Indigenous communities around the planned Lake Manitoba and Lake St. Martin outlet channels have been promised $15 million for economic development, although details have yet to be finalized.
The province announced the funds Oct. 5.
The drainage channel project has struggled to get off the ground since being proposed after flood events in 2011 and 2014.
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The fund’s eligibility list will cover 39 communities and Indigenous groups touched by the channels. The $15 million is earmarked for “economic development opportunities related to the outlet channels, and reconciliation in alignment with the principles outlined in the Path to Reconciliation Act,” according to the Oct. 5 release.
“Our government understands that concrete and constructive actions are needed to advance reconciliation and ensure Indigenous people have a meaningful voice in any decisions that may impact their traditional lands, rights or interests,” said Transportation and Infrastructure Minister Doyle Piwniuk.
“This new fund will support the development of Indigenous-led economic opportunities and long-term economic development in the communities most impacted by the Lake Manitoba and Lake St. Martin Outlet Channels Project.”
The framework that will underpin the fund has not yet been developed, and will be built in co-operation with eligible communities, the province has said.
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Several government departments will be represented on the eventual evaluation committee, which will be formed after the fund’s launch. It will “review proposals with the potential to partner with other organizations to provide input to the proposal, identify additional funding sources, and support proposal development and training.”
Indigenous communities have criticized the move.
At an Oct. 12 press conference held by the Interlake Reserves Tribal Council, Indigenous community leaders derided the fund’s low dollar amount compared to the overall project cost, initially estimated at $540 million in 2018, and the level of government control over their participation in the project, the CBC reported.
The province has been working since 2016 to complete the flood prevention project, when it was featured as a campaign promise by former premier Brian Pallister. The project promised to expand the current channel between Lake St. Martin and Lake Winnipeg, and build a second upstream outlet between Lake St. Martin and Lake Manitoba.
In total, the project spans the two 23-kilometre channels, three bridges, two control structures, new highway infrastructure to accommodate the outlets, and a 24-kilovolt electric distribution line.
Expropriation along the channels’ planned path got underway and by 2018 the province said it was within a year of breaking ground. However, the project faced delays after federal government rejection of the project’s environmental assessment in October 2019.
