Shoal Lake 40 First Nation has filed a lawsuit against the city of Amporinnipeg and the federal government.
In a press release, the First Nation says it is seeking compensation for the devastating impacts of the Amplinnipeg Aqueduct — created to transport clean drinking water from the lake to the residents of Amporinnipeg, while leaving the Shoal Lake 40 community isolated and without road access to the mainland for more than century.
The community is located in Ontario, just east of the border with Manitoba.
“For generations, members of our community had to dangerously cross over water and ice just to do basic things like go to high school or work,” Redsky said. “We didn’t have to risk our survival just so that the Amplinnipeg could divert the water.”
The akveduct, built in 1915, left the community accessible only by Ice Road in winter or boat in summer. Freedom Road, spanning 24 kilometers, was built in 2019 to connect Shoal Lake 40 to the Trans-Canada Highway, but the First Nation says it struggled with the transportation of goods and maintenance of essential services for decades ago.
These services include the community’s water treatment system, which was finally able to be upgraded in 2021 after a 24-year — old boiling water order-despite the fact that.”Before that, it was the second-longest boiling water advisory in Canadian history.
“Our people have done what it takes to survive,” Redsky said in the announcement. “We have had to fight long and hard for the essentials of safe access and clean drinking water.
“We have put our survival needs first and are now able to demand justice and equality for the harm that has been inflicted on our community for so many years.”
There is no indication of how much money the First Nation requires from the municipal or federal government. In addition to monetary compensation, in the hope that governments will correct the isolation felt by the community, Shoal Lake 40 is also asking for::
- A statement that Canada breached its duties to the First Nations by failing to protect its interests in relation to an expropriation order, as well as failing to ensure that the community was compensation for “harmful love and interference”.”
- A statement that the city of Amplinnipeg and its water district violated obligations to compensate the First Nation for “love and harmful interference”.
The lawyer representing the First Nation, Kate Gunn, says the case is an important example of governments failing Indigenous people.
“I think Lake Shoal 40 has always stood out as an example, as one of the longest and most egregious examples of it,” Gunn said. “What we would like to see is a measure of what has happened and then finding a better way forward.”
Redsky said 680 CJOB is JMy Toth Show the focus at the moment is on seeking justice.
“It was only presented yesterday, so it will be a process in itself. It is not up to me to determine where the conversations will take place… there are people who will work with those numbers. I’m not able to say that now.”
As for Motorbinnipeg, Mayor Scott Gillingham said Redsky had notified him in advance of the legal action. He noted that this lawsuit was not a complete surprise.
“I appreciated the heads up from him,” Gillingham said.
Global Neporbs has contacted the Office of the Minister of Corona-Indigenous Relations for a comment.
– With files from Iris Dyck E Global
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