Summary
Jenna Vandal and the Parker Wetlands Conservation Committee, along with members of other groups, have blocked the clear cutting of the remainder of the Parker Wetlands site located between Taylor Avenue and Parker Avenue along the railway. Currently they have set up a camp in front of the mulcher machines owned by a sub-contractor. The developers who sub-contracted the company, Gem Equities owned by Andrew Marquess, are seeking to develop the wetlands site into suburban housing and condos. Currently the company has already cut 15 acres of forest (approx. ⅓ of the site) until the blockade was set up.
Vandal and other activists who set up the blockade are arguing that Metis and other Indigenous groups have not been consulted about the development, and that specifically because it’s a metis historic site called “Rooster Town” and “Tin Town”, consultation with the MMF should have been undertaken. The MMF may also have a legal issue because they were not consulted when the land was transferred from public land (owned by the City of Winnipeg) to private land. Though municipal land is not technically Crown land, there can be caveats, and a case could possibly be made (Source-Jerch law). It could also be argued that municipal consultation with MMF should be undertaken out of good faith considering it’s the homeland of the Metis, and because Canada is in current negotiations with MMF to remedy the issue of land loss on ancestral territory. The MMFs Traditional Land Use Area also encompasses all of southern Manitoba, as well as much of Western Manitoba. Vandal referred to the Manitoba Metis Federation Supreme Court Ruling and Daniels decision, as well as the the Treaty Land Entitlement Framework Agreement as a means to start these discussions (The group at the blockade spoke to Chris Henderson of TLECM and they would not be interested in acquiring the land, but is interested in the wider issue of lack of consultation).
The group is also arguing that a comprehensive environmental impact assessment has not been done by Gem Equities and that the development and clear cutting is a threat to endangered species who live on the site. The Parker Wetlands Conservation Committee released a review of Gem Equities environmental report arguing it was not sufficient: https://dk-media.s3.amazonaws.com/AA/AY/parkerwetlands/downloads/315551/Gem_Report_Review__-_September_2016.pdf
Major points
- The land of the Parker Wetlands is situated at the historic metis settlements of Rooster Town and Tin Town
- Ceremonial structures, as well as cultural artifacts have been found in Parker Wetlands.
- There may be grave-sites in Parker Wetlands
- The Daniels decision means the Metis should be consulted before public to private land transactions
- The Treaty Land Entitlement Framework Agreement written in 1997 says that First Nations groups must be consulted before public to private land transactions
- No comprehensive environmental assessment has been done by the developer on the site. Overlooking endangered species in living on the site.
- The was an RCMP investigation on the land transaction between the City Of Winnipeg (mayor Sam Katz) and Gem Equities
What do we want?
- Moratorium on clearcutting until MMF and other indigenous groups/communities are consulted
- Expropriation of Parker Wetlands or
- City, Province, and federal purchase of Parker Wetlands
Stakeholders in Development
- City of Winnipeg & Winnipeg Transit
- Developer: Gem Equities – Owner Andrew Marquess
The Blockade
News Articles
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/protesters-obstruct-machines-in-parker-wetlands-434493743.html
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/parker-lands-protest-winnipeg-1.4205450
http://www.metronews.ca/news/winnipeg/2017/07/09/winnipeg-environt-advocates-want-parker-wetlands-protected.html
Metis: Rooster Town
Rapid Transit Corridor Assessment
In 2008, L. J. Barkwell published a document titled “Rooster Town: A Métis Road Allowance
Community”, which described the last known road allowance community in Winnipeg. The following information was obtained from Barkwell (2008): This road allowance community was situated at Grant Avenue and Waverley Street and was known as Rooster Town. During the Great Depression of the 1930‟s, a number of homeless families, many of whom were destitute Métis, built small shacks illegally on the CN railway property adjacent to City owned land just off Grant Boulevard. The area, now roughly between Weatherdon Avenue and the tracks from Cambridge to Rockwood Streets, became known as Rooster Town. Over the next quarter century the number of squatters varied with economic conditions.
By the 1950‟s, at least 30 to 50 people clustered there in more than a dozen shacks. Alternate housing was found for six or seven families in 1952, but many preferred to stay where they were. In the summer of 1959, the city offered the last families cash payments of $50 to $75 to move or face eviction proceedings. The Parker Wetlands Conservation Committee (2013) indicated that the Parker Lands were a part of Rooster Town and therefore part of Métis history. However, the land area described in Barkwell (2008) does not include the Parker Lands area. There were no other publications or information found describing Métis activities or interests in the PSA.
City of Winnipeg Southwest Rapid Transit Corridor– Stage 2 Environmental Review and Assessment Report – April 2014
Dillon Consulting Limited
http://www.gov.mb.ca/sd/eal/registries/5709citywpgrapidtransit/eap.pdf
Laurie Barkwell : Rooster Town: A Metis Road Allowance Community
The last known road allowance community in Winnipeg was situated at Grant
Ave. and Waverley St., it was known as Rooster Town. In the book Reflections,
Yesterday and Today (MMF Press 1979), Jim Day of St. Laurent says, “I was born and
raised on the outskirts of Winnipeg in a place known as Rooster Town. This place was
situated where Grant Avenue is today.” This community existed until the late 1950s.
