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DAM-L Cross Lake chief in Free Press (fwd)
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Date: Mon, 7 May 2001 12:21:02 -0500
Subject: Cross Lake chief in Free Press
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To: William J Braun/Winnipeg/MCC
From: wjb@mennonitecc.ca
Date: 05/07/2001 12:09:55 PM
Subj: Cross Lake chief in Free Press
Hydro plans should include environmental concerns
Mon, May 7, 2001
By John Miswagon
THE Free Press is to be congratulated on its increasingly critical coverage of
Manitoba Hydro's plans. Conceived in secrecy, Manitoba Hydro's plans have had
significant effects, both good and bad, on Manitobans. They have had very
significant impacts on the Pimicikamak people, few of them good. Pimicikamak
Cree Nation feels that more critical discussion and a wider and better-informed
public understanding of Manitoba Hydro's activities and plans could serve us all
well.
PCN also welcomes critical consideration of its own activities relating to
Manitoba Hydro. An April 30 Free Press article focused on PCN's endorsement of a
shareholder resolution at the annual meeting of Xcel Energy in Minneapolis. The
article suggested that PCN's actions were contrary to the interests of Manitoba
Hydro's customers. However, I believe that, when understood, PCN's actions will
be found to support the interests of all Manitobans.
First, we should clear up a misconception. Notwithstanding repeated public
statements by Manitoba Hydro, the idea that PCN is trying to negotiate a bigger
compensation settlement is a myth (as Manitoba Hydro well knows). The reason is
simple. PCN already has a settlement -- the Northern Flood Agreement --- and has
no interest in a new "deal" to buy it out. PCN wants Manitoba Hydro to live up
to its NFA promises. The NFA provides for a wide range of remedies, with
financial compensation being only a last resort if they fail.
In fact, in 1997, PCN passed a law that prohibits a buyout deal and there is no
practical possibility of this law being repealed. In 1998, Manitoba Hydro
president Bob Brennan, together with representatives of the federal and
provincial governments, signed a solemn undertaking to "set aside the concept of
comprehensive settlement with Cross Lake First Nation, and welcome(d) the
opportunity to work with (us) in a spirit of partnership to implement the NFA in
accordance with its spirit and intent."
Manitoba Hydro has made a horrible mess of our boreal environment, creating wide
mudflats, drowned habitat, eroding banks and vast expanses of debris. The
previous provincial minister responsible for Hydro called it "travesties, the
victimization of a people." A recent Inter-Church Public Inquiry panel described
it as "a moral and ecological catastrophe." Our people refer to it as "an
environmental slum." Some of the NFA remedies would go a long way to cleaning up
this environmental slum. While (contrary to another myth) the NFA is mostly
clear and unequivocal, in practice Manitoba Hydro has been very slow to clean
up. It is of course concerned that cleaning up will be expensive. Indeed,
Manitoba Hydro has until now avoided even finding out what it will cost.
Manitoba Hydro likes to boast about its low-cost product. It also likes to
market it with an "environmentally friendly" green sticker. Xcel Energy is
learning that the sticker is not true, and that this product is cheap because it
is produced at the expense of the environment and our human rights.
We believe that it is in the interests of all Manitobans to learn more about
this, before more bad decisions are made. Two decades ago, Manitoba Hydro
solemnly promised to clean up its environmental mess. But even to this day,
there is little sign that Manitoba Hydro recognizes the nature and extent of the
mess. Yet it claims that its future projects will be environmentally clean. We
have a sense of d
[ Charset ISO-8859-1 unsupported, converting... ]
?j? vu.
We find it regrettable that your paper would repeat uncritically Manitoba
Hydro's mantra that new dams would cause much less flooding. We know from bitter
experience, and Manitoba Hydro should know by now, that flooding is only one,
and often far from the worst, of the environmental impacts of large-scale hydro.
Impacts
Indeed, many of the worst impacts (and the loss of many lives) result from
unnatural changes in the water regime -- levels and flows. Since Manitoba Hydro
controls the water flows to meet export sales as well as domestic needs, merely
signing a contract can and does add to these impacts. Manitoba Hydro's inability
to understand (or even mention) these impacts does not encourage hope that it
will do better in future.
Meanwhile, catastrophic costs of neglected or dismissed impacts of existing
hydro development are borne disproportionately by aboriginal peoples. PCN is
determined to take all legitimate actions to bring this story to the public.
This is not intended to be a one-sided story -- for example, it will include the
steps that PCN and Manitoba Hydro are beginning to take together, to clean up
the environment, and it will include resulting benefits for other affected first
nations.
Finally, PCN's actions in Minneapolis last week were moderate and responsible.
Your paper reported that, "If PCN had persuaded Xcel Energy last week not to
renew its contract with Manitoba Hydro, it could have dealt a severe blow to the
Crown corporation and its customers." In fact, the resolution, brought by Xcel
shareholders (not PCN, though I did speak for 60 seconds in favour of it), could
not have had that effect. Even if passed (which was never remotely possible the
first time around -- its proponents were very pleased that it far exceeded the
three per cent legal threshold for resubmitting it next year), it would not have
affected existing contracts with Manitoba Hydro.
Indeed, the shareholder resolution did not directly mention Manitoba Hydro. It
simply recommended that Xcel Energy get its power from renewable sources that do
not have undue adverse environmental and human rights impacts on aboriginal
peoples, including PCN. Why would Manitoba Hydro be afraid of this?
Surely, this a policy that every Manitoban can support.
John Miswagon is chief of the Pimicikamak Cree Nation in Cross Lake.
______________________
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Will Braun
Mennonite Central Committee
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