Neighbours irate over RCMP greenery purge

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This article was published 15/12/2023 (1006 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Manitoba RCMP hope removing small shrubs and trees surrounding the provincial headquarters in Winnipeg will help improve security at the site, frustrating nearby residents who are irked by the loss of greenery.

“Maybe it’s only a big deal to me, but it’s just so sad when that kind of thing happens,”said a resident of Greenwood Place, who watched Thursday morning as contractors cut the shrubs in front of RCMP D Division headquarters.

By 1 p.m., roughly a dozen contractors were at work outside 1091 Portage Ave., trimming the foliage with gas-powered chainsaws and discarding the remains in a truck and trailer.

In the parking lot behind the Mounties’ home base in the Minto neighbourhood, a pair of workers was observed servicing the light standards and security cameras.

When the front of the building was cleared, the team turned its attention to shrubs on the western exterior that faces a row of homes.

It was a disheartening sight for the woman, who asked to speak anonymously.

“I just find it really frustrating and I find it un-neighbourly,” she said, adding she has lived in the area for more than four decades and suspects there has been a high level of theft within the police parking lot.

An RCMP spokesperson confirmed the move is in an effort to improve security around the property, which has been targeted by vandals at least once in recent years.

“There hasn’t been any robberies that I know of as of late, and break-ins to vehicles have not increased. Really, (it is) just to keep up to date with security measures and increase sight lines to deter any property crime,” the spokesperson said.

The Winnipeg Police Service logged 103 reports of property crimes in the area immediately surrounding the RCMP detachment between August 2022 and August 2023, data show.

In 2020, the building was one of three city sites vandalized by red spray paint in an apparent protest to the Coastal GasLink pipeline project in northern British Columbia.

Messages written on D Division included: “Shut down Canada,” “Land back,” and “No more.” A monument and plaque in front of the headquarters were also splashed with red paint.

An 18-year-old Winnipeg man was later charged with three counts of mischief, related to the RCMP HQ vandalism and similar defacement at two other sites in the city.

WPS headquarters was similarly marred by red paint in July, by people protesting the arrest of an Indigenous man who had helped lead calls to search landfills near the city for the remains of missing women.

Christian Cassidy, executive director of Trees Winnipeg, said he understands why area residents might be concerned about the loss of greenery in Minto, given the prevalence of tree-killing viruses such as Dutch elm disease.

“I think there are enough trees being lost to disease that people are hyper-aware of trees that are being cut down,” he said.

“That’s prime elm tree country. That is where the city planted nothing but elms up and down the boulevard, so there are people that are pretty traumatized that.”

Cassidy noted there are important instances in which trees and shrubs may need to be cut, including for site security.

tyler.searle@freepress.mb.ca