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Thursday, October 9th, 2003
The Métis community is concerned about a plan to build housing
for seniors on land that is directly linked to Louis Riel.
A non-profit company called COF Haven wants to build on land
in south St. Vital that was once owned by Louis Riel's father,
where Louis Riel grew up.
METIS NATION: More
on Louis Riel
Local Métis say the site should be the location of an interpretive
centre – but they don't yet have the funds to purchase it.
Gabriel Dufault is the president of the Union Nationale Métisse
St. Joseph, the oldest Métis organization in Manitoba.
"Large sums of money are required to purchase land. Land is very
expensive in that area," he says. "We may – at some point in time,
depending on obtaining the required funding and things like that
– we may be in a better position, but right now we cannot come
up with the amounts that are required to purchase such expensive
land."
Terry MacKay, property manager for COF Haven, says the company
knew nothing about the site's significance until the Save the
Seine group told them it was the site of the grist mill owned
by Louis Riel's father.
"The property in question back in the 1800s was Lot 50 and it
should be known that Lot 50 is also part of the parcel next door
to the south, which already has a senior's housing project on
it," says MacKay. "The exact location of the mill is somewhere
on Lot 50, close to the Seine River."
McKay says his group isn't building on the historical property,
and there is access to it should people want to visit it. He says
the lot is vacant and provides an opportunity to create low-cost
housing for seniors with a picturesque view of the river.
COF Haven is now waiting for the zoning process to be completed.
The Union Nationale Métisse St. Joseph will be among several groups
to oppose the company's zoning application at a hearing Nov. 4.
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