Private Story
A State of Erosion
Canada is the third largest producer of Hydroelectricity in the world and hydro dams produce 97% of the energy in the Province of Manitoba. Manitoba prides itself on being a low greenhouse gas emitter and through that status claims to be an environmentally friendly energy producer. Growing up in the Capital city of Winnipeg, I always believed that story, unaware of the truth that was hidden in the north.
In reality the cheap, clean energy Manitobans took for granted was neither cheap, nor clean, we just weren’t the ones paying the true cost. Tataskweyak Cree Nation, Fox Lake, Pimicikamak First Nation, and Grand Rapids are just some of the communities who were either displaced or confronted with a landscape they could no longer recognize during the decades long dam boom. Flooding, erosion, fluctuating water levels, collapsing fisheries, and the loss of wildlife severely impacted their traditional economy and way of life, forcing many into the welfare state or to find temporary work on the dams being built. Women and children were abducted by the influx of workers, and alcohol flooded the north. In 1977 the federal government and Manitoba hydro signed the Northern Flood Agreement, which acknowledged the damage to the communities and promised to remediate it by obliterating poverty and supporting the creation of new economies, promises that went unfulfilled.
Today Manitoba Hydro is in the final stages of building the second last potential dam on the Nelson River, known as Keeyask. To gain approval Hydro partnered with four nearby First Nations: Tataskweyak Cree Nation, Fox Lake, War Lake, and York Factory were each offered loans to purchase shares in the project with the hope of creating an income stream for future generations. It was sold as a “grub box” for the future, a traditional term used to describe nearby areas where fish and wildlife were plentiful. The approval process created a flow of money to consultants and select community members, dividing the communities. The cost of Keeyask has since risen from 6 to 9 Billion dollars, while export prices have collapsed in the US, eroding the likelihood of a profitable partnership. Meanwhile residents who came from a culture of self-dependence and abundance often have their power cut off for unpaid hydro bills and struggle to buy bottled water.
A State of Erosion explores the dirty legacy of clean energy in my home province.
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