Rural Municipality of East St. Paul

Geography

East St. Paul includes the communities of Birds Hill, North Hill, Glengarry, River East Estates, Whidbey Harbour, Pritchard Farm Estates, and Silverfox Estates. Historic Henderson Highway follows the Red River through East St. Paul areas settled by the Red River Settlers. The Red River Floodway diverts part of the Red River's flow around the city of Winnipeg and through East St. Paul and discharges it back into the Red River North of the dam in Lockport. The Trans Canada Trail and the Duff Roblin Parkway Trail also pass through East St. Paul.

East St. Paul has a gated community for seniors and new home development is underway at Countryside Crossing, By The Park, Prairie Ridge, Southlands Drive and Village Centre. East St. Paul contains greenhouses and numerous small farms, primarily of the market gardening variety, as well as natural forest, creek and pond areas.

The population growth of East St. Paul has slowed significantly in recent years. Like other surrounding communities, the municipality has historically attracted people from Winnipeg and elsewhere due to its close proximity to Winnipeg, the larger properties, lower rates of property tax, and semi-rural atmosphere.

History

In 1880, the Rural Municipality of St. Paul was established, with offices located on the west side of the Red. The Red River was a barrier that made doing business an inconvenience, as those on the east side had to travel over water to the west side. There were no bridges in the vicinity; the closest being Winnipeg's Redwood Bridge about nine kilometers to the south. The population was growing: as more families arrived to settle in the area, community spirit grew. On the east side of the river, schools and businesses were started. The community became diversified with industry ranging from market gardening to general stores. On November 3, 1915 the RMs of East St. Paul and West St. Paul officially received royal ascent. The first meeting of the RM of East St. Paul took place on January 4, 1916 in a room in secretary-treasurer Walter Gorham’s house at 2051 Roseneath Avenue. In 1951, a one-story building was erected at 2127 Birds Hill Road. In 1980, the current municipal office complex was built at 3021 Birds Hill Road.

Recreation

East St. Paul has a recreation centre, which offers curling and ice hockey programs, and an outdoor recreation complex for soccer and baseball. An 18 hole golf course (The Meadows) and tennis courts are used by residents and nonresidents in the summer, as well as a toboggan hill and an outdoor skating on a frozen lake in the winter. In addition to the Trans Canada Trail and the Duff Roblin Parkway Trail, the municipality also contains several other walking trails and pathways, like the Bottomly Creek Trail and the Pritchard Farm Trails.

A habitat rehabilitation project at Birds Hill, Manitoba transformed a depleted gravel pit into Silver Springs Park, with trails, a lake, and homes built along part of its perimeter. The pit dates to the late 19th century, when the Canadian Pacific Railway needed gravel ballast for its rail lines. The deposit was later worked to serve Winnipeg's needs for aggregate. Over the years, more than 20 million tonnes of gravel were removed from the site. The depleted quarry was graded and landscaped with native grasses and more than 1,200 trees and shrubs. Geese, ducks, terns, gulls, American white pelicans, songbirds, foxes, rabbits, western painted turtles, muskrats and deer are frequently observed.

Policing

East St. Paul made national news in 2005 with the poor handling by East St.Paul Police and subsequent inquiry into death of Crystal Taman by an off duty Winnipeg police officer Derek Harvey-Zenk. It was believed that the police officer was driving drunk when his truck rear-ended Taman, who was stopped at a red light. The East St. Paul police officers at the scene knew the offender, did not gather adequate evidence, and the prosecutor was forced to plea bargain a relatively light sentence. As a result of the evidence presented at the Taman Inquiry, the province disbanded the East St. Paul police force, replacing them with Royal Canadian Mounted Police officers.

This change from a local police force to RCMP resulted in several changes, most notable is the cost of policing. Prior to the changeover, the RM of East St. Paul paid for its local police force; however since the change to RCMP in January 2009, the costs of policing has been paid for by the provincial and federal governments. The RCMP police detachment remains in the original location as the East St. Paul police force

Communication

East St. Paul along with neighbouring municipalities West St. Paul and St.Clements were jointly awarded in 2016 an Honourable Mention in the Organization of the Year category for their success in improving public participation and communication from the International Association of Public Participation. According to the IAP2, in the past three years, these municipalities have evolved from places where IAP2 principles were effectively unknown to becoming P2 champions and leaders on enhancing transparency, public buy-in and trust through public participation. Public concerns have been addressed and strong mandates were secured on a variety of projects, from recreation, roads, and farmers markets to major sewer initiatives.