OTTAWA – On June 25, Greg Rickford, Minister of Natural Resources, stated his refusal to commit to the construction of Freedom Road, an access road necessary for the survival and sustainability of the Shoal Lake 40 First Nation community that straddles the Manitoba and Ontario borders.
Maude Barlow, national chairperson of the Council of Canadians, says, “It is absolutely shameful that Minister Rickford would meet Shoal Lake 40 residents and then walk away without committing the needed federal funds for their Freedom Road.”
Barlow visited Shoal Lake 40 in April and saw first-hand the perilous conditions, including the thinning ice bridge and lack of essential services.
These conditions date back to 1914, when the federal government forcibly displaced the First Nation community in order to have direct access to drinking water for Winnipeg. Cut off from the mainland by a Winnipeg-built canal, the community has access only to non-potable tap water and must rely on imported bottled water. This isolation has constrained normal development, imperiled the lives of members walking across thin ice, and restricted the First Nation’s access to essential services ever since. Shoal Lake 40 has been on a boil water advisory for over 18 years, just one of what the Canadian Museum for Human Rights describes as “a whole cascade of human rights” implications.
“Canada is violating the human right to water in Shoal Lake 40 in order for Winnipeg to have access to safe drinking water. How did we let this happen?” asks Barlow. “It is time for Harper to do the right thing. He must publicly commit the needed funding towards the construction of Freedom Road and put an end to 100 years of force isolation of Shoal Lake 40 First Nation.”
The Manitoban and Winnipeg governments have committed to contribute a one-third share each to the construction of the secure all-weather access road to the community.
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For more information:
Andrea Harden-Donahue, Energy and Climate Campaigner, Council of Canadians
c. 613-793-5488 aharden@canadians.org
