From Brownfield To Battleground

An "unremarkable and soiled parcel of land, bordered on two sides by suburban highways and on a third by a busy railway line, is fast becoming a battleground. At issue are plans by local first nations to buy slightly more than 20 acres of the site and turn it into Winnipeg's first urban reserve. The proposal has been put forward by the Roseau River Band of Indians, based 80 kilometres south, near the U.S. border, and supported by the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs. The idea is modelled on an urban reserve in Saskatoon that has provided solid economic growth and hundreds of jobs for natives. But local opposition to the plan has been growing."