\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
![\"MIKAELA](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/4000297_web1_260220-MKO-hydro-00053.jpg\")
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n
MIKAELA MACKENZIE \/ FREE PRESS<\/p>\n
\u2018I am bound and determined to get what is rightfully ours, and this has nothing to do with money,\u2019 said Norway House Chief Larson Anderson.<\/p>\n
The community, which is about 460 kilometres north of Winnipeg, near the northern shore of Lake Winnipeg, hired engineering firm DHI Water and Environments Inc. to conduct a scientific assessment of the effects of the regulation project.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat assessment, received in June 2025, revealed that the damage caused by the project was significantly more severe than Manitoba Hydro had consistently represented and that the impacts are continuing to worsen,\u201d reads the claim.<\/p>\n
The study found that the majority of the sediment and debris that flows into Playgreen Lake comes through the constructed \u201c2-mile\u201d channel with Lake Winnipeg. That sediment, the community argues, has devastated the fish habitat of Playgreen Lake. As a result most commercial fishers from the community have chosen to harvest from Lake Winnipeg instead.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am bound and determined to get what is rightfully ours, and this has nothing to do with money,\u201d Norway House Chief Larson Anderson said on Friday.<\/p>\n
The chief said the goal of the lawsuit is to force the governments and Hydro to armour the shorelines of the channel and of the lakes to prevent erosion and to remove millions of tonnes of sediment that have flowed into Playgreen Lake since the regulation project began, \u201cso we can continue to fish on our lakes and so we can continue to live off our resources.\u201d<\/p>\n
If that\u2019s done, Anderson said, \u201cwe\u2019ll leave everybody alone.\u201d<\/p>\n
There are no plans to reach a settlement agreement.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe plan is to push this to trial\u2026 We have fresh evidence,\u201d said Norway House lawyer, Derek Seguin, who\u2019s a member of the Cree Nation. \u201cWe have enough to show the misconduct of Mantoba Hydro, based on agreements where their conduct was unforeseen.\u201d<\/p>\n
The claim alleges the project and the channel have caused \u201csignificant harm\u201d to the community\u2019s way of life and have infringed upon its Aboriginal and Treaty rights.<\/p>\n
The federal government, it argues, failed to exercise its obligations to safeguard Norway House\u2019s interests from those harms, particularly following the construction of the channel.<\/p>\n
The regulation project has fundamentally altered Playgreen Lake and other waterways and land used by Norway House, the claim alleges. That has resulted in progressively worsening effects on fishing, hunting, trapping, drinking water, travel and cultural uses of the natural environment.<\/p>\n
The project was approved and put into operation before the development of modern Indigenous rights and environment laws and legal theory, but, the claim argues, the law now requires meaningful consideration of Norway House\u2019s rights for the project to continue to operate and be regulated.<\/p>\n
The lawsuit asks the court to declare that the community\u2019s rights have been infringed upon, that the community be consulted on the project for licensing and decision-making purposes, and that Hydro and the province install monitoring technology and conduct studies on the effects of the project.<\/p>\n
The chief said an agreement in relation to flood damages was negotiated with Hydro and the provincial and federal governments in 1997, but the problems have continued unabated.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are still facing even more damage, even more issues, and they\u2019re 100 per cent the fault of Manitoba Hydro,\u201d the chief said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve seen the destruction of our fish, which we\u2026 relied on for our survival. You know, we northern people, we don\u2019t get the kind of money that many southern communities and cities receive. So we rely on our wild food, in particular, our fish, (for) our livelihood.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\t\tWinnipeg Free Press | Newsletter\n\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
Hydro spokesman Peter Chura said the regulation of Lake Winnipeg is fundamental to reliably supplying affordable electricity to the province. <\/p>\n
\u201cManitoba Hydro conducts all its operations within the requirements of its licenses, permits, and the legal and regulatory regimes within which Manitoba Hydro operates,\u201d Chura said on Friday. <\/p>\n
The spokesman said the Crown corporation takes Norway House\u2019s claim \u201cvery seriously and will participate fully in the legal proceedings,\u201d but declined to comment on the specifics of the lawsuit. <\/p>\n
Licences for the regulation project come up for renewal in August and several First Nations have filed court claims over alleged damages. Hydro and the governments have denied wrongdoing in response to some of the claims. <\/p>\n
erik.pindera@freepress.mb.ca<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
Erik Pindera Erik Pindera is a reporter for the Free Press, mostly focusing on crime and justice. The born-and-bred Winnipegger attended Red River College Polytechnic, wrote for the community newspaper in Kenora, Ont. and reported on television and radio in Winnipeg before joining the Free Press in 2020.\u00a0 Read more about Erik<\/a>.<\/p>\n Every piece of reporting Erik produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print \u2014 part of the Free Press\u2018s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press\u2019s history and mandate<\/a>, and learn how our newsroom operates<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Reporter
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n