Jenpeg likely to resume operations after Pimicikamak, Hydro reach agreement

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This article was published 05/11/2014 (4318 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Cross Lake Cree protesters are likely to hand back control of the Jenpeg power station within days after First Nations leaders clinched a preliminary deal with Manitoba Hydro and the provincial government to address years of flooding and other grievances, their chief said on Wednesday.

Pimicikamak protesters seized control of the Jenpeg grounds, 19 km southwest of their homes, on Oct. 16, locking out all employees apart from a skeleton staff needed to keep the plant running. Leaders demanded an agreement on compensation and revenue-sharing and talks were launched, with a prominent former justice named as a mediator.

Pimicikamak Chief Cathy Merrick issued a statement saying an agreement to end the three-week standoff had been signed with Hydro and the government.

“The Memorandum of Agreement sets in motion a process to address severe and ongoing impacts of the hydro… system on Pimicikamak peoples and lands… (It) should see the Jenpeg Generation Station return to normal operation in the near future,” the statement said.

That could be as early as Friday, when the agreement, complete with a schedule, is supposed to be formalized.

“I’m optimistic,” the chief told the Free Press by telephone.

The First Nation has issued one further demand last week to settle the dispute – Premier Greg Selinger must set a date for a visit to the site to apologize for the province’s wrongs despite the current turmoil besetting his government.

A date for the premier’s appearance is enough to get the deal rolling and to ensure the power station is put back Manitoba Hydro’s hands, the chief said.

The First Nation has agreed to write that condition into into the MOA. It will remove its locks from the Jenpeg staffing complex and allow Hydro to resume normal operations.