The Lemay Forest: the owner speaks

Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 19/06/2024 (445 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

My family and I own the properties in St. Norbert known as the “Tochal lands,” purchased to build housing for all Canadians.

After six years of thoughtful planning on the changes to our lands, in 2023, an all-embracing consultation effort was made in a final attempt at collaboration with city staff, the Manitoba Métis Federation (MMF), tree advocacy groups, environmental groups, rightsholders, St. Norbert residents, businesses and institutions, and our neighbours.

Governments were given the opportunity to express an interest in the lands to appease the neighbours by preserving the lands “as is” and stop new housing in the backyards.

At that time, I was willing to make it easier for cash-strapped governments by accepting a land exchange, a partnership, a trade of assets, or even outright selling the lands. All levels of government confirmed — no interest in securing the lands to stop new housing figuratively in our neighbours’ backyards.

We are not aware of any subsequent authorized tri-government actions to purchase these lands, and no party has offered $3.1 million, as mentioned in the media.

Only two offers were received in 2024: MMF submitted an insufficient bid of $1.9 million but withdrew it and cancelled a scheduled meeting.

Manitoba Heritage Conservancy made a bid in March, with only five days to accept, of $2,925,000, far less than half the value of the lands. I was prepared, at that time, to entertain authentic offers in writing aligned to the genuine value of the lands, reflecting the rapidly escalating real estate prices and allowing me to address the housing crisis elsewhere.

But no credible proposals were submitted to stop the housing in our neighbours’ backyards.

Neighbours did not respect our differences, rebuffed collaboration, and showed intolerance towards others’ views. Their solitary perspective is my lands are their lands for their personal benefit, which is to have nothing in their backyards.

The process vigorously followed by them, instead of collaborating, is recruiting others to a rigid ideology to oppose everything, demonize those with different views, and manufacture a conflict. City staff responses ranged from minimal to disregard to outright obstructionist. Certain city staff would not provide basic services, as if providing simple assistance equalled condoning changes to the lands.

MMF abstained from communication, disregarding numerous correspondence from August to November 2023, including the full disclosure of our findings of unmarked Indigenous graves in the area. We asked the MMF for specific cultural guidance on acknowledging the unmarked Indigenous graves, but they have not responded.

The surge of interest in people talking to the media demanding direct communication with me now just weeks before the public hearing scheduled on June 24 — or else — is bewildering and revolting.

As stated to the media, I am to be placed in a room alone in a five-on-one meeting with powerful officials from all three levels of government, the neighbours and the MMF to be told how things work in Winnipeg: sell my (incorrectly stated as unserviced) lands at their rock-bottom price to stop new buildings in their backyards, or face litigation and other unnamed harms.

All these parties refused collaboration multiple times, rebuffed meetings, and dismissed co-operating peacefully to acknowledge Canada’s housing crisis, climate change, and reconciliation journey. Reasonable ideas were brought forward many times in an inclusive process to formulate a comprehensive vision to acknowledge those issues. City staff and the neighbours chose not to converse or coalesce on any other vision, just their own limited view.

I will not meet with unreasonable, intolerant, and uninformed parties who have nothing else to offer but promises of harm. It is disheartening that Coun. Markus Chambers and Winnipeg South MP Terry Duguid are using their powers of elected office to try and force the sale of a house and lands at bargain basement prices to appease a handful of narrow-minded, dogmatic individuals.

This is Canada, where reputable and principled government officials do not pressure, force, threaten or manoeuvre hard-working Canadians to give away properties to please the neighbours.

Many leaders on this matter have been short-sighted in seeking to purposefully create, escalate, and aggrandize a neighbourhood disagreement into a significant confrontation — this is not what I envisioned when setting out on a hard journey in Canada.

Most disappointing is the absence of leadership in Winnipeg.

The glaring incapability of local leaders and administrators to bring diverse people together, reduce tensions, stop energizing hate, counter NIMBY, call out bullying, curtail intolerance and soothe disagreements. Unfortunately, this is increasinly becoming Winnipeg’s identifying characteristics: what did you do when the Winnipeggers promised harm and came for my house, land, and safety? Whose personal safety is next?

I am all in on human rights and housing. Tree removal is commencing on our schedule to clear the private lands.

We waited until the last moments in hopes of collaboration that is clearly not going to happen on this matter.

Narrow-minded leaders need to step out of the way and allow new, big-tent, consensus-building leaders to emerge to build a just society and lead a better Canada with political and religious freedoms, equal opportunity rights, private property rights, cultural diversity, and housing for all.

Let us together do the right thing and acknowledge a win for everyone is addressing Canada’s housing crisis, climate change, and reconciliation journey.

Mazyar Yahyapour is a dog lover, nature lover, housing and human rights advocate, and the landowner of the Tochal lands in St. Norbert looking to live safely elsewhere in Canada.