The Lake Winnipeg blame game

Winnipeg Free Press

16-05-2025

Opinion
The extent to which our governments will go to avoid responsibility has reached new heights.
Lake Winnipeg is dying and, instead of rallying all interested parties and levels of government — including First Nations — to the rescue, a sordid skirmish is occurring before the courts.
The most absurd claim has come from the City of Winnipeg, which insists that the release of 220 million litres of raw sewage into the Red River last year had little effect on the pollution of Lake Winnipeg.
Such a preposterous assertion was made in defence of a $4.8-billion lawsuit by 11 First Nation communities who have a substantial stake in the health of the lake. Municipal, provincial and federal governments have been named as defendants in the suit.
Although this court case is focused on the 2024 spill, it has been nearly impossible to obtain an accurate picture of just what the city regularly spills into our rivers.
Recently, Free Press writer Julia-Simone Rutgers provided an in-depth article (From muddy to cruddy, May 10) summing up the sheer scale of releases of sewage, and the results are staggering.
In the last decade an average of 10 billion litres/year is now the operative figure that will be used by environmentalists and lawyers alike.
This can no longer be termed 'de minimus,' it is a disgusting reality that citizens of this fair city must bear.
For years the City of Winnipeg has got away with using the local rivers as its backup to a sewer infrastructure that is designed for a much smaller city and is unable to cope with the strains of increased pressure from growth and a changing climate. Federal dollars are pouring in for housing initiatives without supporting the requisite infrastructure.
The city received millions to address our housing crisis yet the $166 million MP Terry Duguid announced for infrastructure work barely scrapes the surface of the $3 billion needed to sustain our north end sewage treatment plant.
The frustration with government inaction set this lawsuit in motion, as no long-range tripartite funding arrangements have been negotiated, only dribs and drabs of cash committed to upgrade the treatment plant.
As far as achieving the separation of combined sewers, the city hired Jacobs Engineering to create a master plan which is designed for future generations to carry the majority of the financial liability.
By allowing this neglect to fester into a lawsuit, city hall and taxpayers will be faced with a colossal debt on top of the need to fix their sewage woes.
At least the gargantuan spill of February 2024 has triggered both provincial and federal regulations.
For much too long, the City of Winnipeg has found ways to avoid charges under federal and provincial environment laws. In this instance they are being applied but both are lacking in transparency.
Environment and Climate Change Canada enforcement officers laid one charge in April under the federal Fisheries Act, which prohibits the deposit of a deleterious substance into water frequented by fish. They will not comment on the charges.
The province also took a year to press charges against the city under the environment act and these are before the court, which may result in fines up to $500,000, but likely the fines will be waived as the regulators are part of the problem.
It will be a long time before we learn why such a misadventure was allowed to occur at the Abinojii Mikanah bridge last year. The city has certainly not been forthcoming and any attempt to directly reach waste and water officials have been circumvented.
Lawyers representing each level of government are scrambling before the Court of King's bench to shirk their responsibility in the $4.8-billion Lake Winnipeg lawsuit. The city has laid cross-claims against the province and feds, while the province has filed a cross-claim against the city and insist that First Nations water quality is a federal responsibility.
The blame game has begun.
Frankly, the public should feel embarrassed at the inability of our governments to show any leadership aimed at solving this existential crisis for our shared ecosystem.
Uniting to provide solutions for the common good has been usurped by political infighting and finger-pointing.
Dave Taylor has drawn attention to the pollution of rivers in Manitoba for several decades and is a regular contributor to the Winnipeg Free Press. Please see his blog at https://wpgsewage.wordpress.com