Lawsuit against Manitoba government over terminated lease on facility for children in care dismissed
CBC
The Manitoba government has successfully applied a rarely used legislative power to get a $7.4-million lawsuit filed against the province dismissed.
The lawsuit filed in 2019 by Peter Ginakes and others over the premature termination of a 20-year lease for a home for at-risk kids was dismissed this February by a Court of Queen's Bench justice.
This comes after the province created legislation in 2019 that not only got them out of the lease at 800 Adele Ave., but also prohibited any legal action from being taken in response — a power that legal experts say governments have but rarely use.
Justice Theodor Bock's decision pointed directly to the legislation as to why he was dismissing all legal actions.
"The Government used its extraordinary power to enact legislation … which expresses in clear and unambiguous terms that the action is deemed to have been dismissed," he said in his Feb. 25 decision.
The lawyer for Ginakes said the fact the government was able to legislate their way into breaching a contract should be concerning for all Manitobans who get into business with the government.
"When you have [a contract with] the government of Manitoba … and you find it can be just be dismissed ... was quite a surprise and a concern," said Dave Hill, senior partner with Hill Sokalski Walsh.
"You would think that having a lease with the government, or at least a lease backed by the government and funded by the government, would be a good asset, a good security."
The lawsuit was completely dismissed after a series of motions, appearances and appeals related to the government's introduction of the legislation.
The 800 Adele Ave. deal has been shrouded in controversy for years after a 2016 audit noted several irregularities, including the original untendered lease cost being twice the market rate.
The lease was between the numbered company listed as owning a property at 800 Adele Ave. and the Southern First Nations Network of Care. The 18,000-square-foot facility.had been sub-leased out for use by Marymound to house at-risk youth.
The Southern Authority oversees 10 child and family services agencies and is funded by the province, and Ginakes and Ken Cranwill (a fellow shareholder) were landlords of the Adele property, located just south of Notre Dame Avenue off Arlington Street.
Lawyers representing the then-NDP government approved the Adele building lease that was signed in 2008.
The authority had been paying $500,000 a year to lease the building, which had been converted into an emergency placement for children in care.