Peguis First Nation has filed a lawsuit against the federal and provincial governments, and two municipalities, over repeated flooding.
The claim, filed in the Court of King’s Bench on Tuesday, is seeking a total of $1 billion in damages against the four governments. The two municipalities, Fisher and Bifrost-Riverton, are located upstream of Peguis in Manitoba’s Interlake region.
“The days of protecting the upstream interest of others, at the expense of Peguis, are over,” Chief Stan Bird said in a news release.
Peguis First Nation surrounded by floodwater in May 2022. (The Canadian Press files)
The number of floods in Peguis has increased since 1960, the lawsuit said. The First Nation has, on average, suffered a flood every two years since 2000, the lawsuit said.
About 549 members remain evacuated after “the largest flood in recorded history” on the land, in 2022. About 235 Peguis members remain evacuated because of flooding in 2014 and 2017, the lawsuit said.
The estimated cost alone of repairing, replacing or moving about 500 homes affected by the flood is more than $275 million, the release said.
The lawsuit accused the two municipalities of “causing or contributing” to the 2022 flood through land-use changes that diverted water onto reserve land.
The Manitoba government has failed to comply with The Water Rights Act by allowing drainage work that caused or contributed to flooding, the lawsuit said.
“We don’t talk about matters before the courts,” Premier Wab Kinew said when asked about the lawsuit at an unrelated news conference Wednesday.
The lawsuit said the federal government has breached its treaty obligations by failing to provide “adequate permanent flood protection” and “a sustainable and tolerable living
environment.”
Peguis has the largest population of any First Nation in Manitoba, with about 11,700 members.
fpcity@freepress.mb.ca