By Steve Lambert, The Canadian Press
Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew speaks with media before at a First Ministers Meeting at the National War Museum Friday, March 21, 2025 in Ottawa. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld)
The Manitoba government is planning to expropriate a private property in south Winnipeg that has seen clashes between its owner and area residents.
Premier Wab Kinew says the government will take over the area known as Lemay Forest and turn it into a provincial park.
The owner of the 18-hectare property started cutting down trees in the winter and planned to develop an assisted living facility.
Area residents and conservationists opposed the move, citing the pristine forest and the area’s history, which included an orphanage and a cemetery.
Kinew says the province aims to pay market value for the property but work is needed to determine what that number is.
Protesters had camped outside the site to try to fight the tree-cutting, and Kinew says a new park is better than conflict over the land.
“For me, the public interest at the end of the day is to put the chainsaws down, to put the folks who are really fired up about this at ease, and to just let Manitobans know (that) instead of some kind of showdown or some kind of conflict … you’re going to have a beautiful provincial park,” Kinew said Monday.
