First Nation sues Manitoba Hydro, governments over 'devastating' effects of Lake Winnipeg regulation

Caitlyn Gowriluk · CBC News

· Posted: Jun 17, 2025 6:14 PM EDT | Last Updated: 2 hours ago

A First Nation connected the enactment of Lake Winnipeg has filed a suit seeking damages from Manitoba Hydro, arsenic good arsenic the provincial and national governments, implicit a decades-old hydroelectric task it alleges has had antagonistic effects connected the lake, adjacent reserve lands and the community's mode of life.

Berens River First Nation, astir 275 kilometres northbound of Winnipeg, filed the papers successful Manitoba's Court of King's Bench Tuesday implicit Hydro's Lake Winnipeg regularisation project, which began cognition successful 1976.

"Our pact rights person been infringed upon. Our radical tin nary longer food wherever their ancestors fished. Our medicines nary longer turn wherever grandmothers erstwhile harvested," Chief Hartley Everett said astatine a news league successful Winnipeg.

The community, which entered into Treaty 5 with the Crown successful 1875, said successful its connection of assertion it besides wants an biology appraisal of the task and inclusion successful aboriginal decisions affecting Lake Winnipeg, describing the impacts of the task as "devastating" for the community.

"This is not lone a ineligible matter. It is motivation and it's a spiritual 1 — the onshore is our life, the h2o is our spirit. We are not present arsenic victims — we are present arsenic protesters, arsenic leaders and arsenic pact partners demanding justice," Everett said.

None of the allegations successful the connection of assertion person been proven successful court. Manitoba Hydro and the provincial NDP authorities wouldn't remark connected a substance earlier the courts, and CBC News did not perceive backmost Tuesday from the national Liberal government.

The project, which lets the Crown hydroelectric corp manipulate h2o levels connected Lake Winnipeg to make power, includes the Jenpeg generating station and a series of diversion channels that increase the outflow capableness from Lake Winnipeg into the Nelson River, according to Hydro.

The connection of assertion says it has caused problems for the First Nation including mediocre h2o quality, flooding and nonaccomplishment of accepted areas.

It's besides caused problems for fishers successful the area, arsenic food permission the shore, and boats and instrumentality get damaged by rocks and sandbars uncovered erstwhile h2o levels driblet to an unnaturally debased level, the assertion alleges.

Berens River nonmigratory Harrison McKay said he's seen that first-hand, noting it's go hard to marque a surviving sportfishing successful the area — and saying the walleye quotas helium has person go "useless."

"Nets are not cheap. Motors are not cheap. It's similar buying a vehicle," said McKay, who added he's been a fisherman for astir 40 years but hasn't fished overmuch for adjacent to the past decade.

"The food that you're expected to drawback connected the channel, wherever … my dada and them utilized to fish are nary longer there."

Greg McIvor, who works with Berens River's main and council, called the assemblage "very fish-oriented people" whose onshore "was traditionally a hub for the full eastbound side, going into northwest Ontario and bluish Manitoba."

"They maintained this beardown transportation to the lands and the waters and the rivers — and each of that has been impacted and affected by assorted reservoirs and power structures," helium said.

The connection of assertion alleges water levels manipulated to beryllium higher than mean person besides caused flooding connected reserve lands, covering roads with water, causing mould in lodging and starring to astatine slightest 1 location being condemned due to the fact that of erosion.

Animals similar beavers and muskrats person besides "become progressively scarce," arsenic person plants specified arsenic chaotic rice, berries and ginger root, it says. 

Environmental assessment

While Manitoba's Clean Environment Commission held hearings connected the effects of the task successful 2011 and issued a study successful 2015, the connection of assertion says that study was not technically an biology assessment.

Instead, it "relied connected self-reported information from Manitoba Hydro" and "there was nary broad autarkic appraisal oregon third-party method studies oregon reports completed," the suit claims.

It besides says portion the First Nation participated successful those hearings and consultation connected the licence, it "did not person capable capableness support" and its information "was truthful constrained, and [it] was not capable to afloat participate."

The study besides highlighted concerns including an "inability to decently measure the impacts of [the project] connected shoreline erosion owed to deficiency of information and studies," according to the lawsuit.

As a result, the assertion said the First Nation "rejects immoderate of the conclusions of the study and remains acrophobic that the grounds relied connected was that of the proponent, Manitoba Hydro."

Bruce McIvor, ineligible counsel for the First Nation, said determination were "a batch of shortcomings" successful that study — and it's "far past the clip for a proper, afloat biology assessment."

"Berens River is owed that, each First Nations astir the water are owed that, the radical of Manitoba are owed that — and importantly, the water itself is owed a due biology assessment."

The connection of assertion is seeking an bid to person "appropriate and sufficient" monitoring technology installed and a broad survey done to measure the impacts of the project. 

The filing says it's besides seeking injunctions stopping Hydro from operating the task successful a mode that it alleges negatively affects the community's lands and pact rights, but what its aboriginal holds volition "be the ground of the speech betwixt Manitoba and Berens River," the lawyer said.