Manitoba Will Expropriate Lemay Forest to Turn Into Provincial Park, Premier Says

The Manitoba government says it plans to expropriate a privately-owned parcel of land in south Winnipeg at risk of being deforested by a developer, and turn it into a provincial park.

Premier Wab Kinew made the announcement about the Lemay Forest at an unrelated news conference at the Manitoba Legislative Building on Monday.

“I want the chainsaws to stop,” he told reporters.

“There’s a bunch of paperwork that’s going to happen, but I’m communicating this publicly now just so that people hear the message. And hopefully there’s no trees getting cut down, and people are just reassured that we’re going to turn this area into a provincial park.”

A group fighting to prevent trees from being cut down in the area said recently it was on high alert after learning a Manitoba Crown prosecutor was not planning to move forward a private prosecution that had been preventing the developer from deforesting the area.

That prosecution was filed against Tochal Development Group, owner of the roughly 18 hectares of private forest in St. Norbert, over alleged breaches to the Manitoba Cemeteries Act — which says any person who willfully “destroys, cuts, breaks, or injures any tree, shrub, or plant in a cemetery” is guilty of an offence and liable to a fine.