“In the early years of the depression of the 1930s a number of homeless families,
many of whom were destitute Metis built small shacks illegally on the Canadian
National Railway property adjoining city owned land just off Grant Boulevard. As well,
as suburban development advanced in River Heights, other shack dwellers re-located to
this area. The area, now roughly between Wheatherdon Avenue and the tracks from
Cambridge to Rockwood Streets became known as Rooster Town.
Over the next quarter century the number of squatters varied with economic
conditions. By the 1950s at least 30 to 50 people clustered there in more than a dozen
shacks. Many owned their homes, but some paid $15 to $20 per month rent. Most of the
men worked as seasonal labourers, cutting sod, delivering coal, or performing other
casual work, and collected relief from the city when unemployed. Their wives raised
their children in two to three room shacks without running water, sewer connections or
other services.
After 14 children came to school with the skin disease impetigo in late 1951 the
Winnipeg Tribune reporter wrote: “Whatever you do… don’t touch the Rooster Town
children. You might get a skin disease. So the teacher calls for a group game and tells
the children to join hands. Nobody would dare join hands with the Rooster Town
Children.”1
In response the City directed Public Health nurses and social workers to the
community. Alternate housing was found for six or seven families in 1952, but many
preferred to stay where they were. In the summer of 1959, the city offered the last
families cash payments of $50 to $75 to move or face eviction proceedings. With the
school opening of Grant Park School in September 1959 and plans for a surrounding
park area Rooster Town and its social problems had no place in Winnipeg’s suburbs.”2
Title: Rooster Town: A Métis Road Allowance Community
Creator: Barkwell, Lawrence J.
Subject: Métis History, Road Allowance
Description: This article provides a brief description of Rooster Town, the last known road allowance community in Winnipeg.
Publisher: Louis Riel Institute
Type: Text Document
Language: English
Date of Copyright: January 3, 2008
Coverage: Winnipeg, Manitoba
GDI Media Filename: http://www.metismuseum.ca/media/document.php/00725.M%C3%A9tis%20Land%20Rights.pdf
http://uniter.ca/view/rooster-town-the-winnipeg-community-that-nobody-remembers
MMF Supreme Court Ruling
The 6-2 ruling in Canada’s highest court declared that “the Federal Crown failed to implement the land grant provision set out in s.31 of the Manitoba Act, 1870 in accordance with the honour of the Crown.”
The supreme court decision has not ordered any particular remedies, but it could open the door to land claim negotiations or talks toward other forms of compensation from the federal government.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/m%C3%A9tis-celebrate-historic-supreme-court-land-ruling-1.1377827
The Supreme Court document: https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/612176/metis-scoc-judgment-march-8-2013.pdf
The Daniels Decision
The Supreme Court was asked to made three declarations:
that the Métis and non-status Indians are ‘Indians’ under s. 91(24) of the Constitution;
that the federal government owes a fiduciary duty to the Métis and non-status Indians; and
that the Métis and non-status Indians have a right to be consulted and negotiated with in good faith by the federal government on a collective basis through representatives of their choice, respecting all rights, interests and needs as Aboriginal peoples.
http://www.firstpeopleslaw.com/index/articles/248.php
First Nations: Treaty Land Entitlement
Between 1871 and 1910, Canada entered into various treaties with Indian Bands in Manitoba (Treaties 1-6, Treaty 5 Adhesion and Treaty 10). The treaties provided that Canada would set aside a calculated amount of land as reserve land, based on populations at the time of the original reserve surveys. Not all Indian Bands received their full amount of land. Therefore, Canada owed land to specific First Nations under the terms of the original treaties.
The Manitoba Natural Resources Transfer Agreement (MNRTA) requires that Manitoba set aside sufficient unoccupied Crown land toward the settlement of Canada’s outstanding Treaty Land Entitlement (TLE) obligations. TLE is a constitutional obligation confirmed as Schedule 1 of the Constitution Act, 1982.
Indigenous and Municipal Relations is the lead provincial department that works jointly and co-operatively with other parties (i.e., the Entitlement First Nation, Canada, and Treaty Land Entitlement Committee). Our role is to oversee implementation of TLE and to work to remove and resolve the barriers and obstacles in transferring land to Canada for Canada to create reserve lands.
Manitoba is obligated to transfer to Canada, 1,426,454 acres (including residual interests in acquisition lands).
As of April 2014, 1,144,331 acres of Crown land (refers to unoccupied provincial Crown land) was made available for selection. To date:
1,009,502 acres of Crown land has been selected.
Of the above acres, 589,463 has been transferred to Canada.
Of the above acres, 563,715 acres has been converted to Reserve.
134,829 acres have yet to be selected.
282,123 acres of Acquisition land (refers to other land an Entitlement First Nation may acquire) was made available for acquisition. To date:
Approximately 30,000 acres has been acquired.
