Lac Seul First Nation offered $7M by government for 80 years of dealing with flooded lands
From the Thunder Bay Chronicle Journal
First Nation feels compensation offer not enough
By Bryan Meadows - April 20, 2008
The federal government has offered $7 million in compensation to the Lac Seul First Nation for flooding of the Sioux Lookout-area community almost 75 years ago.
Lac Seul flood claim co-ordinator Chris Angeconeb said Friday that while there was “no immediate (formal) response” by band members to the offer, many are saying it‘s not enough for “almost 80 years of suffering and damage” caused by flooding of the band‘s homeland.
The government compensation proposal was delivered last week at Frenchman‘s Head, one of three Lac Seul communities on the big lake north of Sioux Lookout. It includes $7 million in compensation to settle the band‘s ?ood claim, and an additional $4 million to cover the band‘s cost to-date of negotiating the ?ood claim. Additional funds will also be provided for the First Nation to consult its membership about the offer and vote on the settlement agreement.
Lac Seul‘s flood claim has been subject to ongoing negotiations over the past 13 years.
The band maintains that the Lac Seul community was flooded with construction of the Ear Falls power dam in 1934, “in violation” of Treaty and Indian Act requirements to obtain the band‘s consent on such matters.
“They went ahead and flooded the land without consulting (the First Nation),” Angeconeb said.
The flood put 82 homes and a school under water, eroded the lake‘s shorelines and caused the band‘s council house to fall into the lake. The band also claims that 3,300 acres of productive wild rice ?elds were destroyed, trapping was decimated and that the band‘s membership dispersed across Canada due to a lack of housing and employment.
Angeconeb noted that several band elders have indicated to him that the federal offer “is too small.”
“Largely, people were fairly stunned” at the amount of compensation the federal government offered, he said, considering the amount of suffering our people have lived through.
Following consultations with on- and off-reserve band members between May 18 to June 14, the First Nation plans to respond to the government‘s offer.
Federal negotiators have told the band that “this is Canada‘s firm and final offer,” Angeconeb added.
Meanwhile, the federal compensation would be in addition to more than $12 million from Ontario Power Generation to the Lac Seul First Nation – part of an agreement to resolve an outstanding flood claim reached more than two years ago with the band.
That settlement gave the community $12.6 million in compensation in the form of a $7.2-million cash payment in November 2006 and another $4 million in December 2007 to be spent on band priorities.
It also included $1 million over the next 10 years for scholarships and bursaries for band members, $100,000 to establish “appropriate” memorials in Lac Seul and Ear Falls for deceased band members, $100,000 for a study into the feasibility of wind power generation on Lac Seul land, and another $200,00 for an erosion study of the band’s traditional lands.
The OPG-Lac Seul settlement addressed the impact of the Root River diversion project and the generating stations at Ear Falls and Manitou Falls.
The Lac Seul First Nation represents more than 2,710 band members, 850 of which live in one of the three communities near Sioux Lookout.