Hydro advisory circle brings ‘wealth of Indigenous perspectives’

The board of Manitoba Hydro has appointed an Indigenous advisory circle as part of the Crown corporation’s reconciliation efforts.

Former Fox Lake Cree Nation chief and Keeyask Hydropower Limited Partnership board chair Robert Wavey will co-chair the group with Manitoba Hydro board chairman Jamie Wilson. The provincial government ordered the creation of the advisory circle in its 2023 mandate letter to Hydro’s board.

“I think we wanted to get everything right on this one,” Wilson said when asked why it has taken more than two years to appoint Indigenous advisers.

“This is a pretty fantastic group of people from a diverse background, including communities that are directly impacted by Hydro development in the past,” the first Indigenous chairman of the Manitoba Hydro board said in an interview Tuesday.

Other members of the Indigenous advisory circle include: Peguis First Nation’s Eva Wilson Fontaine, executive director of Anish Healing Centre; Harvey Bostrom, a Métis from Manigotagan and former provincial cabinet minister; Desiree Theriault, a Métis (Otipemisiwak) environmental planner based in Winnipeg; and Chemawawin Cree Nation Chief Clarence Easter, co-chair of the Summit of Treaty 5 Sovereign Nations.

The circle will advise the board on policies, programs and recommendations from Hydro that have potential implications for Indigenous reconciliation. That includes advancing the public utility’s “Indigenous relations commitment statement” that outlines its pledge to meaningful reconciliation, collaborative planning and shared economic prosperity.

“I think there’s a lot of opportunities, economically, going forward,” said Wilson, a member of Opaskwayak Cree Nation. “How do we identify those opportunities and then build on those? Most importantly, what does this group think the opportunities are for the future?

“I don’t want to pretend that there hasn’t been tension in the relationship between Hydro and the Indigenous community in the past. How do we help rebuild that relationship and strengthen that relationship going forward?”

In the 1970s, the massive Churchill River diversion project upended the way of life for Nisichawayasihk Cree Nation.

Wilson said they’ll build on work that staff at Manitoba Hydro have done with First Nations partners on Keeyask and Wuskwatin generating stations.

Keeyask was developed as a collaborative effort between Manitoba Hydro and Tataskweyak Cree Nation, War Lake First Nation, York Factory First Nation and Fox Lake Cree Nation, who are owners under the Keeyask Hydropower Limited Partnership.

Wuskwatim Power Limited Partnership is a legal entity involving Nisichawayasihk Cree Nation and Manitoba Hydro that operates the generating station on behalf of the WPLP.

“You’ve got an ownership model that recognized First Nations equity partnerships,” Wilson said.

The new Indigenous advisory circle will look at what’s worked well, what hasn’t and “how can we learn from that and how can we move ahead from that,” he said.

“One thing that I found that is quite remarkable and inspiring is the willingness of people to want to look for opportunities and rebuild relationships moving forward.”

Manitoba Hydro’s 2025 integrated resource plan highlighted an urgent need for new generation in the province, as demand could more than double in the next 20 years. It launched a procurement process for Indigenous majority-owned wind projects to help meet Manitoba’s increasing energy needs. The plan is to procure the output from up to 600 megawatts of new wind power in southern Manitoba through power purchase agreements, with each individual wind farm generating up to 200 megawatts.

Wavey, who co-chairs the circle with Wilson, said he looks forward to helping Manitoba Hydro enhance its reconciliation efforts.

“It is work that will benefit all Manitobans over the long run,” he said in a news release.

The advisory group will meet two to four times per year, with the first to be held in the coming weeks. Its discussions will be subject to the same confidentiality requirements as the Manitoba Hydro board, a news release said.

Hydro’s board will consider its advice in its decision-making and governance processes and provide feedback to the Indigenous circle on how its advice was considered and applied.

“I think it’s wonderful to see that we’re going to have more Indigenous voices at the table and bringing good governance to Manitoba Hydro,” Adrien Sala, the minister responsible for Manitoba Hydro, told reporters Tuesday.

“We know how important it is to ensure that First Nations voices are represented when it comes to governance at Hydro.”

The Indigenous advisory council members are “an incredible group of leaders,” Sala said, thanking them for serving.

“We’re grateful that the chair has done the hard work of ensuring that we have a fantastic group of folks that are going to step up into these important roles,” he said.

carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca