Injustice in the water
Rally for Shoal Lake 40 First Nation encourages awareness
WINNIPEG, MB—A community that supplies Winnipeg’s water is itself without clean water. The issue is at the heart of a renewed focus on building an accessible, all-weather road into Shoal Lake 40 First Nation.
With an on-reserve population of about 270 people, the community lies in the Eastman Region of Manitoba and 30 kilometres south of the Trans-Canada highway. It became a man-made island more than 100 years ago when a canal was built that cut the village off from the mainland. Now it is accessible by barge traffic in the summer and ice roads in the winter.
While Winnipeg citizens have had clean water for more than a century, the people of Shoal Lake 40 have been artificially “isolated,” economically cut off and have been under a boil water advisory for more than 17 years.
Ottawa had planned to build a $7.6 million water treatment plant for the community, but the project was shelved in 2011 when new construction costs showed it would cost nearly twice that much.
“The place where [Winnipeg] gets our water from doesn’t have clean water themselves and have to import bottled water into their community,” says Moses Falco, who helped organize a December rally in support of Shoal Lake. “Somehow that just doesn’t seem right.”
About 100 people gathered outside the Manitoba Legislature on December 8, 2014, while a meeting took place inside with representatives from Shoal Lake 40 First Nation to discuss building a 27-kilometre, all-weather road that would connect Shoal Lake 40 to the Trans-Canada Highway. This project is estimated to cost $25 million.
Attending the meeting in December were Winnipeg mayor Brian Bowman, Economy Minister Kevin Chief, and Chief Erwin Redsky of the Shoal Lake 40 First Nation. The road—called Freedom Road—is on their shared agenda.
“I want to be able to get home safely today and in the months and years ahead,” Redsky said at the rally. “I feel very optimistic about what’s happening here today. We’re committed to finally fixing the problem that’s been outstanding for the past 100 years at Shoal Lake.”
Henry Neufeld, who attended the rally, hopes Winnipeggers will become more aware of the situation.
“I always knew that our water came from there,” Neufeld says, “but was not aware of the circumstances that caused them to be cut off from the mainland. I’m sure most of the population of Winnipeg has never heard of what has transpired forcing them to live on an island.
“I trust that our churches in particular will be moved to the point of fully supporting a move to get something done the get a road and water to them, even as we are enjoying road and water as we carry on living here in the city.”
Joe Gunn, executive director of Citizens for Public Justice, says churches should be getting involved in social justice issues like Shoal Lake 40. He says there should be no areas of public life where Christians’ values should refrain from guiding their personal, social and political actions.
Gunn clarifies that it is important for Christians to prayerfully discern the proper word and the proper tone of public engagement.
“What should distinguish the involvement of churches should be a commitment to deep respect for persons who hold differing points of view as well as a firm commitment to politically non-partisan responses,” Gunn says.
“Silence on issues of social injustice often makes us complicit with injustice, so we must make our voices be heard.”
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