Manitoba bear rescue takes municipality to court over quarry approvals

Black bears climb a tree at the Manitoba Bear Rehabilitation Centre Inc.’s facility, which rehabilitates orphaned and injured black bears in the RM of Rockwood. The site sits in close proximity to land where two aggregate companies — Heidelberg Materials and Amrize — received conditional use approvals for extraction operations in April 2026. (YouTube/Black Bear Rescue Manitoba)

A Manitoba wildlife rehabilitation facility that rescues orphaned and injured black bears has launched a court challenge against a rural municipality’s approval of nearby quarry operations, alleging the approvals were unlawful, procedurally unfair and tainted by undisclosed information.

Manitoba Bear Rehabilitation Centre Inc. and its owners, Judith and Roger Stearns, filed an application in Manitoba’s Court of King’s Bench on May 22, naming the Rural Municipality of Rockwood, aggregate companies Heidelberg Materials Canada Limited and Amrize Canada Inc., and several other respondents.

According to the filing, the bear rescue has operated on land owned by the Stearns north of Winnipeg since receiving approval from Rockwood in August 2017. In 2025, both Amrize and Heidelberg Materials submitted conditional use applications for extraction operations to the municipality and the South Interlake Planning District, which provides planning and development services to the area.

Public hearings were held for each application in March. According to the municipality’s meeting minutes, more than 100 people registered in opposition, including a representative of the South Interlake Planning District and Stonewall’s chief administrative officer. The Stearns also appeared in opposition, with their facility described in the filing as sitting “in close proximity” to the proposed extraction areas.

On April 8, Rockwood approved both conditional use applications, which would allow aggregate extraction operations on hundreds of acres just north of Stonewall, according to land descriptions detailed in the resolutions.

The filing argues the operations would threaten the rescue’s ability to function, citing “blasting, vibration, noise, hauling, dust, traffic, industrial activity, and cumulative operational impacts” as incompatible with the humane operation of a wildlife rehabilitation facility.

‘Denied the applicants procedural fairness’: court filing

The filing alleges the municipality approved the applications without fully disclosing the considerations that drove its decision, denying the Stearns and other participants a fair opportunity to respond before the vote was made.

The following month, on May 7, the municipality issued a public statement — cited in the filing — saying the applications were approved “in light of the Municipal Board’s final decision in the Maple Leaf matter and the associated risk to the municipality.”

A review of the post indicates the Maple Leaf matter dates to 2020, when Maple Leaf Construction Ltd. submitted a zoning bylaw amendment proposing mining on lands near the town. Council declined to give it a second reading, prompting an appeal that worked its way through the Municipal Board, the Court of Appeal, and the Court of King’s Bench, before returning to the Municipal Board, which approved the bylaw near the end of March 2026 and overturned Rockwood’s denial.

The municipality’s statement said the outcome had “implications for how quarry-related applications may be addressed in the future,” and warned that denying the conditional use applications could result in prolonged litigation, revenue losses of approximately $40 million over 20 years, and adverse impacts on municipal services.

“The aforesaid considerations were not disclosed to the applicants or to participants in the public hearing and decision-making process as operative, material, or potentially determinative considerations influencing council’s assessment of the conditional use applications,” reads the filing.

“Neither the applicants nor other affected participants were afforded any meaningful opportunity to know, test, challenge, contextualize, respond to, or make submissions respecting the aforesaid considerations prior to the impugned decision being made.”

The filing argues the approvals may have been granted without a “full, fair and independent assessment of the individual planning merits” of the applications, and instead on the basis of perceived litigation risk or municipal financial exposure — despite the approvals expressly stating they were granted “after careful consideration of the application and any representations made for or against it.”

The filing further alleges that after the public hearing closed, a councillor communicated in writing that “new information” had come to light that affected their vote — information that was not disclosed to participants before the decisions were made.

“Reliance upon undisclosed post-hearing information without disclosure or opportunity to respond was procedurally unfair and contrary to the principles of natural justice,” it reads.

The filing claims the approvals were “unreasonable, arbitrary, unjustified, procedurally unfair, and/or otherwise unlawful,” and that the municipality “failed to conduct a fair, transparent, and procedurally adequate decision-making process.”

The legal action seeks a declaration that the conditional use approvals are invalid, an injunction preventing any aggregate extraction from proceeding pending the outcome, and an order requiring the municipality to produce a complete record of proceedings, including all documents received or considered after the public hearing.

The filing also names four landowners of parcels that form part of the proposed extraction area, along with the South Interlake Planning District, as respondents.

According to the filing, the Manitoba Municipal and Northern Relations Community Planning Services Branch issued an aggregate technical report in March identifying proximity concerns with Stonewall and future urban development concerns regarding the Amrize application.

The South Interlake Planning District Board had also formally recommended that council deny any new quarry-related conditional use applications within a one-mile buffer surrounding the town, the filing states.

RM of Rockwood Reeve Wes Taplin declined to comment, citing the matter before the courts.

CTV News has reached out to Heidelberg Materials, Amrize and the South Interlake Planning District for comment and is awaiting a response.

None of the claims have been tested in court, and none of the respondents have yet filed a reply.