"Damn it, this is a campaign that
concerns every man, woman and child (and animal) living in our
community. For the Public good, I hereby invite every newspaper
and every radio and TV station to lend their support…to get
the S.O.S. (Save Our Seine) campaign stamped down as an annual
event." - Peter Warren. Winnipeg
Sun, October 1990
The Seine River enters Winnipeg at the city's
Southeast corner. As a narrow, continuos 'Greenway,' it meanders
26 kilometers before it spills into the Red River at the Seine
River 'Forks.'
For
over
150
years
people
have
settled
along
the
50
kilometers
of
now
urban
riverbank.
The
human
impact
on
this
ecosystem
has
not
been
positive.
Development
has
reduced
the
natural
habitat
in
some
places
to
less
than
a
single
meter
of
riverbank.
In
the
precious
little
natural
area
that
remains,
human
pollution
penetrates
the
habitat
almost
completely.
"Before
October
1973,
this
reach
of
the
Seine
River
was
littered
with
trash.
Those
Manitobans
who
cleaned
it
up
ask
you
to
help
keep
this
area
beautiful."
-
Written
on
a
sign
along
the
river
behind
the
Belgium
Club
(Provencher)
Even
before
the
inception
of
Save
Our
Seine
in
1990,
citizens
in
St.
Boniface
were
organizing
to
haul
garbage
and
debris
from
the
river
and
along
its
banks.
The
horrible
condition
of
the
Seine
River
could
not
be
tolerated
and
no
longer
ignored.
The
citizens
decided
to
take
it
upon
themselves
to
behave
as
the
stewards
since
the
authorities
were
unable
or
unwilling
to
do
so.
Save
Our
Seine
has
organized
an
Annual
Cleaning
event
since
1990.
In
a
single
day,
students,
neighbours,
families,
and
other
volunteers
drastically
improve
their
local
environment.
The
fall
event
(usually
October)
is
a
chance
for
the
community
to
put
on
gloves,
rubber
boots,
hip-waders
and
load
the
garbage
accumulated
over
decades
into
piles
and
then
onto
trucks.
Several
truckloads
of
garbage
are
hauled
out
of
the
river
and
off
its
banks.
Shingles,
shopping
carts,
old
tires,
plastic
bags,
bikes,
building
materials,
lawn
chairs,
concrete
blocks,
scrap
metal
and
other
trash
are
removed
by
concerned
citizens.
Over
the
past
thirteen
years
the
effect
on
the
Seine
River
Environment
has
been
very
noticeable.
Huge
concrete
blocks
have
been
removed
from
the
streambed
and
mountains
of
building
materials
removed
from
the
banks.
Apart
from
some
road
crossings,
today
it
is
again
possible
to
canoe
the
length
of
the
Seine
River
within
the
City.
For
many
summers
the
Provincially
sponsored
Urban
Green
Team
program
has
helped
SOS.
Over
the
summer
the
students
remove
trash
that
appears
daily
along
trails,
or
in
the
river.
SOS
and
other
residents
act
as
watchdogs
monitoring
and
reporting
illegal
dumping
or
polluting.
"The
goal
of
life
is
living
in
agreement
with
nature."
-
Zeno
(335
BC
-
264
BC),
from
Diogenes
Laertius,
Lives
of
Eminent
Philosophers
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