The province has established procedures on seizing properties connected to suspected crime
The Manitoba government has announced that it is looking at the conversion of properties connected to suspected criminal activity into affordable housing units.
The announcement came after the government’s recent seizure of six homes in the Point Douglas neighbourhood of Winnipeg.
The acquisitions were made under the province’s Criminal Property Forfeiture Act, which involves a civil court process through which government is empowered to “confiscate property or proceeds of unlawful activity and property used in committing crime, considered instruments of unlawful activity.”
These proceedings are entirely separate from criminal law, and are not reliant on criminal prosecutions, the Manitoba government said.
The six recently seized properties are assessed with values between $75,000 and $215,000 each, The Canadian Press reported. However, the province said that it is planning to sell the assets at just $1 each to Indigenous or non-profit organizations.
“After some discussion and certainly hearing input from others in the community, it was decided that it would be best not to monetize the homes, but to turn them into a place where individuals can live and hopefully help to revitalize the neighbourhood a little bit,” said Justice Minister Kelvin Goertzen
