Coalition considers legal action to stop Lemay Forest development

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This article was published 06/01/2025 (305 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A group trying to save a city green space is considering legal action after a Manitoba judge ordered them to stay out of Lemay Forest as a developer continues tree cutting.

Court of King’s Bench Justice Sarah Inness granted an interim injunction request last week, ordering numerous defendants suspected to have taken part in the protest at the St. Norbert property to leave the site and refrain from blocking the property owner from accessing it via an easement over city-owned land.

Cutting down trees at the site resumed Dec. 23, then halted after a small group of people started camping at the property on Dec. 27 to protest the tree clearing.

The court action follows more than a year of heated debate over the future of the south Winnipeg forest. Many residents fought to save the trees amid concerns over potential unmarked graves of Métis children in a former Catholic orphanage cemetery and the protection of bird habitat on the land. The owner, Tochal Development Group, has sought to develop the land into an assisted living facility.

At a contested hearing Monday, the developer’s lawyer, Kevin Toyne, sought a continuation and expansion of the injunction to bar the group that’s opposed to the development from the adjacent city-owned land.

Inness ruled protesters were allowed to remain on the adjacent land, and the injunction would continue under the same terms until further court proceedings.

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“While I understand the concerns raised by the plaintiffs regarding its reluctance to attend the property to access its land, without evidence that an actual blockade is occurring, I’m not prepared to order the protesters to be removed from public city property, particularly given the fact the city and the police have not taken steps to have those protesters removed,” said Inness.

“To be clear, the intention of my order is to continue to ensure that protesters are still able to make their concerns known through lawful and non-violent protesting activities that do not create a blockade, while at the same time, allowing the plaintiff to do what currently it is lawfully entitled to do, and that is to access its property unimpeded without threats or fear of violence.”

Lawyer Ian Histed, who represents defendant Monique (Cat Macaulay) Gauthier, asked Inness to adjourn the matter until potential unmarked graves associated with the cemetery can be further investigated and whether pileated woodpeckers nest on the land can be further studied — and to bar tree cutting in the interim. He argued the developer’s actions contravened provincial cemetery legislation.

Inness said no organizations, governments or people have come before the court to request that relief, so she did not have the jurisdiction to order the tree cutting halted.

City council rejected an assisted living proposal for the site in September, after city planners deemed a potential 5,000-bed, 2,500-unit facility too big for the property. The Manitoba Municipal Board is expected to hear an appeal of that decision in February. The developer obtained a permit to allow it to cut trees on the property in October, after the city ordered a halt to timber-clearing in September.

John Wintrup, a planner for a proposal to develop the land, has said people opposed to the development have repeatedly trespassed on the land and prevented work from occurring.

Louise May, a spokesperson for the Coalition to Save the Lemay Forest, said Monday the group’s actions, which includes an Indigenous sacred ceremonial fire on adjacent land has not impeded any access to the site, including for heavy machinery, in the past week. She said no one has attempted to get through in the past seven days.

May said the group plans to look at legal options, including applying for an injunction of its own to prevent tree cutting.

“We’re looking forward to carrying on and getting this resolved as soon as possible,” said May.

Morningstar Woman, another spokesperson for the group, said she was pleased with the Monday order as it would give the group time to organize and speak with governments to prevent development on the land.

Toyne, lawyer for the property owner, said work is going ahead.

“I expect in the next couple of days tree clearing will resume, and if individuals aren’t complying with the court order, a request will be made to the Winnipeg police to take steps to enforce it,” said Toyne. “The land owner intends to develop it, the trees are going to get cut down, and the land is going to be developed.”

Toyne said a public offer from the Manitoba Habitat Conservancy to purchase the land for about $5 million with help from the provincial and federal governments is too low for the land’s $8 million market price.

erik.pindera@freepress.mb.ca

Erik Pindera
Reporter

Erik Pindera is a reporter for the Free Press, mostly focusing on crime and justice. The born-and-bred Winnipegger attended Red River College Polytechnic, wrote for the community newspaper in Kenora, Ont. and reported on television and radio in Winnipeg before joining the Free Press in 2020.  Read more about Erik.

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