Peguis seeks $1 billion in lawsuit over flood damages
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A Manitoba First Nation has filed a lawsuit seeking $1 billion in damages from chronic flooding and the displacement of its people.
Peguis First Nation Chief Dr. Stan Bird said residents are tired of waiting and wondering if they will ever get permanent flood protection.
“This is about the repeated mistreatment of our people and promises that were never fulfilled,” Bird said in a phone interview Wednesday morning. “I don’t think there is any other segment of the population or any other community in Manitoba or possibly in Canada that has had to experience this repeatedly.”
On Tuesday, the Peguis First Nation announced they have filed a claim in the Court of King’s Bench seeking $1 billion in total damages from the government of Canada, Manitoba’s provincial government, and the RMs of Fisher, and Bifrost-Riverton.
According to the lawsuit, between 1966 and 2021, forestland upstream from Peguis, a community located more than 150 kilometres north of Winnipeg, has been converted to farmland, and wetlands have been drained, and those land use changes have led to a “30% rise in flood peaks at Peguis.”
In the spring of 2022, Peguis experienced what was described as a “devastating” flood when water from the Fisher River spilled its banks and flooded the community. More than 1,900 residents were evacuated, and many were forced to live in hotel rooms in Winnipeg and in other southern Manitoba communities.
Flooding was nothing new to the community when it happened in 2022, as that flood marked the fifth time that the community dealt with major flooding in 16 years, with severe floods in 2006, 2009, 2011 and 2014 also led to damage and evacuations. A less severe flood in the community in 2017 also forced the displacement of residents.
According to the lawsuit, since 2001 the community has dealt with multiple flooding events and has “suffered an average of one flood every two years.”
Some community members continue to feel the effects, as according to the lawsuit, about 549 members are still evacuated as a result of the 2022 flood, as well as another 235 members who were displaced after flooding evacuations in 2014 and 2017.
“We have had discussions internally for decades, there have been a number of studies done through the years, but each spring we are faced with the same thing, and there have never been any permanent solutions offered,” Bird said.
In May of 2022, an Indigenous Services Canada (ISC) spokesperson confirmed to the Winnipeg Sun that the federal government and the province split the cost of a study undertaken in 2006 that looked at the reasons for flooding in Peguis, and to determine what permanent solutions could mitigate flooding risks.
According to ISC, the study put forth several options for improving flood protection in Peguis, including an option to construct a flood diversion channel, and another to build a series of dikes.
But as of this spring, there continues to be no permanent flood protection in Peguis.
“This has been studied to death, it’s a ridiculously severe cycle of abuse,” Winnipeg-based lawyer Brian J. Meronek, one of the lawyers representing Peguis in the lawsuit said on Wednesday. “People come, then they go back, then they get evacuated again, and some people have still never come back.”
Meronek said they came up with the $1 billion claim, as they believe that will be the approximate cost to repair, replace, or re-locate approximately 500 homes affected by flooding, repair damaged infrastructure, and provide permanent flood protection for the community.
He added the RMs of Fisher and Bifrost-Riverton are also named in the lawsuit because of land use changes that have been approved by local councils that have caused increased flooding in Peguis.
“The solutions are out there, but the governments persist with studying and there is going to be more flooding before anything is done,” Meronek said. “It is time for governments to come to the table in a meaningful and direct way, and not just punt this problem down the road.
“The community is suffering, the whole fabric of the community is frayed, and throwing a few dollars at the problem every few years is just compounding it.”
The statement of claim contains allegations that have not been proven in court, and the defendants have not yet had time to file statements of defence.
In an email Shannon Pyziak, the Reeve of the RM of Fisher said she could not comment on the lawsuit, only saying that “matters have been referred to the RM Insurer.” Officials with Bifrost-Riverton did not respond to a request for comment on Wednesday
The Manitoba government offered no comment and ISC have yet to respond to a request for comment.
— Dave Baxter is a Local Journalism Initiative reporter who works out of the Winnipeg Sun. The Local Journalism Initiative is funded by the Government of Canada.
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