Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - September 23, 2025, Winnipeg, Manitoba Read online at: winnipegfreepress.com/fp-features S A V O U R M A N I T O B A M A N I T O B A ’ S P R E M I E R F O O D , D R I N K A N D L I F E S T Y L E M A G A Z I N E F A L L 2 0 2 5 F r e s h h a r v e s t v e g g i e s F R O M F I E L D T O T A B L E L o c a l i n f u s i o n s F L A V O U R E D V O D K A M A K E S A C O M E B A C K I N S I D E WATCH FOR IT AT MANITOBA LIQUOR MARTS! FALL 2025 ISSUE DON’T MISS THE TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2025 B2 ● WINNIPEGFREEPRESS.COM NEWS I MANITOBA Leaf Rapids evacuees fear state of houses as they head home L EAF RAPIDS evacuees set to re- turn to their community after more than two months are con- cerned about the stinky, rotten state of the homes that await them. The town lifted its evacuation order Monday morning after ordering its 350 residents out on July 8 owing to wild- fires. Buses were scheduled to leave Winnipeg Monday night to make the roughly 13-hour, 950-kilometre journey to Leaf Rapids. Beverly Baker said she plans to sleep in a tent outside when she returns. “I’m not staying in (my home),” she said. “All the toxic stuff we’ll be breath- ing in from the rotten stuff … I can’t imagine the mess that we’ll be going home to.” Power was cut off from Leaf Rapids on Aug. 1 and restored a little more than a month later, but the extended outage left fridges and freezers full of rotten food. Originally, the town announced the evacuation order would be rescinded on Sept. 12 but pushed that back citing the “extended evacuation and power outage.” The town asked residents to fill out forms if they wished to have their re- frigerators removed or disposed, but later said property owners were re- sponsible for any appliance repairs or replacements. Ervin Bighetty, the manager of the local Co-op, said he was asked by town administration to procure fridges for returning evacuees, but, after securing the appliances, was told the province wouldn’t be moving ahead with the plan. “It’s gonna be bad,” he said. “You’re gonna have a lot of families staying in tents because they won’t be able to stay in their homes.” Veronica Moose, who has stayed in Winnipeg since the July evacuation, said residents should be compensated for the food and furniture that will need to be thrown away. “Doesn’t matter how tight you lock your doors and windows, that smoke smell lingers and it stays on stuff,” she said. “And all the food smell is toxic.” A provincial spokesman refused to comment on compensation for evac- uees, saying it was too early to say what would be covered under the province’s disaster financial assistance program. The spokesman said the province is “aware of the challenges that residents are coming back to.” Town officials declined to comment. Baker said she plans to throw out al- most everything in her home owing to the spoiled food and smoke stains. She accused the province of mishandling the evacuation and said the return was being rushed. The town’s council was dissolved in 2019 after multiple resignations and al- legations of mismanagement. The prov- ince appointed an administrator to deal with day-to-day operations. “We feel forgotten about,” Baker said. “If we had a mayor and council, I’m pretty sure there would have been a good setup with deciding on how we get treated.” Baker and many Leaf Rapids residents are originally from Gran- ville Lake. They were forced out of that community, some 50 kilometres west of Leaf Rapids, when a septic system failed and human waste flooded the streets in 2003. Baker said she would go back in a heartbeat, if she could. “That’s where our hearts are,” she said. Rob Baker, Beverly Baker’s son and a former Leaf Rapids resident, has been trying to find tents and beds for evac- uees. He said many will have no place to stay when they get home this mor- ning. He also called on the province to send health inspectors to the community to condemn the homes with rotten food. “It’s a biohazard,” he said. Leaf Rapids administration said it will have a reception area for returning residents that will be open from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday to Thursday. Clean- ing kits, as well as public health staff and representatives from the North- ern Regional Health Authority will be available on-site. Most services in town will be oper- ational, including health services, grocery stores, RCMP and town oper- ations. The school is expected to reopen the week of Monday, Sept. 29. nicole.buffie@freepress.mb.ca NICOLE BUFFIE JOHN WOODS / FREE PRESS Residents should be compensated, says Veronica Moose, a wildfire evacuee from Leaf Rapids, here with Robert Baker. JOHN WOODS / FREE PRESS Beverly Baker plans to sleep in a tent outside when she returns home to Leaf Rapids. Councillors hope sewer project lessons can help control costs TWO councillors are calling for the city’s chief construction officer to re- port on two sewage megaprojects in the hope that “lessons learned” from one can help control the soaring costs of the other. Couns. Brian Mayes and Sherri Roll- ins will raise the motion at Thursday’s council meeting. If approved, it would direct the chief construction officer to report on how the city’s experience with an ongoing $1.15-billion master plan to reduce combined sewer overflows could help save money on a $3-billion upgrade of the North End sewage treatment plant. The tab for the North End plant up- grade was initially set at $795 million. For years, the city had estimated the combined sewer overflow master plan would cost up to $2.3 billion and take up to 2095 to complete if the city had to fund it alone. And, at the water and waste commit- tee’s September meeting, staff said one piece of the project, to separate pipes in the Jefferson combined sewer district, is now expected to cost $76 million, instead of a previous $168-million esti- mate. “You don’t save $100 million every day…. Is there something we did differ- ently with (the combined sewer over- flow project) that we could do (again)?” said Mayes (St. Vital). If the city continues investing an average of $30 million per year, plus account for inflation, the recent overall price change should make it possible to complete the project by 2045, Mayes said. That timeline would meet a provin- cial deadline to get the work done. Rollins said the chief construction officer’s advice would help ensure the city is transparent about how tax dollars are spent on massive infra- structure projects. “The goal is better cost management and accountability for future city pro- jects, particularly the large-scale en- vironmental initiatives,” said Rollins (Fort Rouge-East Fort Garry). The North End plant upgrade is ex- pected to greatly reduce the amount of algae-promoting phosphorus that flows into rivers and eventually reaches Lake Winnipeg. Combined sewer overflows occur in older Winnipeg sewers that collect both precipitation and wastewater in a single pipe. Heavy rain or snow events can overwhelm the pipes and cause sewage to flow into rivers. Coun. Ross Eadie, chairman of the water and waste committee, said the chief construction officer is already heavily involved in keeping the North End project on track, as is council’s executive policy committee. “EPC is doing their job. We look at this stuff all the time,” said Eadie (Mynarski.) And while some projects within the master plan to reduce combined sewer overflows have found savings, others have risen in price, he said. The director of the city’s water and waste department said the two major sewage projects are very different in scope, though staff are exploring whether any options to save money can be duplicated. “We look for lessons learned on everything that we do. If there’s any- thing that we can apply to the next contract, we’re absolutely trying to do that,” said Tim Shanks. For example, the city has already committed to obtain repeated external audits for the North End plant, he said. Shanks noted each project within the master plan to reduce overflows still contains some contingency funding, as only the overall price estimate was ad- justed. Originally, the city’s price pro- jection reflected the fact that an early cost estimate could potentially double over the years in a worst-case scenario. Shanks said lengthy funding delays, pandemic pressures, construction in- flation and many other factors all con- tributed to the rising cost of the North End plant upgrade. joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.ca X: @joyanne_pursaga JOYANNE PURSAGA ;