Why should you consider coming to Leaf Rapids?

People who enjoy the great outdoors – but don’t want to give up modern conveniences – will fall in love with Leaf Rapids. Leaf Rapids is an idyllic playground for outdoor activities. In summer, the nearby rivers and lakes are a fisherman’s dream come true with abundant Great Northern Pike, Walleye and Trout. In winter, cross-country skiing and snowmobiling trails provide recreation for young and old alike. Year round, the natural beauty of the forest is preserved within the townsite, with walking trails linking residential bays, the Town Centre Complex and the majestic Churchill River.

The hub of Leaf Rapids is the 210,000 sq. ft. Town Centre Complex housing stores, restaurants, school, library, gymnasium, theatre, Exhibition Centre, healthcare as well as municipal offices. Outside there is a nine hole golf course, a ball diamond and tennis court. No home is more than 10 minutes walking distance from the town centre.

Sound too good to be true? Leaf Rapids was designed to be perfect – it was established as a model for all mining towns. Don’t miss out on a once in a lifetime opportunity to visit or live here!  Be sure to check out the homes we have for sale by clicking here.

Banning Plastic Bags
Taking a Stand and Going Green

Sometimes it takes an impressive idea to lead us back to where we started.

In 2005, the Leaf Rapids Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) was going over the budget when he noticed that the community was spending almost $5000.00 a year to clean up discarded single-use plastic shopping bags and remove them from the trees in the forest that surrounded the Nuisance Grounds. The plastic bags were constantly being scattered about by the wind. Hundreds were clinging to the trunks and branches of the trees.

In May 2006, the CAO approached the Leaf Rapids Council with a novel idea. He suggested that the Town of Leaf Rapids purchase 1000 reusable bags from the Leaf Rapids Consumers Co-Operative store for $1.00 each and donate five of the reusable bags to every household in town. There was a condition to the donation however. After receiving the reusable bags, consumers would be charged a $.03 levee per bag whenever they packed their purchases in single-use plastic shopping bags. In May 2006, the Leaf Rapids Council passed a By-Law to this effect.

It was around this time that Matt Wittek of Instore Products in Ontario contacted the town. He explained that his company had been trying to reduce the use of plastic shopping bags since 1992. Matt paid a visit to Leaf Rapids and made a public presentation to Mayor and Council and the town’s two major retailers. The two major retailers expressed some concerns about banning single-use plastic shopping bags, but they were quickly won over. Matt spoke about the environmental dangers that the bags posed to our natural surroundings and about the economic and environmental advantages of reusable shopping bags.

He encouraged Leaf Rapids to become the first community in North America to legislate a ban on single-use plastic shopping bags. He offered to support the town’s efforts by donating 5000 reusable shopping bags to the initiative.

He also suggested that Mayor and Council conduct a public relations campaign prior to passing a resolution banning the use of single-use plastic shopping bags. This would ensure community support for the legislation. Matt also agreed with the Leaf Rapids’ retailers when they recommended that an educational component to raise the awareness of students in the Leaf Rapids Education Centre would be beneficial. The students could then support the initiative by encouraging their parents to use reusable shopping bags. Finally, when Leaf Rapids became the first community in North America to ban single-use plastic shopping bags, Instore Products provided media management services and public relations support.

But there were other towns and cities in Canada and the United States that were hot on the heels of Leaf Rapids to become the first to ban single-use shopping bags. So at 12:01 A.M. on March 22 2007 (that’s right, Mayor and Council met in the middle of the night to pass the By-Law), the Municipal Council in Leaf Rapids unanimously approved By-Law 462.

Within days, Leaf Rapids was besieged with telephone calls, emails and television and newspaper reporters from all over North America. There were literally thousands of hits on the town’s web site.  With very few exceptions, all of these people contacted Leaf Rapids for three reasons.

First, they congratulated the community for taking this bold action to reduce its footprint on the environment and to protect and preserve the world we live in for future generations.

Second, they wanted to know the process that the town had gone through to enact the By-Law. They left no doubt in anyone’s mind that they intended to lobby their town leaders to enact a similar By-Law of their own.

Finally, they wanted to know the wording of the By-Law. No one had to rely on Dublin Ireland anymore. They could now frame their By-Laws by following the example of a unique Canadian/North American version of a resolution to eliminate single-use plastic shopping bags in their communities.

With few exceptions, the residents of Leaf Rapids were 100% supportive of By-Law 462 from the very beginning and they have adapted well to the fact that they now have to bring their own bags when they go shopping. But just in case they forget, retailers in town now provide them with paper shopping bags. The paper bags, of course, can be deposited in the community’s recycling bins. No one has been charged with violating By-Law 462 and single-use plastic shopping bags have disappeared from behind the counters of the businesses in town.

 Oh yes, many of the single-use plastic shopping bags are disappearing from somewhere else too. This year there was a noticeable decrease in the number of bags being scattered about by the wind and clinging to the trunks and branches of the trees surrounding the town’s Nuisance Ground – which is how this whole thing started.

 Plastic Bag Ban By-law