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The term “urban reserve” conjures up all sorts of negative images and stereotypes for the predominately white residents of Tuxedo and River Heights in Winnipeg’s south end (of which I am one). The threat of crime and gangs all come to mind in any discussion about the fate of the nearby former Kapyong Canadian Forces Barracks, a 64.7-hectare of prime development land that has been tied up in the courts for nearly a decade in a heated battle between the federal government and four First Nations.

“What happens to our property values if this thing goes bust? If this is going to be an Indian reserve, are there going to be building codes? Garbage service? Fire services?” one Tuxedo resident asked at a recent neighbourhood community discussion on the issue, according to a Winnipeg Free Press report.

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The resident did not receive an adequate answer because of the lengthy legal wrangling. The Kapyong Barracks were designated surplus land in 2004, shortly after the 2nd Battalion, Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry was moved to CFB Shilo close to Brandon, Man. The federal Treasury Board had intended to transfer the land to the Canada Lands Company, a Crown corporation, to develop. But a group of First Nations challenged that decision in Federal Court. They argued then and ever since that their treaty rights and a Supreme Court ruling in the 1997 Delgamuukw case — that implied the Crown had an undefined obligation “to consult with aboriginal peoples before infringing any aboriginal title, or lands to which a claim for aboriginal title has been asserted,” as Ontario Justice David M. Brown has explained — gave them the right to negotiate for the valuable Kapyong land.