Power failures persist in remote Oji-Cree First Nation despite repairs underway

Stanley Oskineegish says all of the infrastructure in his community has completely frozen.

The chief of Nibinamik First Nation in northwestern Ontario has been busy co-ordinating Canadian Rangers and emergency supplies to support his people, since power outages have left homes and community buildings without heat.

The power first went out on Friday. It was initially restored Tuesday evening but has been flickering on and off since, Oskineegish told CBC News in an interview Wednesday afternoon.

“Right now, we’re using two engines to feed the community for its electricity that is needed,” he said.

But if those fail, there is no back-up generator that would keep the lights on.

Nearly 400 people live in the remote Oji-Cree community, some 500 kilometres north of Thunder Bay. The First Nation has been under a boil water advisory since 2013, which became long-term in 2014.

A state of emergency was declared on Friday when the power went out. Meanwhile, a pre-existing state of emergency from 2020 over ongoing issues with the community’s diesel generating system also remains in place.

Since Friday’s power outages began, temperatures have reached -30 C, nearing –40 C with the wind chill.

“It’s pretty cold,” Oskineegish said.

They’re always wanting our minerals that we have up in our homelands,” Mamakwa said. “Without addressing these [infrastructure gaps], you cannot move forward.– Kiiwetinoong MPP Sol Mamakwa

Indigenous Services Canada says it’s providing Nibinamik with food, water, portable generators and other essential supplies, and will support evacuations if needed.

“First Nations-led contractors are in the community and repairs are being made to the generators. The community’s nursing station remains open to provide emergency health-care services,” spokesperson Eric Head told CBC News Tuesday evening.

Oskineegish said if an evacuation does occur, nearly half of the community’s population has been put on the list — namely children, older adults and those with medical conditions such as diabetes, which is prevalent in the community.

Students have been out of school since the power outages began, he added. 

Kiwetinoong MPP Sol Mamakwa, a member of Kingfisher Lake First Nation, said he’s travelling to Nibinamik on Thursday to check in on the community. 

He asked Oskineegish what he should bring with him.

“His response was, ‘we need flashlights, lanterns and extra batteries, and that’s for safety because we cannot continue to use candles,’” Mamakwa said. 

“That’s the kind of situation that they’re in right now.”

Addressing the infrastructure gap

Mamakwa said he wants to see more generators brought in on the community’s winter road to provide short-term relief.

But looking ahead, he said the provincial and federal governments need to step up to address critical infrastructure needs in communities like Nibinamik.

“The infrastructure gap that we continue to see in northern and fly-in First Nations is very discriminatory. It’s an example of the ongoing colonialism that we continue to see,” said Mamakwa.

Matawa First Nations Management, a tribal council that represents eight First Nations in Treaty 9 and one in the Robinson-Superior area, is also calling for urgent action in Nibinamik.

“The winter power outage has impacted the remote First Nation’s critical community infrastructure including essential community buildings, grocery store and food supplies, school, homes, water/waste systems, airport including emergency operations and the community-wide ‘black radio’ communication systems,” Matawa said in a news release Wednesday.

In its view, Nibinamik’s state of emergency “is the result of failure of the Crowns of Canada and Ontario.”

“The unequal terms of James Bay Treaty No. 9 (1905-06 and 1929-30) purposely stipulated that our First Nations would not be located near any potential hydro sites. This is a historic wrong and legitimate grievance that concerns all members and beneficiaries past, present and future of Treaty No. 9,” it says. 

Push for development

While Oskineegish is focused on meeting his community’s urgent needs, he said it’s considering connecting to the provincial power grid through the Wataynikaneyap Transmission Project, which has provided power to more than a dozen First Nations so far.

That’s not going to happen overnight, though.

“We need something tomorrow, today,” Oskineegish said. 

Nibinamik is situated near the Ring of Fire, a critical mineral deposit in the James Bay lowlands that both the provincial and federal governments have eyed as a nation-building project.

“They talk about all these things that they want, and here we don’t even get anything,” Oskineegish said of the push for development in the region in contrast to his community’s urgent needs.

His sentiments were echoed by Mamakwa.

“They’re always wanting our minerals that we have up in our homelands,” Mamakwa said. “Without addressing these [infrastructure gaps], you cannot move forward.”