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City has no agreement with First Nation despite $8-M charges: Katz

By: Jen Skerritt

Posted: 01/11/2012 10:14 AM | Comments: 0 (including replies)

Mayor Sam Katz (TREVOR HAGAN / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS ARCHIVES)

Mayor Sam Katz said the City of Winnipeg does not have an agreement with a First Nation that has sent the city an $8-million bill every month since October.

Iskatewizaagegan No. 39 First Nation has sent invoices to the City of Winnipeg and is also threatening to take legal action against the city after learning about its plans to install water and sewer pipes in the RM of West St. Paul.

Band councillor Leon Mandamin said the Shoal Lake community has repeatedly asked the City of Winnipeg to negotiate a settlement over the lake's water. The community of 300 on-reserve residents is located at the east end of Indian Bay, a section of Shoal Lake that straddles the Manitoba-Ontario border.

The Winnipeg Aqueduct intake structure is located at the west end of Shoal Lake by Shoal Lake No. 40, a separate First Nation.

However, Winnipeg water pipes pass through Iskatewizaagegan No. 39, and Mandamin said the First Nation never signed an agreement to give up its claim to the lake.

The First Nation's lawyers sent a formal letter to the City of Winnipeg asking to negotiate a financial settlement in December after city council voted to give CAO Phil Sheegl the authority to finalize a plan to extend water and sewer pipes to West St. Paul.

So far, they have not received a response. If the City of Winnipeg does not respond by Jan. 20, the band plans to file a court injunction to stop the city from selling its water-and-sewer services.

Katz said the band's concerns weren't passed over or ignored, and the City of Winnipeg's legal department is handling the matter. He said Winnipeg has a formal agreement with Shoal Lake No. 40, not Iskatewizaagegan No. 39.

Shoal Lake 40 signed an agreement in 1989 with the City of Winnipeg and Manitoba regarding economic development and water protection, and both parties have regular discussions with that First Nation.

"Usually when someone sends you an invoice it's because they provided you a service. As I said, I've been dealing with these issues for a long time, since I've been elected, with Shoal Lake," Katz said, following this morning's executive policy committee meeting. "We only deal with one band and I think I've told you which band it is and that's it."

Iskatewizaagegan No. 39 has sent the city an invoice for $8 million every month since October -- the amount the First Nation calculates the city bills its residents for water usage every month.

Last fall, the First Nation warned it may block off Ash Rapids, a channel that connects Lake of the Woods to Shoal Lake. Iskatewizaagegan No. 39 said the city has no right to sell water before it resolves decades' worth of claims over lake water.

Katz said he does not think any action will affect Winnipeg's plans to extend water and sewer services to West St. Paul, since this policy has already been approved by council. He said the city will deal with any threat to block its water source if and when that happens.

"If and when something like that happens, if it happens, it would be dealt with at that particular point in time," Katz said.

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