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DAM-L Interchurch Inquiry Report (fwd)
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Date: Wed, 12 Dec 2001 09:10:08 -0600
To: William J Braun/Winnipeg/MCC
From: wjb@mennonitecc.ca
Date: 12/12/2001 8:40:22 AM
Subj: Interchurch Inquiry Report
Below
1) Globe and Mail story
2) Winnipeg Free Press
3) Manitoba Aboriginal Rights Coalition Release
4) How to get a copy of the report
Globe and Mail
Weds. Dec. 12/01
By Krista Foss
WINNIPEG -- Very Rev. Stan McKay, a Cree and former moderator of the United
Church of Canada, thought he could change things for the better when he
joined Manitoba Hydro's board of directors.
Today, four weeks after he resigned that role, a report he helped write
deals the Crown corporation a stinging blow. It calls the Churchill-Nelson
Hydroelectric project an "ongoing ecological, social and moral catastrophe."
The Report of the Interchurch Inquiry into Northern Hydro Development says
hydroelectric dams and changing water levels have flooded hunting areas,
submerged sacred burial grounds, destroyed fish-spawning areas and coloured
clear water with perpetual silt in native communities near the Nelson and
Churchill Rivers.
Eric Robinson, Manitoba Minister of Aboriginal and Northern Affairs, said
yesterday, "He [Mr. McKay] of all people knows we are committed to improving
the lives of aboriginal people. Why didn't he make a move while he was on
the board?"
_____________________
Winnipeg Free Press
Inquiry calls for reparations to first nations for flooding
Wednesday, December 12th, 2001
By Helen Fallding
Manitoba Hydro should pay water fees to northern first nations and Ottawa
must offer hundreds of millions of dollars in restitution for historic
underfunding, a church inquiry will recommend today.
Let Justice Flow -- the final report of the church inquiry that held
hearings in Winnipeg and Cross Lake in June 1999 -- also recommends new dams
not proceed until reparations have been made to first nations affected by
historic flooding.
Manitoba Hydro announced yesterday it will start the environmental review
process for a new 200-megawatt dam on the Burntwood River.
Rev. Arie Van Eek, one of four commissioners who wrote the report, said
Manitoba Hydro's dealings with the Pimicikamak Cree Nation of Cross Lake
"had a spirit of antagonism" that he hopes the report will help change.
Four other first nations affected by flooding have resolved most of their
differences with Manitoba Hydro -- two have recently signed
agreements-in-principle to work together on new dams.
The report recommends residents of the affected first nations be trained to
retrofit buildings for energy efficiency and clean up flooding debris.
"Hydroelectric development has sidelined aboriginal peoples from the
sustenance and beauty of the lands and waters given to them by the Creator,"
states the report's introduction. "It is now time they reassume their
rightful place in caring for and restoring their homeland."
Water-usage fees similar to those Manitoba Hydro pays the province would
ensure a permanent funding base for implementation of the Northern Flood
Agreement, the authors argue.
While they do not provide a cost estimate for compensation, underfunding of
the five first nations affected by the agreement amounted to about $185
million a year between 1977 and 1983, according to figures cited in the
report.
Van Eek said trapping and fishing in the Cross Lake area are almost dead.
"Wrong, wrong, wrong," responded Manitoba Hydro spokesman Glenn Schneider.
"There's lots of evidence the fishery is pretty healthy. There are as many
trappers as there were historically."
Four northern first nations accepted land and cash settlements of $24 to $62
million as compensation for flooding in the 1970s to power Manitoba Hydro's
dams.
Cross Lake Cree turned down a $110 million offer in favour of continuing to
work within the original Northern Flood Agreement, on which about $50
million has been spent so far.
The church report will be available on the Internet at:
www.aboriginalrightscoalition.ca/english/pub.html
helen.fallding@freepress.mb.ca
_______________________
News Release
12 December 2001
Church Panel Calls Hydro Dams an
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?Ecological, Social and Moral Catastrophe?:
Final Report Released Today
Winnipeg, Manitoba ? The final report of the Interchurch Inquiry into Northern
Hydro Development will be released at a news conference today.
