed, and none of the allegations have been proven in court.
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