By Trevor Greyeyes
It was a brand-new daycare treated like a derelict building. Photographs now show the predictable result.
The empty $5.5-million daycare at the former Meadows Golf Course in East St. Paul was reportedly broken into, with copper and other saleable materials stolen and damage done throughout the building.
Terra Indigena obtained photographs taken at the property showing damage inside and outside the daycare. Ceiling panels are missing, wiring and fixtures have been pulled out, and exterior security cameras are gone.
There is more than enough blame to go around.
Manitoba’s former Progressive Conservative government negotiated and funded this bewildering arrangement: constructing a multimillion-dollar daycare on land whose ownership would later become the subject of a dispute.
That government is no longer in office.
True.
But it was under Premier Wab Kinew’s NDP government that the completed daycare sat empty and without utilities for approximately a year and a half.
Never mind, for the moment, the argument over who owns the building. That was still the public explanation on January 26, 2026, when CBC reported that the provincially funded daycare remained unopened because the government could not determine who owned the land.
Whatever legal questions surrounding the property, somebody still had a responsibility to protect a brand-new building constructed with public money.
The present board of directors of the Peguis First Nation Real Estate Trust did not negotiate the original deal. It inherited this mess from the former board, just as the Kinew government inherited it from the former Conservative government.
But inherited problems still become present responsibilities.
The building remained vacant, and the damage occurred during the tenure of the current provincial government and the present PFNRET board.
So far, I have not received an official statement from PFNRET about the incident.
And remember at the PFNRET meeting in February 2026, the board asked chief and council for $15,000 to cover the utility arrears. So, PFN chief and council are not totally without blame as well.
The RCMP confirmed that Selkirk officers responded to a mischief complaint at the empty daycare at 8:47 a.m. on August 5.
Police believe the damage occurred sometime during the preceding couple of weeks. No suspect was identified, and the investigation has been concluded.
The police response confirms that damage was reported, but it leaves many important questions unanswered: What was damaged or stolen? How long had the property gone without inspection? Why was the damage not discovered sooner?
It is also fair to ask why the investigation was concluded before the full extent and value of the damage had apparently been established.
The absence of official answers does not erase what the photographs document: the building has been damaged.
This is no longer something for only the people of Peguis First Nation to ponder. Manitoba taxpayers paid for this daycare, and they also deserve answers.
What was damaged or stolen?
What is the estimated value of the damage?
How much will the building cost to repair the damages?
Was the building insured?
Who was responsible for securing and regularly inspecting the property?
When was it last inspected before the damage was discovered?
With the utilities disconnected, what security system—if any—was operating?
When was the break-in discovered, and when was it reported to police?
Most importantly, who will now pay to repair the building?
None of this required genius-level foresight. An empty building without power or effective security is an obvious target for trespassing, vandalism, copper theft and fire.
Manitoba municipalities have repeatedly warned the provincial government about the public cost and danger created when buildings are abandoned and allowed to deteriorate.
Those risks were neither unknown nor unforeseeable.
This building did not become vulnerable when somebody broke into it.
It became vulnerable when those responsible for it allowed a conspicuously empty, multimillion-dollar public asset to sit without utilities and, apparently, without meaningful protection.
The thieves are responsible for committing the crime.
Governments and boards are responsible for safeguarding the public and community assets placed under their watch.
The former Conservative government must answer for creating this disastrous arrangement.
The former PFNRET board must answer for its role in allowing the dispute and vacancy to continue.
The present board and the Kinew government must explain what they did—or failed to do—to protect the building after assuming responsibility.
Everyone involved can point backward at whoever created the problem.
Meanwhile, a brand-new daycare has been treated like a derelict building—and the people of Peguis and Manitoba taxpayers may once again be handed the bill.