‘It’s home’: Residents in recovery facility protest as eviction deadline looms

A facility helping those in recovery reconnect with their loved ones rallied outside a south Winnipeg condo building Tuesday, in a fight to stay in the suites.

A facility helping those in recovery reconnect with their loved ones rallied outside a south Winnipeg condo building Tuesday, in a fight to stay in the suites.

CTV News has learned that residents living in most of the units in the west building at 873 Waverley St. have less than two months to move out.

“Feeling kind of unsure about what’s going to happen,” resident Charlton Daniels said.

Since June, Aurora Recovery Centre (ARC) has been operating a family reunification village in the condo development.

However, earlier this month, a Manitoba judge ordered Aurora to cease and desist its operations, saying the facility violated a condominium declaration which states “Each unit shall be occupied and used only as a private single-family residence and for no other purpose…”

In her endorsement, the presiding judge wrote: “In this case I agree with the assertion of the applicant, that the operation of a business, such as the Reunification Village, as a branch of ARC, is inconsistent with and in contravention of the Declaration of this condominium.”

At the time, the judge also said the tenants should be given time to pack up their belongings and move out. A week later, Aurora president and CEO Michael Bruneau said he received a letter stating the facility and its clients had to move out by Dec. 31.