Of the above acres, 14,347 acres has been converted to Reserve.
252,448 acres of land is yet to be acquired
Under the nine TLE agreements covering 29 Entitlement First Nations, Manitoba is obligated to transfer to Canada 1,423,110 acres (including residual interests in acquisition lands). There are currently 29 Manitoba First Nations (Bands) with TLE claims validated by Canada. They include:
1. Barren Lands First Nation
2. Brokenhead Ojibway Nation
3. Buffalo Point First Nation
4. Fox Lake First Nation *
5. Garden Hill First Nation
6. God’s Lake First Nation
7. God’s River First Nation
8. Long Plain First Nation
9. Marcel Colomb First Nation *
10. Mathias Colomb Cree Nation
11. Nelson House Cree Nation
12. Northlands First Nation
13. Norway House Cree Nation
14. Opaskwayak Cree Nation
15. O-Pipon-Na-Piwin Cree Nation *
16. Oxford House First Nation
17. Peguis First Nation
18. Red Sucker Lake First Nation
19. Rolling River Anishinabe First Nation
20. Roseau River Anishinabe First Nation
21. Sapotaweyak Cree Nation
22. Sayisi Dene First Nation *
23. Shamattawa First Nation *
24. St. Theresa Point First Nation
25. Swan Lake First Nation
26. War Lake First Nation
27. Wasagamack First Nation
28. Wuskwi Sipihk First Nation
29. York Factory First Nation *
* Six First Nations, under the 1997 Manitoba Framework Agreement (MFA) have yet to sign their Treaty Entitlement Agreements.
Sources:
http://tlec.ca/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/TLE-Framework-Agreement-_1997__7.pdf
http://www.gov.mb.ca/imr/ir/major-initiatives/treaty-land-entitlement.html
http://tlec.ca/
Environment
Tall grass prairie in southern Manitoba supports over 150 species of plants including several species of orchids which are very rare and classified as endangered and protected. Based on the results of vegetation surveys conducted in 1995 and 2002 of Parker Site 3, as well as landscape and drainage features of the area, there is good reason to believe this parcel of prairie could be tallgrass prairie. Since it is a natural wet meadow, it holds surface runoff and helps reduce flooding and riverbank erosion.
Any construction on the site could unintentionally drain and therefore destroy the entire area.
Plans for a rapid transit dogleg through the Parker lands have already been set in motion by City Council, despite consistent negative feedback and significant opposition from individuals, groups and leaders at every stage of the approval process.
The project to build a retention pond https://wwdengage.winnipeg.ca/parkersrb/ is already underway, despite opposition to its location and controversy around expropriating land that was previously included in a questionable land-swap deal in 2009 http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/winnipeg-committee-oks-controversial-land-expropriation-plan-for-retention-pond-1.3400833
The same local developer involved in the controversial land-swap is now in the process of planning a housing development that would destroy the remaining grade A Aspen forest and wetlands.
Join PWCC in its efforts to save the Parker wetland forest by preventing any further development. City Council has the power to do this! Put pressure on your City Councillor to reacquire these lands and turn them over to the citizens of Winnipeg for preservation and the enjoyment of all.
What are the Parker lands?
The Parker lands consist of three defined areas based on a Natural Heritage Assessment of Grade A Aspen Parkland, Grade B Grasslands and Grade B Aspen Forest.
Tall grass prairie in southern Manitoba supports over 150 species of plants including several species of orchids which are very rare and classified as endangered and protected.
Based on the results of vegetation surveys conducted in 1995 and 2002 of Parker Site 3 (grasslands), as well as landscape and drainage features of the area, there is good reason to believe this parcel of prairie could be tallgrass prairie. Since it is a natural wet meadow, it holds surface runoff and helps reduce flooding and riverbank erosion.
Why should I bother?
Urban wetlands play a vital role in promoting and maintaining the health of its surrounding communities by providing clean water and fresh air.
Wetlands are a natural filtration system that collect melt and rain water to release it slowly into the water table, which minimizes flooding.
The Parker wetlands are currently home to deer, fox, owls, hawks, northern shrikes, frogs and many more uncategorized plants and animals.
The Brenda Leipsic off-leash dog park is located on a significant portion of the site and is used by hundreds of people every week, and most use it every day – the dog park has currently been cut down
Parker lands provide opportunities to learn about nature, meditate, hike and stroll all year-round, snowshoe and ski in the winter, all within walking distance of many urban communities.
Environmental Assessments & Reviews
GEM EQUITIES’ RESPONSE TO REVIEW – NOVEMBER 26, 2016
The Parker Wetlands Comittee Review:PWCC’S REVIEW OF GEM EQUITIES’ ENVIRONMENTAL REPORT September 2016
GEM EQUITIES OAK GROVE DEVELOPMENT PROJECT: ENVIRONMENTAL BACKGROUND REPORT May 2016
GEM EQUITIES OAK GROVE DEVELOPMENT PROJECT: BIOPHYSICAL TECHNICAL REPORT July 2016
