Latest news with #TochalDevelopmentGroup
CTV News
4 days ago
- Politics
- CTV News
Protester who broke Lemay Forest court injunction fined $15K
Protesters blocked the road to Lemay Forest in Winnipeg to prevent trees from being cut down on Jan. 8, 2025. (Joseph Bernacki/CTV News Winnipeg) A woman protesting work to remove trees from Lemay Forest has been fined $15,000 for breaching a court injunction. Court of King's Bench Justice Sarah Inness gave the judgment Monday, saying Louise May was impeding the landowners' access to the forest on Jan. 8. 'In my decision, I found Ms. May did not act in good faith in taking reasonable steps to comply. Her actions displayed a deliberate and intentional breach of the court order. She did so to gain public attention and generate support for the cause she was advancing,' Inness said while reading her decision. The original injunction was granted in late December and then extended on Jan. 6. Two days later, protesters, including May, blocked an entrance to the forest, not allowing construction workers with Tochal Development Group to enter. Tochal had wanted to build an assisted-living facility on the site. That plan had been defeated by the city. After a continued back and forth between protesters and Tochal, Premier Wab Kinew shared in April that the government was planning to expropriate the land and turn Lemay Forest into a provincial park. Speaking with CTV News Winnipeg on Tuesday, May—who is part of the Coalition to Save Lemay Forest and the owner of Aurora Farm—said the fine is 'heavy-handed.' 'It's just not right, and that I should be fined for stopping it and getting the forces aligned to do the right thing is completely unfair,' said May. While her and others' actions did eventually lead to the province announcing expropriation of the forest, Inness said in her decision that it doesn't change May's actions of breaching a court order. She also mentioned this fine should send a strong message to May and others about taking the proper legal steps instead of going against an injunction. 'It's easy to say in hindsight that we could have done things differently, but that was a very fast-moving situation and as a community, it's harder to get people together to get legal advice and to act on legal advice. So, I did what I did to save the forest, and I'm proud of it.' May did note that if she had more time, she would have taken a different course of action. May has until this time next year to pay the $15,000, and said work is underway to help raise money to cover the costs. While she doesn't agree with the punishment, May said everyone who fought to save the forest did the right thing. 'We can be proud of ourselves. It doesn't matter what the court says or what anyone else says. We know what we've done, and we did good.'
Winnipeg Free Press
02-05-2025
- Politics
- Winnipeg Free Press
City offers to add land to province's plan for Lemay Forest park
The City of Winnipeg will offer 34 acres of land it owns alongside the privately owned Lemay Forest to support a future provincial park. Mayor Scott Gillingham said the lands will add to the provincial government's controversial plan to expropriate the privately owned urban forest, which the premier previously said would extend to surrounding property. 'This is the city saying to the province (that) we want to be partners, you don't need to expropriate city land. We will offer it to consolidate it all together to create a park,' said Gillingham. On Friday, city council unanimously approved a proposal to provide the land and be an 'active partner' in creating the park, with a detailed report on steps to do so expected in about six months. 'This really kind of checks a lot of boxes, as it were, in a lot of the goals the city has, the province has… in protecting green spaces,' said Gillingham. While the mayor suggested offering the land is a 'significant contribution' to the future park, he said the city does not have a current appraisal of the public land's value. The future of the Lemay Forest has triggered heated debate for more than a year, as many residents sought to preserve its trees. Some also shared concerns that development would disrupt unmarked graves from a former orphanage cemetery on part of the land. Prior to the expropriation process, Tochal Development Group owned land at the site, where it planned to build a 5,000-bed assisted-living facility. The developer had publicly promised to create a buffer zone around any graves. When asked if that battle over the land's future affected the city's interest in the land, the mayor spoke only of a goal to protect and enhance green space. 'We have goals of creating more green space and preserving park land. This can be a partnership… which benefits future generations of Winnipeggers and Manitobans,' said Gillingham. A key planner on the assisted-living proposal questioned the two governments' willingness to create a park, accusing officials of a 'questionable' lack of public consultation since the province announced its expropriation plans last month. Sent weekly from the heart of Turtle Island, an exploration of Indigenous voices, perspectives and experiences. 'It's moving so quickly for (a) land exchange…. A lot of people are moving very rapidly. Usually, these things take years, if not decades,' said John Wintrup. Wintrup said it's too soon to confirm if the developer will challenge the expropriation decision in court. 'We're not rolling over, that's for sure. The landowner wants fair-market value for the property…. There (are) various legal options,' he said. X: @joyanne_pursaga Joyanne PursagaReporter Joyanne is city hall reporter for the Winnipeg Free Press. A reporter since 2004, she began covering politics exclusively in 2012, writing on city hall and the Manitoba Legislature for the Winnipeg Sun before joining the Free Press in early 2020. Read more about Joyanne. Every piece of reporting Joyanne 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. Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber. Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
CBC
17-04-2025
- Politics
- CBC
Municipal board upholds City of Winnipeg decision rejecting Lemay Forest plan
A provincial board has upheld a City of Winnipeg decision rejecting plans to build an assisted-living facility on a piece of hotly disputed land known as the Lemay Forest. Tochal Development Group had proposed building a 5,000-bed, 2,500-unit facility on 18 hectares of forested land along the Red River in St. Norbert. People living nearby, along with Indigenous groups and environmentalists have opposed the project, leading protesters to temporarily block access to crews coming to clear trees, and charges against some of the demonstrators. In September, council rejected the plans, arguing the proposed facility was too big for the site. The owner appealed the decision to the Manitoba Municipal Board, a provincial body with the authority to overturn city land-use decisions. Hearings began in February, and the board released its decision on Wednesday, rejecting the appeal and allowing the city's decision to stand. "In the board's opinion, the proposed development, at nearly three times the total population of St. Norbert, is not contextually suitable or the area," the board wrote in its decision. It noted that a smaller development of no more than 800 units would have been acceptable, but it lacked the authority to order the reduction. "Not only did neither of the parties propose a pathway for the board to approve the development application at a reduced density, but the parties were also clear in their respective positions that the development application be considered by the board at full density," the decision stated. The board recommends the developer resubmit plans for a smaller project. On Monday, the same day work crews returned to the site to resume cutting down trees, Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew announced the province would expropriate the land to turn it into a provincial park. Opponents of the project have argued it would destroy a sensitive natural area popular with nearby residents as a place to enjoy greenspace. The forest is also the site of a historical cemetery site belonging to a former orphanage. Research by the Manitoba Historical Society has found at least 3,383 children died at the facility.
