Fort William First Nation opposes Ontario Power Generation redevelopment project

By Rick Garrick

FORT WILLIAM FIRST NATION — Fort William has raised its opposition to Ontario Power Generation (OPG)’s proposed $200 million redevelopment project at the 118-year-old Kakabeka Falls Generating Station, noting OPG’s lack of community engagement and consultation.

“OPG has failed to engage respectfully with Fort William First Nation and is not willing to listen to our community’s concerns or input,” says Fort William Chief Michele Solomon. “Instead, OPG continues to push ahead with construction planning without any consideration for our cultural values and traditional land uses. We demand respect for our First Nation territory from all industry, which includes meaningful collaboration on decisions that affect our lands. The era of industry bulldozing through First Nation lands is over.”

Chief Solomon adds that the community is concerned that OPG has not completed any archaeological fieldwork on the site, which was a historic travel route and cultural site for the community. The property already has a registered burial site on it, and Fort William believes there is the potential for more archaeological finds and deeply buried artifacts.

“We don’t want a repeat of what happened with Parks Canada in Nipigon where a flawed process led to the unearthing of 600-year-old Indigenous ancestral remains,” Chief Solomon says.

Fort William’s press release states that the community is also concerned about impacts on fisheries, species at risk, and site contamination.

“They already operated this generating station for 118 years and we didn’t benefit from it at all,” Chief Solomon says. “We’ve had flooding, it affected our fish habitat, and I am sure it was a harvesting site for medicine as well.”

Chief Solomon says they have sent letters to OPG about their concerns and have let them know that they would be talking to the relevant ministry to stop any work permits.

“I travelled to Toronto in July to meet with them only to be met with resistance,” Chief Solomon says. “They came in there with their plan, it wasn’t to talk about our concerns, they came in there with their plan and that was it.”

Chief Solomon says there is a path forward for responsible development, and Fort William First Nation typically supports project proponents that come to work collaboratively and respectfully with their Nation.

“In this instance, OPG needs to urgently adjust their approach,” Chief Solomon says. “Rather than an opportunity for reconciliation, we fear this development will be no different than what was done 120 years ago. If this is the case, we will not allow it to happen.”

OPG states that they are engaged in ongoing discussion with Fort William in an e-mail comment from Neal Kelly, director of Media and Public Affairs, Corporate Affairs at OPG.

“We continue to engage respectfully as we prepare to redevelop the Kakabeka Falls Generating Station,” Kelly states in the e-mail.