Report blasts Lions Club for 'elder neglect and abuse' in sale of Winnipeg building

The 2023 sale of Lions Place, a former seniors' complex in downtown Winnipeg, amountedto elder abuse through a "targeted dismantling of community for older adults," a new report claims.

The report, from theCanadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, calls for "an immediate public inquiry, investigation and/or audit" into the spending of Lions Club of Winnipeg and management ofLions Housing Centres (LHC), which operates the non-profit organization's housing and care facilities.

"This is particularly urgent given that LHC is still currently responsible for operating Lions Manor [320 Sherbrook St.]and Lions View [311 Furby St.] wherein over 200 older adults live with their support and/or care," according to thereport, titledA Betrayal of Trust: Exploring the Financialization of Lions Place in Winnipeg as a Case of Organizational Elder Abuse.

Lions Place, a 287-unit buildingat 610 Portage Ave., opened in 1983with federal government funding (an operating agreement that later transitioned to the province).It was sold last year toMainstreet Equity Corporation, a Calgary-based, for-profit real estate company, and rebranded as Residences at Portage Commons.

"The case of the sale of Lions Place represents both a major net loss of affordable housing and an example of the targeted dismantling of community for older adults in Winnipeg," the report states.

It concludes the sale amountedto "organizational elder neglect and abuse in a community setting, reflective of abroader problem of mistreatment of older adults more generally, manifested here in mistreatment by a non-profit charitable organization."

CBC News has reached out to Lions Housing Centres and the province for reaction to the report.

The report's authors citedscholarly research, media coverage, and in-person interviewswith 22 current tenants, one former tenant, two family members, six former Lions Housingstaff, and four community stakeholders, as the sources for its findings.

The research points to"numerous harms related to the sale that have affected tenants, their quality of life, and their community.The financialization of seniors housing is not only part of a broader process threatening non-profit and affordable housing in Canada our analysis suggests this process is also tied to deep-rooted ageism and ableism," the report says.

"In the case of LHC, it represents an overwhelming failure of their mission and values that harmed tenants and their community."

At the time of the sale, the province announced atwo-year rent supplement agreement withMainstreet, in which the governmentwas providing$1.2 million to cushion against increases. It applied to seniors living thereduring the ownership transition.

There is "a great deal of anxiety" as that deal is set to expire in about 10 months, said Tom Simms, whose 94-year-old mother has been at Lions Place for 25 years.

He's hoping the new provincial government will step inand extend the protection.

"I think the big immediate-term thing," he said.

The report also rebukesLions Housingfor abandoning its mission and values as aregistered charityin the immediate years leading up to the sale.

"The organization operated according to the logic of a for-profit institution," it says. "The board and management became increasingly insular and narrow-minded, at times demonstrating disregard for tenants and their quality of life."

Residents who moved in shortly before the sale "felt particularly betrayed as they believed the sale was being brokered behind the scenes for months or years before tenants were notified," the report says, and those tenants felt "theyhad moved in under what turned out to be a false pretence of non-profit seniors-oriented housing."

Failure to find alternatives

The report also citesa lack of due diligence by Lions Housing to find alternatives to the sale, such as other ways to bring in revenue, partnering with other organizations, or findingacceptable a non-profit buyer.

That can also be viewed asan abuse of power and trust, the report says.

"Sadly, Lions Place is kind of a poster child for a lot of concrete examples of what's wrong," said Simms, who believes governments need to create stronger regulation around organizations like LHC whenpublic money is involved.

"I'm a firm believer in non-profits, but there needs to be accountability and transparency and support measures," he said, adding that needs to be done before Lions Housingdecides to sell its other two complexes.

"They've done it once.There's nothing that's stopping them to do it again."

Among other things, including the call for an inquiry, the reportrecommendsimplementing legislation toprevent non-profit buildings from being sold to the private market.

Extending the moratorium on raising rentswould also be welcomed, but the sale of the building toanother non-profit would be the best outcome, it adds.

Establishing an independent seniors advocate in Manitoba, which the province has promised,is also key, according to the report.

It also calls for the province torevisit legislation governing elder abuse, ensuring it coversorganizational harms.

Lions Place "was the largest non-profit seniors' housing building in Manitoba. This was like a Cadillac of what housing could be like for seniors, and so that's gone. We've lost it to some company that isn't even in the province," said Simms.

"Weneed to ensure that that doesn't happen in the future."

'Elder neglect and abuse': report slams sale of former Winnipeg seniors' home

5 months ago

Duration 2:54

The 2023 sale of Lions Place, a former seniors' complex in downtown Winnipeg, amounted to elder abuse through a "targeted dismantling of community for older adults," a new report claims.