The future of Kapyong Barracks...

The future of Kapyong Barracks, a 160-acre property in Winnipeg that has sat empty since 2004, remains in limbo as the federal government takes steps to appeal a court ruling that ordered consultation with area First Nations over the development of the land. First Nations want to develop it for their own purposes, including the creation of an urban reserve with mixed housing and commercial space. The federal government has spent $15 million over the last eight years to maintain the 41 building on the site once home to the Princess Patricia Light Infantry Unit. In 1997, Treaty One First Nations signed an agreement giving them the right of first refusal on surplus federal land.

When Kapyong Barracks was declared surplus in 2007, the federal government said it planned to sell the site to a Crown corporation to redevelop the land for homes and business. Treaty One nations challenged that decision in court. In 2009, a federal judge ordered the freeze of any sale of the land until First Nations were consulted, but that decision was overturned in 2011 and returned to the lower court for a second hearing. Another federal judge ordered Ottawa to consult, a decision again under appeal.