Manwin Hotel resident worries about other tenants after order to vacate

A resident of the Manwin Hotel says he's worried about what will happen to others living in the troubled Main Street building after City of Winnipeg inspectors ordered them out.

The city issued a vacate order for the hotel earlier this month, citing safety concerns.

The Manwin's owner, Akim Kambamba, told CBC News there were 34 people living in the hotel at the time, but about 20 of them came back because they had nowhere else to go.

Ken, who didn't want to give his last name, has lived at the hotel on and off for years, and was among the people ordered to leave. 

"One guy barely walks up the stairs" and has a bad arm, he said in an interview.

Another resident has one leg and needs a cane to walk, he said.

"I mean, really? Making these people go outside?"

The city issued its order after firefighters responding to a blaze in a suite last month found a back fire escape did not meet standards.

Inspectors also cited multiple ongoing maintenance issues in the building.

But Ken says he felt safe.

"I've already had a [city] councillor walk through here yesterday. I said, 'Show me one hole in the floor. Show me where you're gonna fall through.'"

The city and the province have committed to a new homelessness strategy that involves getting people from encampments into permanent housing, which Mayor Scott Gillingham says he fully supports, but "it's got to be into housing that is safe, and can provide the supports and the services that people need," he said.

"It's not a matter of just taking people from encampments into housing."

The Manwin is next door to the Main Street Project, one of the city's main homeless outreach organizations.

Cindy Titus, a spokesperson for Main Street Project, told CBC News many of the Manwin's tenants are familiar to their staff.

Losing any housing "is a traumatic experience," the spokesperson said, but the organization is focused on "working to help people access safe and affordable housing so everyone has a dignified living situation."

An appeal hearing on the vacate order is set for Feb. 10. 

People ordered out of Winnipeg's Manwin Hotel refuse to leave, despite city order

5 days ago

Duration 2:10

It's supposed to be a vacant building after the city ordered residents out over safety concerns. But many who call the Manwin Hotel home say they have no where else to go.