Latest news with #Sagkeeng
CBC
03-07-2025
- Sport
- CBC
Manitoba Indigenous Summer Games postponed to 2026 due to wildfires
The Manitoba Indigenous Summer Games (MISG) that were scheduled to begin next week in Norway House Cree Nation, have been postponed to next year. "As the hosts, we actually sent a letter to the Manitoba Aboriginal Sports and Recreation Council on June 6 requesting a start of a rescheduling," said Edward "Sonny" Albert, president of the MISG North host corporation. The Manitoba Aboriginal Sports and Recreation Council board passed a motion on June 9 to postpone the games to 2026, citing the wildfire emergency affecting participants and their communities and the province-wide state of emergency. The first half of the games was scheduled to be held in Norway House, about 450 kilometres north of Winnipeg, July 9-13, and the second half was scheduled for Aug. 17-23 in Sagkeeng First Nation, about 100 kilometres northeast of Winnipeg. An expected 2,000-4,000 athletes were expected to attend the games between the two host communities to participate in 16 different sports. "We're working hard to ensure that those participants that were going to come, will come next year," said Albert. One concern that athletes, parents and coaches have shared online is age eligibility. If the games are postponed a year, then the older athletes will no longer be eligible to compete in 2026. Albert said the age limits for 2026 will follow the North American Indigenous Games model of 18 and under and 15 and categories, therefore qualifying athletes who otherwise would have aged out of the MISG model. Sagkeeng First Nation is installing a $600,000 rubberized track for the athletics competition as a legacy project. According to Indigenous Services Canada, as of July 2, there were four First Nations in Manitoba evacuated and two more impacted by wildfires.
CBC
06-05-2025
- Politics
- CBC
City of Winnipeg says 2024 sewage spill had no significant impact on Lake Winnipeg's health
The discharge of untreated sewage from a broken Winnipeg pipe in February 2024 did not result in significant impacts on the ecology of Lake Winnipeg, the City of Winnipeg argues in a statement of defence against a $4.8-billion lawsuit launched over the spill by 11 First Nations. The city, province and federal government also denied in separate statements of defence they engaged in actions that harmed the First Nations — while the city and province said the First Nations have no standing to make some of their claims. In May 2024, the eight First Nations — Berens River, Black River, Brokenhead, Hollow Water, Kinonjeoshtegon, Misipawistik, Poplar River and Sagkeeng First Nations — and their chiefs filed a claim against the city, province and federal government, seeking billions of dollars in compensation for the discharge of more than 200 million litres of untreated sewage into the Red River. Bloodvein, Dauphin River and Fisher River First Nations and their chiefs later added their names to the claim. Those plaintiff First Nations are located downstream of Winnipeg or along Lake Winnipeg, meaning they are affected by discharges in the Manitoba capital, according to their statement of claim. The leak was stopped weeks after it began. It was the second-largest spill in Winnipeg's history. In a claim filed last year with Manitoba's Court of King's Bench, the First Nations accused the city, province and feds of failing to maintain the wastewater management system, "implement or enforce adequate regulatory mechanisms," warn the First Nations about the spill, or rectify any damage resulting from the discharge. The First Nations initially sought $4.8 billion from the three levels of government: $500 million each for breaches of their Charter rights, as well as $100 million for the eight initial plaintiffs in punitive damages. In a statement of defence filed on April 30, the city argued the discharges did not result in a significant contribution toward "nutrient loading" into Lake Winnipeg, which is the process where phosphorus and other nutrients that spawn the growth of algae enter into a body of water. Winnipeg is just one source for nutrients that flow into the lake from a vast watershed that stretches from the Rocky Mountains to northwestern Ontario, the city argued in its statement of defence. "As a result of this vast and complex watershed, nutrients and pollutants flowing into Lake Winnipeg come from a variety of sources both inside and outside of Manitoba, including wastewater and surface runoff from large regions of intensive agriculture," according to the statement of defence. "The Red River and the Assiniboine River in particular cross agricultural lands and collect nutrients and pollutants in the course of their flow toward Lake Winnipeg." The city nonetheless argued it "has invested and continues to invest significant sums on its wastewater management system, including on upgrades that have and will further reduce the discharge of nutrients and pollutants." While these improvements have reduced the city's contribution of nutrients, further reducing the city's nutrient loading by eliminating all discharges would not result in a significant reduction in overall nutrient load into the lake, the city argued. "Due to the predominance of other sources impacting the cumulative nutrient loading and pollutants to Lake Winnipeg, further reducing or even eliminating nutrient contribution from the city's wastewater system would not restore Lake Winnipeg to its natural condition or eliminate the impacts alleged in the claim." The city also issued a cross-claim against the federal and provincial governments, arguing they have not provided the city with the financial means to complete sewage treatment upgrades. The province, in turn, issued cross-claims against the city and federal government, while the federal government issued cross-claims against the city and province.
