Saskatchewan’s Opposition NDP says Premier Scott Moe’s government needs to step up, snap on some rubber gloves and clean up the sewage fouling the air and land at a building forcibly abandoned by a cult.
NDP MLA Brittney Senger says a provincial health order for the building’s owner to clean up the mess in the village of Richmound isn’t enough.
“We’re calling on the government to actually provide support and clean up the sewage, so that the community can move past this trauma and so kids and families can finally go out and enjoy parks and playgrounds again,” Senger said in an interview.
“The sewage smell was just horrific and really traumatizing the community beyond what they have already faced after having a cult occupy their community.”
Senger also reiterated the NDP’s call for a review into why it took the Saskatchewan Health Authority and the government so long to deem the building — an old school — uninhabitable.
Moe’s office, in a statement, said it is helping. It said the government has provided consultation and support to the community “in the form of technical advice regarding bylaw creation, taxation and voter eligibility.”
It added, “Since December 2022, ministry officials have had approximately 60 inquiries, calls or meetings with village administration and council members on issues covered under the Municipalities Act.
“The government has also remained engaged with the RCMP on this issue to ensure the situation was actively monitored.”
It has been a long-running issue for the village, west of Regina, where residents say they have been tormented for two years by the Kingdom of Canada cult, with residents reportedly harassed, yelled at and videotaped by members of the group.
When Ricky Manz, the building’s owner and cult member, stopped paying the building’s utility bills last year, the village shut off its water and sewer. The result was waste overflowing from toilets and seeping outside the building’s entrance. Later on, members were seen dumping sewage on the property.
The sewage bubbled and pooled for months, the smell saturating the area. Children stopped going to the only playground in the village next to the compound.
A dozen supporters in white hats showed up at the Swift Current courthouse on Monday to greet Romana Didulo, who calls herself the “Queen of Canada.” CBC’s Ethan Williams talks to Christine Sarteschi, a professor of social work and criminology at Chatham University in Pittsburgh, Pa., about how a cult mentality can develop.
But it wasn’t the sewage that led RCMP to raid the building on Sept. 3.
Mounties said they obtained a search warrant on a report that someone inside had a firearm. They seized 13 imitation semi-automatic handguns, along with ammunition and electronic devices. Manz, cult leader Romana Didulo and others were arrested.
Several face charges and have since been released on bail. Didulo has been ordered to stay away from Richmound and Manz and Didulo have each been ordered to not contact the other.
The health authority also ordered members out of the building, deemed uninhabitable, and told Manz to “immediately” fix “discrepancies.”
“(It) is hereby placarded as unsanitary and unfit for occupation,” a health authority sign said outside the building.
It also said the owner is ordered to connect the building to a “lawfully operating communal sewage system.”
“This order remains in effect until the hazards have been corrected to the satisfaction of a Public Health Officer.”
The health authority declined to answer questions about why it didn’t inspect the building before the raid, as sewage began overflowing months earlier. It also didn’t say what the deadline is to fix the mess and when a health officer is next surveying the building to ensure work is complete.
“The SHA is not responsible for scheduling or conducting this work. Only the owner can provide you with the timeline you seek,” a spokesperson said in an email.
Manz’s lawyer previously declined an interview and didn’t respond to recent questions about the cleanup.
Saskatchewan’s Public Health Act states that if an owner of a building doesn’t comply with the order or can’t be found, the authority may ask the municipality to clean up the hazards.
Brad Miller, Richmound’s 64-year-old mayor, said the village of 200 people has been spending money to get rid of the cult since 2023, when it first arrived, but nuisance complaints and commercial building bylaws didn’t work. And the village can’t afford the cleanup now.
“We did a lot on our own and we even hired our own lawyer,” he said.
He said the village has asked the province for help many times over the years but didn’t receive much.
“Myself and the town of Richmond feel that we just are left in the dust,” he said.
Miller also said the health authority not only responded late but has given Manz too much leeway to clean up.
“He’s getting just a nice little slap on the hands,” Miller said, adding he has seen Manz go in and out of the compound to supposedly clean and fix the sewage problem.
He said he has seen a toilet and lots of wood sitting outside the building.
Miller said it seems like progress is being made since the health order was issued. The sewage outside has also dried somewhat with help from Saskatchewan’s sunny skies.
It’s been frustrating, the mayor said, but added, “We just have to suck it up.”
