U.S. listens to band's grievances with Hydro Sierra Club, native groups
go to bat for Manitoba first nation
Tracy Tjaden, Winnipeg Free Press, 2 April 2000, pA1
Cross Lake natives have taken their long-standing battle against
Manitoba Hydro south of the border in search of an audience that will
listen.
The northern community now known as Pimickamack First Nation, located
530 kilometres north of Winnipeg, has resisted signing an agreement to
replace the Northern Flood Agreement, a treaty struck to compensate
native communities for the impact of hydro development on hunting and
fishing lands.
Councillor Nelson Miller said the band will stand firm on its pledge to
force Manitoba Hydro to live up to the original agreement, and he's
hoping noisy allies in the States will help.
'Misery'
"We had to find someone who would listen," Miller said. "What we have
at the north end of the power line is a lot of misery, and what they
have at the south end is billions in profits for Manitoba Hydro and
cheap electricity for the States."
The NFA was signed in 1977 with five northern first nations to
compensate for flooding caused by diverting the Churchill River into
the Nelson River to provide electricity to the south. Pimickamack is
the only first nation among the five to pursue its claims.
The Sierra Club and some American native groups have come on side,
peppering their Web sites with warnings to U.S. citizens on the
troubled history between Manitoba Hydro and northern Cree communities.
The groups want to block Manitoba Hydro sales to the U.S., raise public
awareness of the issue and stall a proposed power line running from
Minnesota to Wisconsin.
"The 12,000 Cree living in the affected area have seen their burial
grounds and hunting areas destroyed by the flooding. They also have
experienced increased unemployment, alarmingly high suicide rates and
other less measurable but equally devastating impacts on the Cree
community and culture," a Sierra Club Web site reads.
"If Minnesota Power gets approval to build its power line, more damage
will be done to the environment and to the Cree people."
Ann Stewart, Cross Lake's Minneapolis-based U.S. information officer,
said it's time American hydro customers found out where their cheap
Canadian power is coming from.
"You can't stay home forever," Stewart said from Minneapolis. "If
you're not getting listened to at home you have to go out to the
consumer."
Manitoba Hydro spokeswoman Anita Mitchell said the campaign hasn't made
a dent in Manitoba's power exports to the States.
"I have not heard of any transaction between Manitoba and Minnesota
being effected," added John Heino, a spokesman for Minnesota Power.
Heino said he is aware of Cross Lake's concerns, but said other native
communities in the area, such as Split Lake, want to work with Manitoba
Hydro to encourage development.
"We know there are differences of opinion and these are things we think
should be dealt with in Manitoba," Heino said from Duluth.
An official from Split Lake First Nation could not be reached for
comment.
Heino said it doesn't make sense for Cross Lake to target the proposed
power line from Minnesota to Wisconsin.
"It's our weak link and could be the catalyst for a regional blackout,"
Heino said. "Any wholesale power seller or buyer can use this line.
Manitoba Hydro is only one of many."
The line will provide a more reliable transmission and is not being
proposed to import more power from Manitoba, he said.
But Stewart said the campaign is making a difference. The Minnesota
Environmental Quality Board has agreed to consider giving Cross Lake
intervenor status in upcoming public hearings on the new power line. A
decision is expected April 20.
An arbitrator appointed under the NFA ordered Manitoba Hydro earlier
this year to pay $9.1 million to Pimickamack First Nation -- a small
portion of what the band had been seeking under the NFA. The $9.1
million would generate an annual income of $315,000, and was to be
spent on keeping the community's arena open each year. Hydro was to
provide free electricity under the order.