Sumka forest in good hands

St. Vital

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 26/03/2025 (360 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Some years ago, I prepared a list of my “regrets” at City Hall, and topping the list was the city’s inability to purchase the Sumka forest lands to preserve them as a park. Until recently, that remained a big regret, but in the past two weeks some good news has come forward regarding Sumka.

The Sumka property is roughly 60 acres in size, just south of the Perimeter Highway, and just east of the Seine River. A 20-acre section of this property is still riverbank forest, while the remainder has been used as farmland. One of the first meetings I attended after my election, in November 2011, was with Save our Seine (SOS), whose representatives indicated to me that the farm property was for sale, which offered a chance to preserve the forest. This began a long odyssey of seeking funding to purchase the Sumka property.

There have been two serious attempts to purchase some, or all, of the land during my years as councillor. In 2016, former Mayor Brian Bowman supported my push to obtain funds for purchasing only the forest; that initiative stalled, as the vendor wanted to sell the entire farm as a package. In 2023, then-provincial environment minister Kevin Klein worked with the Manitoba Habitat Conservancy to make another offer, which was also rejected by the vendor.

Would the forest get mowed down? I began to wonder.

However, in recent weeks, I was delighted to learn that Qualico Inc. has now purchased the entire Sumka property. Some people might be concerned that a development firm has purchased the land; but Qualico has expressed interest in the property for years, envisioning the forest as a future regional park site to serve the southeast quadrant of the city (which includes several Qualico communities) rather than another development.

Qualico has been a very responsible development corporation during my years on council. Given the controversies with the Parker Lands and the Lemay Forest, I must admit to relief (and not regret) that Qualico has been able to work out a purchase arrangement. Qualico has also made clear its desire to work with SOS as plans for the area progress.

I doubt that I will still be in office when the Sumka Forest opens as a city park, but I am now confident that the forest will remain secure for future generations to enjoy.