\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
![\"MIKAELA](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/4662365_web1_261023-Arctic-Crossroads-00234.jpg\")
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n
MIKAELA MACKENZIE \/ FREE PRESS<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
From left: Panelists Ramon Kataquapit, Kakeka ThunderSky, Drew Harris and Denzel Sutherland-Wilson at the Arctic Crossroads Tour, a public engagement session about the future of northern Manitoba in the face of increased shipping and development interests in Churchill, on its Winnipeg stop at the University of Manitoba on Friday.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is a ton of Indigenous concern, as well as fear to speak out,\u201d Thomas-M\u00fcller, the Arctic and Hudson Bay campaigner for Climate Reality Project Canada, said in an interview.<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of folks in Churchill are arm\u2019s-length away from government-funded agencies \u2014 the ecotourism industry is very much wrapped up in both federal and provincial interests and funding streams \u2014 and so folks don\u2019t want to speak out.\u201d<\/p>\n
The federal and provincial governments want to introduce year-round shipping and build an offshore LNG terminal at the Port of Churchill, which is owned by the Arctic Gateway Group. The proposal to expand the deep-water Arctic port includes a new energy corridor, an all-weather road, critical mineral storage and an upgraded rail line through northern Manitoba.<\/p>\n
In an emailed statement, Environment and Climate Change Minister Mike Moyes described the Port of Churchill expansion as a historic opportunity and said his government is committed to working closely with Indigenous and northern communities on the project. He pointed to provincial and federal efforts to establish a national marine conservation area in western Hudson Bay as a way to balance economic growth and environmental stewardship.<\/p>\n
Feasibility studies related to the port expansion have flagged concerns about the impact of increased shipping on Hudson Bay\u2019s sensitive marine ecosystem and resident species, including polar bears and beluga whales.<\/p>\n
During the tour, participants expressed worries about the cumulative effects of climate change and increased industrial activity on access to traditional hunting, trapping and fishing grounds, Thomas-M\u00fcller said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s no Safeway up where I come from in Pukatawagan, and a lot of our people still depend on country foods,\u201d he adds. Pukatawagan is one of 29 First Nations with an ownership stake in the Arctic Gateway Group.<\/p>\n
Attendees also raised concerns about the social implications of the proposed northern resource projects.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t MIKAELA MACKENZIE \/ FREE PRESS<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n Event host Clayton Thomas-M\u00fcller<\/p>\n \u201cA community member in Churchill said one of his biggest fears is Churchill becoming one giant \u2018man camp,\u2019 and what that would mean for the safety of not only his sisters but future women and girls in the community,\u201d panelist Kakek\u00e1 ThunderSky, an Anishinaabkwe member of Poplar River First Nation, said.<\/p>\n The National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls found high rates of violence against Indigenous women connected to work camps, or \u201cman camps,\u201d associated with the resource extraction industry.<\/p>\n In Winnipeg, ThunderSky emphasized the importance of thinking about the multigenerational impacts of resource extraction. \u201cWhatever we do to the land, we do to the children,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Questions and comments from those in attendance ranged from tactics for engaging future generations in resource-development resistance to Treaty rights to spiritual and self care.<\/p>\n ThunderSky, the northern and rural co-ordinator for Climate Action Team Manitoba, was joined on the panel by Indigenous youth organizers and land defenders from Ontario and British Columbia who have advocated for better government consultation and opposed industrial development projects in their home communities.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s important to bring people who have had these experiences and have gone through similar things in their territories, to share and talk about what the reality is and what it actually is like and to push back on these narratives,\u201d ThunderSky said. \u201cWe\u2019re not alone in this.\u201d<\/p>\n Denzel Sutherland-Wilson hails from the Gitxsan village of Anspayaxw in northwestern B.C. and is a member of the Fireweed Clan of the house of Git\u2019luuhl\u2019um\u2019hetxw\u2019it. He was arrested by the RCMP\u2019s community-industry response group \u2014 a unit tasked with policing resource extraction protests \u2014 in 2021 while resisting the construction of the Coastal GasLink pipeline on unceded Wet\u2019suwet\u2019en territory.<\/p>\n \n\t\tWinnipeg Free Press | Newsletter\n\t<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t Sutherland-Wilson sought to share what he learned during that experience with Manitoba audiences. He believes Indigenous solidarity will be integral as Prime Minister Mark Carney seeks to fast-track major national projects through Bill C-39, the Build Canada Strong Act. First Nation leaders across the country have opposed the bill, which would centralize Indigenous consultations and limit the timeline for environmental assessments.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t MIKAELA MACKENZIE \/ FREE PRESS<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n Kakeka ThunderSky is the northern and rural co-ordinator for Climate Action Team Manitoba.<\/p>\n \u201cWe need to find creative and new ways to resist on our own terms,\u201d Sutherland-Wilson said. \u201cWe have to have our own people\u2019s safety and security (in mind). We have to develop strong protocols and \u2026 collectives that are accountable to one another, rooted in our own culture, in our ceremonies and our ways of life.\u201d<\/p>\n Thomas-M\u00fcller hopes this week\u2019s speaking tour inspires political engagement locally and nationally. A demonstration opposing Bill C-39 and Bill C-37, the First Nations Clean Water Act, is planned at the Manitoba Legislature today. Climate Action Team Manitoba has launched a petition calling on Kinew to cancel the proposed LNG pipeline to Churchill.<\/p>\n \u201cWe need to go back to the drawing board and create economic plans that don\u2019t create sacrifice zones across the country\u2026 disproportionately in Indigenous communities, in our lands that we depend on,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Eva Wasney is a reporter covering environmental issues in Manitoba. Her position is part of a partnership between The Narwhal and the Free Press.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t Eva Wasney Eva Wasney covers environmental issues in Manitoba for The Narwhal in\u00a0partnership with the Winnipeg Free Press. Read more about Eva<\/a>.<\/p>\n Every piece of reporting Eva 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
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n<\/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<\/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<\/p>\n