Chiefs demand changes to $600-M flood project

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This article was published 18/08/2022 (859 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Interlake chiefs are urging the Manitoba government to redesign the long delayed $600-million flood-mitigation project, saying ancient settlements that could include burial sites have been discovered in the area.

“We were hopeful we could resolve this efficiently,” wrote Karl Zadnik, a spokesman for the Interlake Reserves Tribal Council.

“The potential of excavation is the source of a great deal of sensitivity in our communities, particularly if there are burial sites.”

The projects, which would alleviate flooding on Lake Manitoba and Lake St. Martin, no longer have a target date for construction.

The channels have been in the works since 2011, but the project can’t proceed without federal regulatory approval. The Impact Assessment Agency of Canada has found multiple errors and omissions in Manitoba’s filings, including persistent gaps in answers to questions the regulator raised two years ago.

Infrastructure Minister Doyle Piwniuk issued an apology this week, admitting Manitoba had “fallen short in our responsibilities” to consult Indigenous communities about the project, after a court ruling that contradicted the PCs’ years-long insistence they had done enough consultation.

While local chiefs welcomed that apology and Doyle’s visit to the area Wednesday, they said they still need the channels to be rerouted. They demanded funding, which they’ve requested since 2018, to assess the project’s impact on Indigenous rights and socioeconomic conditions.

“We ask that they commit to true economic reconciliation,” wrote Zadnik, adding the six Interlake nations are happy to help build the flood-prevention project if it’s done correctly.

In 2020, an assessment uncovered 10 areas of potential significance, some dating back before the arrival of Europeans. One dates back 3,500 to 2,800 years, described as “a complex site with multiple intact cultural components that included lithic debitage (the debris from stone tools) and tools, faunal remains, and pottery.”

Though buried in regulatory findings, the chiefs said they didn’t want to make the findings public, originally to comply with provincial assessment rules, and then to avoid politicizing the issue.

“We didn’t want concerns about politicians losing face to get in the way of a solution,” Zadnik wrote, adding Manitoba Infrastructure has been more open to the bands’ requests in recent months.

“The (tribal council) continues to advocate for avoidance of the sites, not excavation.”

NDP Leader Wab Kinew argued the PCs should completed consultations years ago and started construction, noting concerns that this year’s precipitation could contribute to a flood next year.

“Manitoba is still decades behind the sort of engagement we would see in Alberta or British Columbia,” Kinew said.

“The fact the issue has not been adequately addressed with the right amount of respect tells me that the PCs’ approach here is still putting us very far behind the 8-ball.”

Piwniuk was unavailable for interviews from Wednesday to Friday. His office reneged on a promised interview on Thursday.

Kinew argued the government is hiding from accountability. “Any minister of the Crown should be able to speak with confidence about this issue, and the premier should be able to speak publicly about this issue, given the importance to the future of Manitoba,” he said.

Instead, the government issued two news releases about the project this week. They omitted the fact Manitoba had asked Ottawa to push the deadline for regulatory review from this month to February 2024.

The June 30 request mentioned delays caused by leadership changes. MLA Ron Schuler lost his job as infrastructure minister last December due to his rejection of COVID-19 vaccine mandates.

“The chaos we’ve seen in the PC party has actually become a real-life issue for Manitobans,” Kinew said. “We’re at increased risk of flooding, because this channel project is not getting built.”

Piwniuk’s spokesman argued the extension was “a pre-emptive measure” in case Ottawa sought more information.

“This extension request was part of established processes and procedures for the federal environmental licensing process,” the spokesman said.

In 2021, then-premier Brian Pallister said he expected the project to be finished in 2025.

On Friday, the province said it no longer has a timeline for when it expects construction to start or end, but said it will take three to four years to build. The $600-million cost estimate was updated this spring, despite the requested regulatory extension.

“Construction contracts will be tendered as soon as regulatory approvals are in place, and will follow the department’s standard tender and award processes,” a spokesman wrote.

Zadnik says building can only proceed when the area is adequately protected.

“Our nations bear a disproportionate share of the adverse impacts of provincial flood management,” Zadnik wrote. “Our Interlake people and reserves around that lake have been sacrificed.”

dylan.robertson@freepress.mb.ca