Owners of Spirit Rising House charged with distributing cannabis to underage kids

September 16, 2024 Canuck

The owners of a Manitoba for-profit private foster home provider accused of giving marijuana to underage teens were charged Monday, according to court records.

John Bennett, Christine Ormiston, Ian Rabb and Kelli Register — the owners of Spirit Rising House — appeared in court Monday and were charged with distributing illicit cannabis and providing cannabis to a young person.

They have been under investigation since February after a social media post alleged the company was giving vulnerable youth in care a gram of weed a day in order to “numb” them.

At the time, they ran nine foster homes and two specialized group homes for 34 high-risk youth.

The province cut ties with the Winnipeg-based company after its own internal investigation was able to confirm that cannabis was being distributed to the kids. All the children in care were eventually removed from the homes.

Search Warrants executed in April

CBC first reported in April that several group homes were searched by police as part of their investigation into Spirit Rising House.

Search warrant documents revealed the teens were given cannabis daily, allowed to go to homes where they were sexually exploited, and taken to see known drug dealers by staff.

Winnipeg police said they were able to collect evidence that showed the people involved with Spirit Rising House were “criminally negligent” and caused numerous children in care to suffer bodily harm, according to a sworn affidavit by Winnipeg police Const. Phillip Cole on April 10.

A person rolling a joint. — Search warrant documents say the youth in care were sometimes driven to illegal cannabis distributers to buy cannabis with their allowance. (Juan Mabromata/AFP/Getty Images)

“I am not a doctor or therapist but I do believe that SRH [Spirit Rising House] providing numerous at-risk CIC [children in care] with marijuana has led to harm both mentally and physically,” he wrote in an affidavit to a judge.

The law firm representing the owners of Spirit Rising House declined to comment as the matter is before the courts.

Well-known addictions counsellor charged

Rabb founded Spirit Rising House in 2021, according to his online biography, and is a well-known addictions counsellor. He was once involved with Aurora Recovery Centre in Gimli, Man., and most recently was the managing director of Kelburn Recovery Centre.

In April, the company that owns Kelburn — Universal Ibogaine Inc.— announced Rabb was no longer involved with them and they were replacing him at Kelburn.

In 2011, he ran provincially for the Progressive Conservatives in Fort Garry-Riverview.

A portrait of man wearing a polo shirt. — Ian Rabb founded Spirit Rising House in 2021. The well-known addictions counsellor ran for the Progressive Conservatives in 2011. (Jeff Stapleton/CBC)

In a report released by the company in May, Spirit Rising House defended the care it provided to the youth, arguing it was looking to develop new solutions for “existing problems in child welfare in relation to vulnerable youth afflicted with the illness of addiction.”

It wrote that kids were coming into Spirit Rising homes with substance use issues to begin with, sometimes facing criminal charges from drug use and were susceptible to exploitation.

“This government does not have the luxury of placing blame on one group or organization. Exploitation and hard drug use cannot be ignored for Manitoba’s youth in care or for youth living in their natural homes,” the report stated.