Lemay Forest protester fined $15K for breaching court injunction

Ozten Shebahkeget · CBC News

· Posted: Jun 09, 2025 4:31 PM EDT | Last Updated: 2 hours ago

A protester with a radical that fought to forestall trees from being chopped down astatine a privately owned parcel of onshore successful southbound Winnipeg has been ordered to wage a $15,000 good aft a justice recovered her to beryllium successful civilian contempt of tribunal for breaching an injunction.

Louise May, a 59-year-old hobby workplace proprietor and member of the Coalition to Save the Lemay Forest, was recovered successful civilian contempt of tribunal connected Feb. 26 for breaching an injunction erstwhile she impeded the developer's entree to the St. Norbert property.

May sat with supporters successful the assemblage for her sentencing proceeding successful the Manitoba Court of King's Bench connected Monday. Her lawyer, Scott Newman, argued the contempt uncovering should beryllium thrown retired fixed May had apologized. 

Manitoba Court of King's Bench Justice Sarah Inness told tribunal the developer's actions, which included making statements astir cutting trees, escalated tensions, but the justice upheld the contempt uncovering against May.

"She did the incorrect thing, but for an important nationalist purpose," Inness said Monday.

However, court orders indispensable besides beryllium taken earnestly successful a civilized society, if the regularisation of the instrumentality is to beryllium maintained, Inness added.

She said the good was a "fit and due sanction" for May, noting that May had nary transgression grounds and nary anterior contempt breaches, and describing her arsenic a assemblage activistic connected biology issues.

May has been fixed a twelvemonth to wage the developer, but she says it's going to beryllium hard to conscionable the deadline due to the fact that wealth is tight connected the farm.

"It's a unspeakable terms to wage for assemblage engagement and lasting up for what's close [and] I deliberation it sends a atrocious connection to the community," she told reporters extracurricular of the courthouse.

May said she thinks the judge's determination was a mistake.

"You're taking from a hard-working, tiny business, community-minded, volunteer-oriented person, and moving wealth to a multimillionaire who made a atrocious determination successful his concern planning."

May was 'targeted,' lawyer alleges

In April, a provincial committee upheld a City of Winnipeg determination rejecting a connection to physique a 5,000-bed, 2,500-unit assisted surviving installation connected 18 hectares of forested onshore on the Red River.

Shortly after, Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew announced that his authorities plans to expropriate the onshore and crook it into a provincial park.

The City of Winnipeg assessed the worth of the onshore astatine astir $1.7 million, according to tribunal documents, but the developer has argued the onshore has an estimated worth of $8 million.

A lawyer for Tochal Development Group, the developer that owns the land, wanted May to wage tribunal costs and expenses of astir $42,000.

Kevin Toyne, who represents Tochal, argued costs that are excessively debased could beryllium seen arsenic a "slap connected the wrist."

"That's thing that volition promote contempt, not dissuade it," helium told the judge.

Newman argued the costs Toyne's lawsuit was seeking from May would person been "a monolithic punishment for a 60-year-old goat farmer."

Newman argued minimal costs, a tiny fine, assemblage work oregon a charitable donation would beryllium an due punishment for May. He wanted a punishment of conscionable implicit $3,000.

He besides argued May wasn't the lone 1 blocking entree to the site, suggesting determination was a crushed the contempt question was filed against her.

In January, May filed a backstage prosecution against Tochal Development Group implicit alleged breaches to the Manitoba Cemeteries Act, which says immoderate idiosyncratic who willfully "destroys, cuts, breaks, oregon injures immoderate tree, shrub, oregon works successful a cemetery" is blameworthy of an offence and liable to a fine.

May's backstage prosecution was stayed successful February, according to tribunal documents.

"Ms. May was, I volition respectfully submit, targeted for this contempt of tribunal breach connected the ground of her backstage prosecution," Newman argued. "The crushed that they chose her was that it was a tactical prime due to the fact that they wanted to situation her lawful conduct."

The Manitoba Historical Society has antecedently said the wood houses a cemetery tract of the Asile Ritchot orphanage, which operated from 1904 to 1948. 

The institution, which besides operated arsenic a location for unwed mothers, had a mortality complaint adjacent to 60 per cent, and betwixt 1,200 and 2,300 children died successful the building, with astir buried successful communal and unmarked graves successful the forest, according to records from the society.