Winnipeg judge finds Lemay Forest protester in contempt of injunction

A member of a group fighting to preserve the Lemay Forest in Winnipeg has been found in civil contempt of court for breaching an injunction, after she impeded a developer's access to the property with her body last month.

Manitoba Court of King's Bench Justice Sarah Inness on Wednesday found protester Louise May — part of the Coalition to Save the Lemay Forest, a group opposed to the development of a forested area in the St. Norbert area — in contempt of the injunction for her actions at the site on Jan. 8.

Inness granted an injunction on Dec. 30 that was extended Jan. 6, forbidding the group from blocking access to the roughly 18 hectares of private forest land owned by Tochal Development Group south of the Perimeter Highway, where trees were being cleared.

Court heard May stood in the path of travel on adjacent city land, blocking access to the property when the developer's professional planner, John Wintrup, arrived. Despite repeated requests, she refused to move to allow a large tandem truck towing a Bobcat on a flatbed trailer through.

At the time, May was in a group of about a dozen people, including members of the media, a written decision Inness read in court said.

The judge said May's actions displayed "a deliberate and intentional breach of the court order, notwithstanding her assertions otherwise."

"She did so to gain public attention and support. The fact that her purpose to prevent tree cutting may be laudable, or ultimately vindicated, is irrelevant," Inness said in court in Winnipeg.

"To grant leniency in the circumstances of this case would send the erroneous message to the public that the means justify the ends. Court orders must be taken seriously in a civilized society if the rule of law is to be maintained."

Sentencing will be set at a later date.

Controversy around proposed development

In September, city council rejected a plan to build a 5,000-bed, 2,500-unit assisted living facility, which city planners said was too big for the site. The developer has appealed the city's decision with the Manitoba Municipal Board.

Inness's decision said the controversy surrounding the proposed development of the property has garnered significant attention — including from those concerned about the loss of the site for public enjoyment, the environmental impact of tree cutting and the potential interference with human remains belonging to Métis children who may be buried on the property.

Tracey Turner, the executive director of the Manitoba Historical Society, previously said the grounds house a cemetery site belonging to the Asile Ritchot orphanage, which operated from 1904 to 1948.

Records indicate the institution, which also operated as a home for unmarried mothers, had a mortality rate close to 60 per cent, and between 1,200 and 2,300 children died in the building, according to the Manitoba Historical Society.

Turner said most of them were buried in common and unmarked graves in Lemay Forest.

Wintrup previously said the developer has also completed four archaeological studies to survey the site and identified unmarked graves over more than a year and a half.

A buffer zone of 100 metres was then established on the property, with the intent of not doing any tree clearing on the site of the cemetery.  

May previously filed a private prosecution against Tochal over alleged breaches to the Manitoba Cementeries Act, which says anyone who willfully "destroys, cuts, breaks, or injures any tree, shrub, or plant in a cemetery" can be fined.

Inness dismissed an allegation by the developer that May began that court action to intimidate and threaten it into stopping cutting trees, saying she should have a right to pursue a private prosecution if there's a basis to do so.

"Allowing a private citizen to bring an allegation of criminal wrongdoing before the court is an important aspect of our criminal justice system," the judge said.