Land defenders oppose Toronto-based developer removing trees in the Lemay Forest in Winnipeg

Published by Brent Patterson on January 9, 2025January 9, 2025

Photo: “A Manitoba judge extended an injunction ordering protesters opposed to a planned development in the Lemay Forest not to block access to the site.” (CBC, January 6, 2025)

On January 8, APTN News reported: “Land defenders opposing tree removal in the Lemay Forest will not vacate an entry point despite the owner’s attempt to access the land Wednesday [January 8] morning.”

“Since late December, land defenders and members of the Coalition to Save Lemay Forest have camped at an access point just outside the forest.”

This APTN article explains: “They’re fighting to stop the land owner – Tochal Development Group Inc. of Toronto – from removing trees on what they say is sacred land.”

Injunction

APTN also notes: “On Dec. 31, a Manitoba Court of King’s Bench Judge granted an interim injunction ordering them not to impede access to the property owner’s land. On Monday [January 6], the injunction was extended until the next hearing.”

CBC adds: “A Manitoba judge has ruled protesters can’t stop trees from being cut down in Lemay Forest and extended an injunction forcing them to leave the privately owned property. Manitoba Court of King’s Bench Justice Sarah Innes granted the request from Tochal Development Group, which owns the property, to extend the interim injunction first granted near the end of December.”

Photo: Land defenders comment after injunction extended (Global News, January 6, 2025).

Ceremonial site and cemetery

CBC also reports: “Protesters say the forest is a ceremonial site for Indigenous people, and has remnants of a cemetery connected to a former orphanage.”

Global News has previously reported: “The Asile Ritchot, a home for unwed mothers that operated until 1949, had a cemetery in the forest.”

That article continues: “Ian Histed, who is representing one of the 22 defendants, argued the entire property should be considered a cemetery under the province’s Cemeteries Act.” It is believed there could be 1500 grave sites in the area.

Shelley Sweeney, an archivist emeritus with the University of Manitoba who opposes the development, says: “The ethnicity of the children was only reported for a subset of the population. This indicates that there were Métis and a small number of First Nations and Inuit children who died at the Asile.”

In January 2024 the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs (AMC) called for a halt to the development given the possible “mass grave” site.

Natural habitat

CBC further notes: “Nearby residents and Indigenous groups have fought against the developer’s plans for more than a year. Opponents of the development say the property, which is between Lemay Avenue and the Red River, south of the Perimeter Highway, is an important natural habitat. Last week, the Manitoba Habitat Conservancy made an offer to buy the land from Tochal for $5.25 million, but [John] Wintrup [of Tochal Development Group] said that offer is less than the market value of the land.”

Video still: John Wintrup

We continue to follow this.

Land defenders remain at Winnipeg’s Lemay Forest access point despite injunction (APTN, January 8, 2025): “On Wednesday morning the developer’s planner arrived with a large truck intending to access the land. He returned on two separate occasions with a bobcat. But the coalition told him they wouldn’t move until police arrived.”

Protesters continue to occupy blockade at privately owned Winnipeg-area forest (CBC, January 8, 2025)