First Nations seek protected wildlands, not national park

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This article was published 05/09/2022 (841 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

OTTAWA — First Nations in one of the most picturesque regions of Manitoba are hoping improved federal-provincial relations will yield a Cree-run protected area, instead of a proposed national park.

“If it’s done the right way, it can be a really important step in reconciliation, that we don’t have further colonial laws imposed on us,” said Misipawistik Chief Heidi Cook. “This is our time to be leaders.”

The area, 400 kilometres north of Winnipeg, is also known as Grand Rapids and often dubbed the gateway to northern Manitoba. It’s known for wetlands, limestone cliffs that line an aquamarine lake and an abundance of species.

For decades, Misipawistik and three other local bands have been in talks with Ottawa and the province about some form of protection for the region.

That included a proposed Manitoba Lowlands National Park, which former national chief Ovide Mercredi strongly campaigned against. He argued First Nations should have more autonomy over their homeland than having a colonial agency administer the area.

Cook said the whole point is to have an Indigenous vision of protection, land use and development, where nature can be shared in a way that doesn’t undermine traditional practices.

“It restores a lot of what was taken from us, in terms of our authority and stewardship of our territory,” she said. “We have been here all along. Governments are a temporary thing, but we’ll still be here when the governments have changed.”

Misipawistik’s view has been shared by its neighbouring Cree communities: Norway House, Mosakahiken (Moose Lake) and Chemawawin (Easterville).

Cook said the First Nations, Ottawa and province were approaching common ground in the early 2000s, but recalls Parks Canada stopped engaging after the 2006 election of the Harper government.

At one point, Cook said there was some sort of memorandum between Ottawa and the province that included none of the local bands.

The Trudeau government took office in 2015 on a pledge to better work with Indigenous nations. Five months later, Brian Pallister led the Progressive Conservatives to power in Manitoba.

Some Indigenous files advanced during Pallister’s reign, though few involved land reclamation and autonomy, and Cook said the project stood still.

The federal Liberals created confusion in spring 2017, when their budget mentioned the proposed national park, despite locals pushing back against the idea.

In recent statements, Ottawa and the province both said they are not aware of any progress on that proposal since 2017.

Now, the bands are hoping Premier Heather Stefanson’s conciliatory approach to working with Indigenous governments and Ottawa could yield progress.

Talks will need to sort out allocating resources. Recently, the province has discussed how to share revenue from stumpage fees paid by forestry companies.

The area for proposed protection sits at the southern end of Manitoba’s nickel belt. Proponents of the nearby Minago mine has already been in touch with local bands, and conservation status will need to include parameters on mining.

“We don’t close the door to those discussions, but there always has to be safeguards in place to make sure that development is not harmful,” Cook said.

A protected area would give First Nations assurance that economic development is being balanced with maintaining the traditional relationship with nature, water, food sources and culture, she said.

In the years away from negotiating tables, Misipawistik has undertaken research on wildlife monitoring, sorted out governance structures and sketched out how First Nations would like to best use the land.

Cook noted many existing protected areas in Canada lie in remote locations that are expensive to reach, attracting people who tend to respect wildlife and local customs.

But being just over a four-hour drive from Winnipeg along Highway 6 means the area would have to be more carefully managed, she argued.

“When we’re a weekend drive from the southern population centres, there’s a risk from human impact,” Cook said.

“Maybe they just want to go party for the weekend, and maybe there is space for that. But we have to be careful in how we design an experience for welcoming people into our home, in a way that it is respected, in a way that we need it to be.”

Doing so could help Canada meet the quotas set in international commitments for nature preservation, she said. It’s just a matter of putting First Nations in control of how that’s done.

“This is our home we’re talking about; you don’t go into somebody’s home to start rearranging the furniture.”

dylan.robertson@freepress.mb.ca