Constance Lake Elders oppose hydro project

A group of Elders in Constance Lake are strongly opposed to a hydro-electric dam project the First Nation signed with a Toronto-based power corporation, because of the impact the dams will have on the river and wildlife.
Stanley Stevens and three other Elders told Wawatay that they are opposed to the Kabinakagami River Project, a 50-50 partnership between Constance Lake and Northland Power Inc., where four 6.5 MW run-of-river hydro-electric generating stations will be constructed along the river.
“We don’t want to see the river being depleted and polluted,” Stevens said. “It will impact the fish and wildlife. People are still using it and we don’t want the water level to go down.”
Stevens said the water level on the river has already gone down dramatically over the years.
“Twenty years ago, you used to go down the river (by boat) no problem, but now you have to walk,” Stevens said. If the project proceeds as planned, “Nobody will be able to go down the river,” he added.
Constance Lake Chief Roger Wesley, however, said that the Elders opposing the project are only a small group and that the vast majority of the community supports it.
“Since being elected chief, I have witnessed four separate community gatherings where support for these projects ranged from 95 to 100 percent in support,” Wesley said in an e-mail. “Many Elders were at these gatherings as well.”
Stevens, Zackius Bluff Sr., Emily John-George, and the late Joe Taylor have all written letters expressing their opposition to the project.
In a letter dated Nov. 26, 2011, Taylor said he used the Kabinakagami River to travel to Mammamattawa, an old settlement and former location of the Hudson’s Bay Company English River post, where he would spend his summer months.
During his time there, Taylor has met visitors from Finland and Germany who expressed interest in the history of the people and river system. He also met other travellers.
“During (my) stay in summers at Mammamattawa, I met people from Ogoki and Fort Albany and Kashechewan going up the Kabina(kagami) River to visit relatives in Constance Lake,” wrote Taylor, who passed away last fall. “And some go to Hearst to (go) shopping.”
Bluff said the hydro project would be a “great disaster” for the environment and river system.
“For hundreds of years, we have used this river for our survival and we are not going to stop (using) it now,” Bluff wrote on Aug. 24, 2010. “This river must be protected for future generations.”
As the project was being discussed, Stevens said the community was divided on whether to support it so they held a referendum in August 2010.
According to Bluff in a letter, 105 members voted against the project while 79 supported it.
Wesley said the previous chief and council did not consider this vote as a referendum.
Instead, they considered it as an “Expression of Interest.”
Wesley said he is aware a small group of Elders are strongly opposed to the project. But since he began his two-year term as chief, Wesley has seen support from many Elders in the community.
“It’s natural that not all will support an idea so in the end we are still in a better place today than we were yesterday,” he said.