Church group criticizes court ruling on reduced hydro rates

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 28/06/2020 (2263 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A Manitoba church group has sent a letter to the premier and the head of Manitoba Hydro expressing its disappointment over a recent court ruling it says will make things more difficult for Indigenous people in northern Manitoba.

The letter from the Interchurch Council on Hydropower is in response to a June 9 ruling of the Court of Appeal. That ruling overturned the Public Utility Board’s decision to create and implement a new customer class and rate freeze for Indigenous hydro consumers in the north.

The PUB’s decision froze rates at 2018 levels in recognition of the harm done to Indigenous people as a result of flooding in the north, and also because low-quality housing on reserves often results in higher hydro bills than in the southern part of the province.

“We strongly oppose the erasure of the PUB’s new customer class and rate freeze, and we call on Manitoba Hydro and the Province of Manitoba to quickly reinstate the class and rate if and until another (better) policy can be written and implemented,” the letter states.

According to the ruling, the court decided the PUB had “exceeded its jurisdiction” by mandating Indigenous customers on reserves could have a different electricity rate from other Manitobans.

The ruling was made following an appeal of the PUB’s decision by Manitoba Hydro. It argued the PUB was overstepping its authority, and that it was against provincial law to charge different rates in the province.

‘We need to tell Manitoba Hydro to not keep stepping on us… It’s time they started treating us fairly and justly’– Ellen Cook, co-chair of the Interchurch Council on Hydropower

The letter from the council, which is supported by various local church groups, goes on to say the rate-increase freeze was a small step in the right direction of acknowledging the harm done to Indigenous people by Manitoba Hydro’s damming of rivers in the north, and consistent with the larger principle of reconciliation.

It concludes by calling on Manitoba Hydro and the provincial government to “be moved towards compassion and understanding for those who have seen firsthand the devastating impacts of hydro dams on land, water, and livelihood,” and implores them to reinstate the rate freeze.

Council co-chair Derek Eidse is disappointed by the court’s decision, and by Hydro decision to appeal it in the first place.

The ruling is symbolic of “the traumatic relationship between Hydro and Indigenous people in the north,” he said.

For Ellen Cook of Misipawistik Cree Nation, who co-chairs the council with Eidse, the ruling fails to acknowledge the sacrifices made by Indigenous people in the north for the “convenience” of those living in the southern part of the province.

“We lost our rivers and lakes,” says Cook, who grew up in Grand Rapids. “My community still hasn’t recovered.”

For her sending the letter is important because “We need to tell Manitoba Hydro to not keep stepping on us… It’s time they started treating us fairly and justly.”

The council is supported by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada, Manitoba/Northwestern Ontario Synod; the Anglican Diocese of Rupert’s Land; the United Church of Canada, Conference of Manitoba and Northwestern Ontario; Hope Mennonite Church; the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Winnipeg; and Mennonite Central Committee.

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