Tenant with disability files human rights complaint against Winnipeg public housing project

A Manitoba Housing apartment complex designed to accommodate people with disabilities is the subject of a human rights complaint by a tenant who says she's being discriminated against based on her disability.

When it opened in 2012, the 37-unit rental property was heralded as a place designed to be barrier-free with enhanced accessibility that would improve housing conditions for people with disabilities. 

But it was built with only eight indoor underground parking spaces, while the remainder — about 40 spots — are outdoors.

Tenant Sandi Reimer moved into Place La Charrette on Pembina Highway in St. Norbert, just past Winnipeg's south Perimeter Highway, in December 2020.

Since then, she said she has documented numerous falls on snow and ice in the winter while using an outdoor parking space for her vehicle.

Reimer has a leg amputated above the knee because of gangrene after complications at birth, so she uses crutches for mobility most of the time. 

She filed a complaint with the Manitoba Human Rights Commission in January 2022, arguing she has been discriminated against because she has not been given one of the eight indoor parking spots.

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Using an outdoor parking spot in the winter has led to problems. 

"I've had more than 100 falls. I've had more than 50 injuries. I've had more than 50 medical and treatment appointments. I've had to miss more than three weeks of work because of all the injuries and treatment appointments and time off for that," Reimer said in an interview.

"The impact of the injuries has meant a lot of lost time off work, which really bugs me because as an employee with a disability, I want to be dependable. I want to show up. I want to be fine. I want to be there when the important meetings happen."

'More need than there is spots'

While the property with 31 suites and six bungalows is owned by Manitoba Housing, it's managed by the not-for-profit Ten Ten Sinclair Housing Inc., which is the respondent named in the human rights complaint. 

Ten Ten Sinclair said Reimer is next on the list to get an indoor parking spot.

"I think that's not good enough," Reimer said, adding she just wants to be safe. "That's not accommodating. Nobody else is falling and getting injured."

Place La Charrette was funded by all three levels of government and opened as housing for low- to medium-income tenants that is accessible for people with disabilities. 

One of the eight indoor parking spots is assigned to the live-in caretaker as part of his employment agreement. 

Ten Ten Sinclair said the other seven indoor spots are assigned to tenants who have a disability or a family member with a disability, and who have provided medical documentation to support their request.

In its written response to the human rights complaint, Ten Ten Sinclair said it has not been able to provide Reimer with an indoor parking spot so far "because to do so would displace the accommodation needs of other tenants with disabilities."

Ten Ten Sinclair's executive director Debbie Van Ettinger said who gets the indoor spots is determined by medical notes.

"And so it's a first come, first serve [system]. The spots are currently all full, and then the rest go on a waiting list," Van Ettinger said in an interview.

"There's more need than there is spots. And so somehow that has to be done fairly."

Van Ettinger said she doesn't know why the complex was built with only eight indoor parking spots for 31 apartment suites, but she said she assumes it would be related to construction costs.

She said although Reimer is next on the list for an indoor parking spot, it's difficult to say when that will happen because it depends on when someone else moves out.

'Callousness and disregard': lawyer

In the meantime, Ten Ten Sinclair said it has made efforts to accommodate Reimer in the winter by letting her choose a more suitable outdoor parking spot closer to the building entrance, and by making extra efforts to clear snow and ice.

Van Ettinger said the landlord also phoned a number of tenants and asked if they'd be willing to give up their indoor spot.

"We did reconfirm all the medical notes and we did re-look at all the spots to make sure that the people in the spots definitely qualified and met the criteria for the spots," Van Ettinger said.

She noted that Reimer was aware that an indoor parking spot was not available when she signed her lease in 2020.

Van Ettinger said anyone has a right to file a human rights complaint, but she disagrees that there's been discrimination against Reimer.

Annelise Petlock, a lawyer with the War Amps — an organization that works with Canadian amputees and has been advocating on Reimer's behalf — said human rights have not been respected in the case.

"We help amputees across the country with human rights situations like this. And I have never seen the level of callousness and disregard for someone's safety, as I have with Ten Ten Sinclair and … unfortunately, with Manitoba Housing," Petlock said in an interview from Ottawa.

Van Ettinger said Petlock's remark is disappointing.

"I don't agree with that perception and I wouldn't work for an organization like that," Van Ettinger said. 

"Ten Ten is an agency that's been around for 48 years supporting persons with disabilities, both in the housing and attendant care services [sectors]. And our board of directors and our staff have always been committed to the rights and removal of societal barriers for all people with disabilities. And so that's a disappointing comment."

Ten Ten Sinclair's board of directors chair Chris Wullum wrote a letter to the organization on June 13 saying that "disparaging comments" about Ten Ten and its executives won't help resolve Reimer's situation. 

Wullum wrote, "we disagree on how effective an approach this will be in both the short term and long term."

Mediation attempt unsuccessful

Van Ettinger, who uses a wheelchair, said she personally can relate to Reimer's situation. 

"It's a very difficult situation for everybody involved, and certainly I myself understand that snow can be an immense barrier. I used to walk on elbow crutches myself, so I understand a little bit about what it takes to get through snow," Van Ettinger said. 

"And there are falls — I have fallen many times myself, and so I can understand where she's coming from. But there's a lot of factors and variables at play here, and I wish I had enough spots for everyone."

Last winter, there was an attempt to resolve Reimer's human rights complaint through mediation, but it did not succeed.

There is currently a wait time of 24 months to have a complaint assigned to an investigator at the Manitoba Human Rights Commission, said Delaney Coelho, director of intake and mediation.

"Something is off — something is not right there," Reimer said. "I don't know that I can go through two more years of falls and injuries."

War Amps lawyer Petlock agrees the delay is a problem.

"I think it's extremely problematic because then people have, in essence, no rights," she said.

Petlock said the landlord should take advantage of federal and provincial grant programs that could be used to build more indoor parking spots at Place La Charrette.

In an email, a provincial spokesperson told CBC that "Manitoba Housing is aware of the complaint, but there are a limited number of underground spaces, and a waiting list."

The spokesperson said Manitoba Housing is working with the tenant and Ten Ten Sinclair "to come to a satisfactory resolution for all parties." The province declined further comment while the case is before the human rights commission. 

The spokesperson said Place La Charrette is one of only three out of 3,000 buildings owned by Manitoba Housing that have any type of covered parking.