Parker Lands supporters rally against rapid transit

Dozens of people gathered at the Parker Lands off-leash dog park Saturday afternoon to show their disapproval with the city's plan to build a rapid transit route through the area.

Winnipeg city council approved phase two of the rapid transit corridor that would be built where the park just off Waverley Street.

Some people who live in the neighbourhood park are outraged with the decision, stating the green space is home to rare birds and plants.

"It's a Winnipeg treasure," Calvin Dueck, with the Parker Wetlands conservation committee, told CBC News.  "It has the aspen forest and wetlands, and tall grass prairie. We don't know any other spot in Winnipeg that has all three of these."

Dueck said he thinks it makes no sense to build the transit through the park.

"The area behind here, no one lives here by the hydro wires, nobody is going to be getting on the bus to put it down an area where no one lives, it belongs where people live, where people can actually take it," said Dueck.

The group is collecting signatures for a petition to send to the city and the province asking them to overturn the decision.