Premier’s visit must be more than photo op

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 22/02/2022 (1351 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Former premier Brian Pallister infamously once said it’s inappropriate for a political leader to visit — and thus use as props for a photo op — citizens grieving a tragedy or enduring a disaster. Last week, his successor, Premier Heather Stefanson, showed she believes otherwise.

Ms. Stefanson made the bold decision to visit the Pimicikamak Cree Nation, an Indigenous community 800 kilometres north of Winnipeg, to join residents in grieving the deaths of three children — teens aged 17 and 13 and a toddler just two years old — in a house fire on Feb. 12. The premier said that as a mother, she could not fathom a loss of this magnitude.

“We are here to help you heal,” Ms. Stefanson said. “We’re here to help you through this absolutely horrific and tragic time.”

From the immediate response she received, the premier appears to have made the right decision. People dealing with a tragedy such as this are comforted by knowing political leaders grasp the visceral reality of their situation. It seems clear Ms. Stefanson understands this.

And yet, her visit to Pimicikamak also created great expectations the government she leads will do something to help the remote northern community. When asked what form that might take, however, the premier could not enunciate a single concrete measure.

If she is looking for the right thing to do, Ms. Stefanson could start by pledging to update the terms of a compensation claim by Pimicikamak over the damage done by Manitoba Hydro’s dam construction.

In marshalling the power of northern rivers for Manitoba Hydro generating stations, the province created huge ecological, economic and cultural impacts on Indigenous communities. Manitoba acknowledged the error of its ways in 1977 when it created the Northern Flood Agreement to compensate the Indigenous communities most impacted by Hydro development.

Pimicikamak (also known as Cross Lake) has continued to argue the NFA did not adequately reflect the full impact of Hydro developments, or deliver appropriate compensation to achieve open-ended goals such as poverty reduction. It has repeatedly asked the province and Hydro to consider a more robust revenue-sharing addendum to the original NFA.

During Ms. Stefanson’s visit, Pimicikamak Chief David Monias called directly on her to live up to the aspirational goals of the original NFA. In response, the premier could only say she would do what she can to “make sure that (a tragedy like this) doesn’t happen again.”

Ms. Stefanson and her government must do better than that. It’s time to take another look at the NFA.

It’s true that responding to Pimicikamak’s request by updating the terms of the NFA’s settlement agreement would inevitably require talks with the other four First Nations that signed on to the agreement in the late 1970s. But that cannot be an excuse to do nothing.

The Pimicikamak fire and the lives that were lost are the direct result of the crippling poverty that still exists in that community — poverty that was supposed to be directly addressed by the NFA.

Full credit to the premier for visiting Pimicikamak. However, if her government does not deliver meaningful progress on issues outstanding from the original Northern Flood Agreement, another problem will arise.

Ms. Stefanson will be seen by some to have fulfilled Mr. Pallister’s original claim, by using the people of Pimicikamak as props for a photo opportunity. And such a conclusion would only compound the tragedies the community has suffered.