Community activist hit with $15K fine for breaching court order in Lemay Forest fight

Louise May says she is being punished for doing what is right.

On Monday, a judge fined the St. Norbert community activist $15,000 for breaching a court injunction barring protesters from blocking a developer’s access to a now-scuttled Lemay Forest construction project.

“It’s a terrible price to pay for community involvement and standing up for what’s right,” May, a member of the Coalition to Save Lemay Forest said outside court minutes after the judgment by Court of King’s Bench Justice Sarah Inness.

“You are taking money from a hard-working, small business, community-minded, volunteer-oriented person and moving money to a multi-millionaire who made a bad decision in their business planning,” said May, 59.

May was found in contempt after Inness ruled she breached a court injunction on Jan. 8 when she used her body to prevent the landowner from accessing the property. The injunction at the time barred project opponents from impeding the owner’s access to the land, where trees had been cut down.

People protesting development had been allowed to remain on adjacent city-owned property.

Tochal Development Group had been seeking approval to build a 2,500-unit assisted-living facility.

In April, Premier Wab Kinew announced plans to expropriate the land and turn it into a provincial park.

May, who owns and operates Aurora Farm and is former executive director of the St. Norbert Arts Centre, said the province should have stepped in long ago.

“I think the government officials acted too slowly,” she said. “This was brewing for a long time and the evidence was in front of them. It took the community… almost all women, putting ourselves in harm’s way to bring it to the point where the correct action was taken. I don’t think that’s even part of the discussion.”

May said it will be a struggle for her to pay the fine.

“I run a tight ship and a small business never has latitude to do this,” she said. “I’ve already put a lot of my time and effort and money into this fight. I’m stretched…. This is going to have a huge impact on me and my business.”

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Tochal lawyer Kevin Toyne had requested a fine in excess of $40,000, representing the company’s total expenses related to the court fight. May’s lawyer Scott Newman, citing May’s long history of community involvement, urged Inness to consider a fine of $3,500.

“She is not merely some local crank or dissenter who is opposed to everything but provides nothing positive to her community,” Newman said.

Inness said the $15,000 fine balanced a recognition that May “did the wrong thing, but for an important purpose” with a need to send a message to the community that court orders must be obeyed.

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Meanwhile, a 56-year-old Winnipeg woman was arrested Saturday in relation to an alleged assault at the forest on Dec. 29, said Winnipeg Police Service spokesman Const. Stephen Spencer.

The woman is facing an assault charge and was released on an undertaking. Her name has not been released, as the charge has yet to be formally laid in court.

The victim sought treatment for minor injuries, said Spencer.

— With files from Erik Pindera

dean.pritchard@freepress.mb.ca

Dean Pritchard
Courts reporter

Dean Pritchard is courts reporter for the Free Press. He has covered the justice system since 1999, working for the Brandon Sun and Winnipeg Sun before joining the Free Press in 2019. Read more about Dean.

Every piece of reporting Dean produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.