Winnipeg property manager ordered to clean homeless encampment debris, calls city response 'bulls--t'

Marvin Sharp, CEO of AML Properties, manages the Pen-Eve apartment complex in Winnipeg, which borders a river where a homeless encampment has existed for years. The encampment's debris, including clothing, consumer goods, and needles, has accumulated on his property.

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You can see down here there’s clothing, there’s consumer good items, there’s needles.

Sharp is particularly frustrated by a compliance order he received on July 17, demanding he clean up the site himself. He stated, "Literally I said, this is bulls–t. You, the city, are responsible for the encampments. I can’t go clean this up unless you deal with the encampments. It’s absolutely unsafe." He also noted the order's clause that if he fails to clean the area, the city will do it and bill him, which he found infuriating.

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Literally I said, this is bulls–t. You, the city, are responsible for the encampments. I can’t go clean this up unless you deal with the encampments. It’s absolutely unsafe.

Councillor Sherri Rollins, representing the area, supported Sharp, calling the situation "absolutely absurd." She criticized the city for penalizing property owners who have already incurred costs for security, fencing, and repairs due to encampment-related issues. Rollins pointed out that other city and province-owned properties with encampments are not facing similar compliance orders.

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So really, what they’re saying is, if you don’t (clean it up), we’ll go do our job and deal with the encampment and clean it, but you get to pay for it. And that just infuriated me.

Rollins accused the city of deflecting accountability and urged for a sustainable public safety plan. She highlighted Sharp's history of reporting dangerous fires and public safety concerns, yet he is now being blamed. "Stop the blame. Put on your city hall leadership pants and get back to work," she urged.

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An absolute Band-Aid on a gaping wound. That now the resolution for encampments is to apparently to penalize the very people who have been spending extra money on security, extra money on fences, extra money on broken doors and broken glass.