MCC Canada general meeting:

Delegates wrestle over compensation for northern Manitoba community; support letter on the human right to adequate food; and approve budget

WINNIPEG

At the Mennonite Central Committee Canada annual general meeting held Nov. 27-28 in Winnipeg, delegates considered how to help the Cross Lake community in northern Manitoba; supported a letter addressing the human right to adequate food; and approved MCC Canada's 1999 budget.

Compensation for Cross Lake

Delegates approved a motion to redirect a portion of MCC Canada's hydroelectric bill to a Royal Trust account held for the Cross Lake Cree community in northern Manitoba.

The motion allows MCC Canada to deposit 10% of its electric bill (an estimated $140 per month) in the trust fund. The trust fund enables the Cross Lake community to collect on large, outstanding debts owed them as a result of the failure by governments to honour earlier promises.

Making this decision was not easy. Delegates, representing the provincial MCC organizations and the Mennonite and Brethren in Christ conferences that make up MCC Canada, wrestled at length over how best to support the people of Cross Lake. Delegates expressed concern over various implications of redirecting bill payment, such as whether it will be seen as "punishing" Manitoba Hydro, and how to explain the need for such a step to MCC supporters.

Some delegates felt that MCC's strength is mediation, and that MCC should use more conciliatory methods to resolve the ongoing dispute between Manitoba Hydro and Cross Lake.

However, there was an overwhelming sense that something concrete needed to be done to ensure that some of the benefits of hydroelectric development also flow to Cross Lake.

In 1975, MCC was part of an interchurch group that held public hearings into northern hydro development. In 1977, federal and Manitoba governments, Manitoba Hydro and five Cree bands negotiated the Northern Flood Agreement, which was to provide compensation and alternative means of livelihood for the duration of a hydroelectric development project on the Churchill and Nelson Rivers.

The hydroelectric development project in the 1970s caused flooding and rapid and unseasonal fluctuations in water levels, cutting Cross Lake's ancestral ties to land and water, which produced their food and livelihood. Twenty-one years later, key NFA obligations to Cross Lake have not been met.

A delegation from the northern Manitoba community, representing women, youth, band council and elders, shared about the widespread destruction as a result of the hydroelectric development.

Delegates recommended to:

  • Work toward a relationship based on trust and respect between Cross Lake people and Mennonites.
  • Urge federal and provincial governments and Manitoba Hydro to honour the NFA.
  • Provide opportunities for the telling of the Cross Lake story.
  • Support the Manitoba Aboriginal Rights Coalition's efforts to reopen the public inquiry process.

    The human right to adequate food

    Delegates approved a letter to Mary Robinson, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, asking her to provide strong leadership in order to advance the human right to adequate food. A copy of the letter will be sent to Foreign Affairs Minister Lloyd Axworthy, among others.

    The letter quoted MCC's food policy statement: "Food is a gift of God to be shared. Action that seeks to make an adequate diet available to all people is a witness to God's love and grace . . . In our 75 years of experience we have learned that states and actions of powerful groups are often responsible for denying people the right to feed themselves with dignity." MCC was created in response to the hunger and famine in Ukraine in the 1920s, and MCC continues to work at issues of hunger and food security around the world.

    Other business
  • Delegates expressed strong identification among constituents for MCC's disaster response, and encouraged it to continue to clearly state its mission to "serve in the name of Christ".
  • Delegates learned that 47 MCC thrift stores across Canada donated more than $3.3 million to MCC in the past year. For the first time, provincial thrift store coordinators have joined together under a national umbrella, with Martha Klassen as its chair.

    Budget
  • Delegates approved a budget of just over $22 million for 1999, a small increase from 1998. Constituent support remains high. Constituency giving is up 60% from 1990, said Marvin Frey, executive director of MCC Canada.
  • Delegates expressed commitment to keep financial support for MCC Canada's Eastern Canada program at the current level for the next year. It sits at about $400,000 a year. The MCC Canada board has appointed a task force to develop a longer term plan before making any additional commitments.
  • Delegates passed a motion authorizing the MCC Canada board to negotiate an alternative structural relationship between MCC Canada and Ten Thousand Villages. While continuing to operate under MCC's umbrella, this could mean Ten Thousand Villages becoming a separate entity, enabling it to respond better to market forces.--MCC Canada

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