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The Northern Flood Agreement, negotiated in 1977 by federal and Manitoba governments, Manitoba Hydro and five Cree bands, promised to provide alternative means of livelihood to replace traditional economic activities that were adversely affected. That hasn't happened.
As a result of the hydroelectric development along the Churchill and Nelson Rivers in northern Manitoba, water levels have risen, causing flooding, and the Cree band at Cross Lake has suffered disintegration of its hunting, trapping and fishing activities.
Cross Lake is asking Mennonite Central Committee to support them in standing against injustice. In 1975, MCC participated in public hearings into northern hydroelectricity development.
Four out of five Cree bands that signed the NFA have since entered "implementation" agreements which extinguished their basic rights under the NFA, feeling a need to settle for what they could get, said Will Braun, MCC Manitoba worker in northern Manitoba.
Since the project began, several reserve members have died or been injured due to increased navigational hazards such as debris in the water and unreliable ice. Loss of the traditional economic base has led to high unemployment, an erosion of culture and social disruption.
Nearly 29% of the power generated in northern Manitoba is exported to Ontario and the United States. Manitobans pay among the lowest rates for electricity in the world. Manitoba Hydro made more than $110 million in profits in its last fiscal year--with 80% of its electricity produced from the Nelson River.--MCC Canada
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