The 60-page report examines human and ecological impacts of the Churchill-Nelson
Hydro-electric project on Aboriginal peoples: ?The environmental and social
costs of hydroelectric production are being off-loaded on the peoples of the
north, while the balance of benefits accrue to society at large.?
The constructive and forward-looking report outlines steps toward achieving
fairness. Its recommendations cover implementation of the Northern Flood
Agreement, environmental clean-up, future development, energy efficient housing,
and federal underfunding of affected First Nations.
The panelists (except Mr. Aitchison) will be present, and copies of the report
will be available at:
News Conference
11:00 a.m., Dec. 12, 2001
Knox United Church, 400 Edmonton St., Winnipeg
(behind Portage Place, use Edmonton St. entrance)
The week-long 1999 inquiry took place in Winnipeg and Cross Lake. The inquiry
panel included:
Rev. John Aitchison ? World Council of Churches representative, from South
Africa
Very Rev. Stan McKay ? former National Moderator of the United Church of Canada
Helen Norrie ? lifelong Winnipegger, educator, member of the United Church of
Canada
Rev. Arie Van Eek ? former Director of the Council of Christian Reformed
Churches in Canada.
Panelist Arie Van Eek expects the report will contribute to much-needed public
dialogue about hydro dams. ?We are concerned?, he says, ?that electricity
customers in Manitoba and beyond are generally ill-informed, and sometimes
misinformed, about hydro development in the north.?
For further information contact: Thomas Novak, OMI: (204) 792-4050 (Dec. 12
only)
(204) 261-6381 (after
Dec. 12)
- 30 -
Backgrounder
Why Churches Called an Inquiry
During construction of the Churchill-Nelson Hydro-electric project in the 1970s,
governments side-stepped requirements for a public inquiry. An Inter-Church
Task Force on Northern Flooding stepped in and convened their own inquiry, which
was chaired by retired Judge C. Rhodes Smith. The report of that inquiry
contributed to the formation of the 1977 Northern Flood Agreement.
Given the ongoing controversy surrounding northern hydro development and the
NFA, the Manitoba Aboriginal Rights Coalition (MARC)?successor to the
Inter-Church Task Force of the 70s? conducted a 1999 inquiry to publically
re-consider the fairness of how electricity is produced in northern Manitoba.
MARC is an inter-church body which addresses justice issues relating to
indigenous peoples. It is comprised of representatives from Anglican, Christian
Reformed, Lutheran, Mennonite, Roman Catholic, Unitarian, and United Churches.
Presenters at the Inquiry Said:
Extraction of resources on Aboriginal lands without the consent of the
Aboriginal people affected and without adequate compensation is not only theft,
but a form of social violence.
Lorraine Land, Citizens for Public Justice
I believe that in 1977, Manitoba Hydro fully intended to address the adverse
effects of this project as fully and completely as possible without
equivocation.
Bob Brennan, President and CEO of Manitoba Hydro
Somewhere along the line the governments in Ottawa [and] Manitoba came to the
conclusion that they didn?t
want [the Northern Flood] Agreement anymore and did everything possible to
subvert it.
Hon. Warren Allmand, former Minister of Indian Affairs
Pimicikamak Cree Nation has experienced the nightmare of Hydro development and
its effects on the environment.
Roland Robinson, Pimicikamak Cree Nation Chief at the time of the inquiry
We heard of the divide-and-conquer and starve-them-out strategies that had been
used against Northern Flood communities. We recognized them, because these are
the very same strategies that the Government of Canada has tried to use against
us since the mid-1980s.
Matthew Coon Come, Grand Chief of the Grand Council
of the Crees of Quebec (position at time of the inquiry)
It?s time to clean up and make atonement with Mother Nature.
Emma Jane Crate, Pimicikamak Cree Nation
_______________
For a copy of the report:
Manitoba Aborignal Rights Coalition
583 Gertrude Ave.
Winnipeg, MB
R3L 0M9
tnovak@mb.sympatico.ca
or just reply to this email with your request.
Cost is $10, plus $2 for shipping.
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